Date: 2018-04-28
From: Hightop hut

To: Rock springs hut
Miles today: 12.4

folks im not sure about dates and sequences i remember the experiences.  on the trail everything is in the present moment. There are no dates days of the week or hours of the day. So it gets to be a blur when I try to make it all line up perfectly. Sorry about thatSun Day 76 4/28 Heading to Bear Fence Mountain hut. We started out pretty early with our headlamps. As we crested High Top Mountain there was ice on the trail. There was a cold wind blowing and we didn't spend a lot of time enjoying the view at the top. Mush, who had the dog, who was Brothers with Gandopho the Mystic passed us on the trail with his dog. I don't think I want to take a dog but this was a very good husky. We had a nice smooth hiking pace. Curtis is really getting into a nice Groove. I let him lead and set the pace whatever is right for him. He was anxious because at this time we weren't carrying much food at all. In his words raisins, a few bars, and an apple were not going to cut it for his dinner. We were hiking towards the Lewis Mountain Store. They didn't have a Wayside which would be defined as having hot food. When we got near it got very confusing. We came to a marker that said we were two miles away from the store. We hiked One Direction for maybe two tenths of a mile it was wrong. We asked somebody and at first they said the store was closed and then they said they didn't know where the store was. I saw an American flag flying. I figured that was a sign of a store. The Lewis mountain camp ground area was originally designed to be a colored only section. Secretary Eckels was a ardent civil rights supporter. His position was a national park should not be segregated in 1937. He was overruled because Virginia was a Jim Crow state and discriminated against blacks. So the Lewis Campground was designated the colored Campground. It became a very popular destination for many prominent blacks. It was a social Center outside of Washington DC. Over time the word got out that the food was better in the black Campground dining hall. Whites were clamoring to eat at the Lewis Mountain dining hall because of the food. So Eckel said if the whites want to integrate the colored campgrounds voluntarily we will let them. A couple presidents of the United States also visited Lewis Campground. Eckels did get the park intsgrated 13 years before VA. Changed their laws in 1963We did find the store. It was open. The proprietor was from New Jersey. We had a great time in this store. They had lots of different food that we liked as well as camping gear. It was all good. He also told us to fill up our water because the water at the campsite had heavy metals in it. He told us the quick way to get back to the trail. The campsite was only Nineteen Hundred yards away. So Curtis was happy. We had food. We made our way to the Bear Fence mountain hut. Papa Bear came in. He's a Ridge Runner paid to be the eyes and ears for the for the public Rangers. There's was also a fellow from New Hampshire there is well. One of the park rangers did come in looking for Papa Bear but he was up setting up his tent. The fellow from New Hampshire was a southbounder. He had crossed paths with Mush and his dog. He put in a big complaint about how mush did not have his dog on a leash. He wanted the ranger to make an example of him. I had to chirp in that was a great dog super well trained. I spent the spent the night in a shelter with that dog the night before. He was fabulous. Curtis jumped in. He said it was the best trained dog he had ever seen in his life. The ranger didn't really take the whole conversation that seriously. She was very nice. I will say that the Rangers are heavily equipped and fully armed and wearing bulletproof vests. I guess one of the bigger challenge is poachers of animals or Forest resources. Down here everybody has a gun. So Papa Bear through Heights the AT 2 times all the way. Now he works for 6 months each year 5 days a week walking back and forth on a section of the trail. He is the eyes and ears for the rsngers. He was a wealth of knowledge. He told us at the next Shelter Rock Spring Hut to make sure to put our food in the bear box not on the pole. He showed us his food bag that the raccoon had climbed up the metal pole and ripped open and got the food out of. The guy from New Hampshire ended up getting sick from his dinner and threw up. We didn't see any more of him and that was fine with us. One person came in late name Gandolfo. A different Gandalfo than mush's brother. He was pretty cool kicking big miles. We were all in bed before it was dark.