5/2 Day 60 Paul C. Wolfe Shelter to Waynesboro, VA - 5.2 miles
It was a quick five miles out today. Rat told us it would take an hour and a half and we were pretty close at an hour and 34 minutes. When we got to the road crossing we saw Blue Moon there talking with two women. They asked if he needed a ride but he had already called one of the trail angels listed and had a ride coming. There is a list of trail angels (with phone numbers) who are willing to shuttle hikers to town. Because there were two women offering rides we didn't have to call anyone and hopped in with one of the women. She was very nice and drove us around town to show us points of interest and offered dining suggestions. She dropped us off at the YMCA where hikers are allowed to shower for free. They also have a yard a couple blocks away where hikers are allowed to camp for free. This town is super hiker friendly and we were really starting to enjoy it. We took our showers and then headed over to the tent city to pitch out tent. We were excited to see many tents we recognized and knew that we had caught out friends. I talked to Ayce and learned they had gone for breakfast but we were waiting to eat lunch at the famous Ming Garden Chinese buffet.
We headed to the laundromat where we met Giuseppe, a thru hiker with an admirable mustache. After we finished laundry it was straight to Ming Garden. Word of this restaurant was really traveling on trail so we had to check it out. The place was huge. They led us to a separate room (they seemed to want to keep hikers separate from the "normal people") where we saw Larry Boy and later Blue Moon arrived. I was disappointed to find that it was pretty much just standard Chinese buffet food but with a large selection. Embarrassing to admit as a thru hiker, I only ate three plates of food.
We left and went next door to Kroger to resupply and then back to the YMCA tent city. We were greeted with hugs as we met our friends there. They were all hanging out and taking a zero as many of them were planning to aquablaze. We were so happy to finally see our friends again. We spent most of the afternoon catching up and hanging out knowing we would not see many of them again for a while. Of our group, only us, Ayce, and Manchild are planning to hike Shenandoah. Eventually we hitched to the outfitter to pick up a couple items and hitched back. Hitch hiking was really easy, people practically beg to give you a ride. It's possible this could be the friendliest trail town yet.
When we got back to the tent city Nomad was there and planning to hang out with us all for the evening. We all walked to the Heritage where we had a great meal. After dinner it was back to Kroger for ice cream and then back to the tent city where we watched Jeremiah Johnson. I was too tired to finish so I turned in early. We will likely hike out with Ayce tomorrow though the idea of one last zero with the group is pretty tempting.
5/3 Day 61 Waynesboro to Blackrock Hut - 21.5 miles
We were torn this morning. We partly wanted to stay and hang out not knowing when or even if we would see our friends but we wanted to hike with Ayce and he was ready to get back on the trail. We headed to Weazie's Diner for breakfast not knowing if we would hike 7.5 to the first shelter or 21.5 to the second. We enjoyed breakfast in the crowded diner as most of our friends came and went. We finally decided just to get on trail and wing it.
Nomad drove us to the trail head after we said our sad goodbyes. We hope to meet our friends again in Harpers Ferry but we know things are about to get complicated due to everyone's plans and deadlines. We were excited to see Trailmovin at the trail head. He was looking for Blue Moon and we told him where to find him. We were finally on trail at 11:30. We signed in and acquired our permits for the park. We made good time to Calf Mountain Shelter so we decided to keep going 13 more miles to the next shelter.
The hiking was pretty easy and we arrived just after 7:00. There were many people at the shelter and two dogs. They were mostly sectioners but really nice offering us food and drinks. Blue Moon and Trailmovin were camped below. We squeezed into the shelter because we were unable to find a great tent site. I had my first experience with a bear pole which was interesting. Bear poles are food storage devices that utilize a very heavy steel pole to hang our heavy bags of food high above our heads. This was a difficult task for most thru hikers as most of us have lost any muscle that may have once existed on our upper bodies.
5/4 Day 62 Blackrock Hut to Hightop Hut - 21.4 miles
Note: what have been called shelters for over 800 miles are now called huts
We were up early on a hunt for bears. We have been told bear sitings will be a daily occurrence in Shenandoah. The hiking was fairly easy and mostly boring. About nine miles into our day we took a side trail to our first Wayside. We had heard and read of these Waysides along Skyline Drive in the park where you could buy real food and fantastic blackberry milkshakes. We had been looking forward to this. Unfortunately the food and milkshakes were mediocre at best and extremely overpriced. If you plan to eat at a wayside set aside some extra cash in your budget. A cheeseburger, chicken fingers, and two 12 oz milkshakes cost more than 25 dollars.
Anyway, back to the trail. The rest of the day was uneventful. We arrived at the shelter having to walk around three trucks parked in the middle of the trail. There were several trail maintainers who had been working to repair the shelter. They had a fire going and I noticed several bratwursts cooking over the fire glistening and dropping delicious juices. The arrogant thru hiker in me thought for sure these trail maintenance volunteers would offer us a bratwurst. After all, we are thru hikers. Much to my surprise we weren't offered anything but instead were told how we weren't even supposed to be here because this shelter is closed for repair. Thanks. We tented away from the shelter in one of the lovely designated tent sites. Because Shenandoah is a national park they had goofy rules. One of their goofy rules is that you can only camp in designated camp sites. We also so no bears today. Not cool Shenandoah.
Thanks for reading,
Moose
