Date: 2014-05-30
From: front royal hostel

To: manasses gap shelter
Miles today: 14.5

Last night was a decent night for a hostel stay. I never really sleep well at hostels because its a bunch of people all packed together so when one person moves around i wake up and i feel like if i move im gonna wake up everybody. I got up early so i could stick my wet clothes in the rediculously slow dryer and make sure they were ready to go when i was. Mike was supposed to run us to town to resupply food till harpers ferry. He was supposed to take us at nine which was kind of late to going but for a free ride we couldnt complain. He had something come up so it turned out to be even later. We got food and repacked and ready to go by eleven, all i had to do is put on my wet shoes. I really dont like putting on wet shoes, its not as bad as it sounds but i dont like it. We got down the half mile trail back to the trail and we were on our back north. The rocks and mud were slippery as greased pig snot. It was slow going for a long time but that was ok because we only had a short day ahead of us so no need for rushing. Shortly into the day going down switchbacks i spotted a momma deer and her baby fawn. The fawn was tiny, so tiny she was still licking it with wobbly legs. It fumbled off the trail and off into the bushes. I couldnt get a good picture so it will have to live in my memory. So we poked on down the trail trying not to break a foot or ankle. We soon left the shenandoah national park and shortly after we had our first trail magic since entering the park. A nice lady had a cooler of gatorade and bananas, her name was Graceful not. She was a local that comes out once in a while to feed us. I miss the trail magic. From there it was up a long steady hill past the smithsonian animal research center. There are no animals outside anymore so it was just fenced in fields, not exciting. Not long after i heard a couple hikers coming down the trail. Well i heard conversation so i figured it was a couple people. Turns out it was only one lady talking to herself, i assumed she was talking to someone via phone and blue teeth. Nope. She was talking to herself and as i got closeri could hear her saying, 'we will buzz past these people, we buzz past these people, buzz past these people. Then while she past me she starts saying, 'hes one of them, hes one of them, hes one of them'. The look on my face must have been perfect amazement. What in the hell was a crazy person doing in the wilderness? As she past captain she starts saying 'the animals talk to cover their guilty concience'. Ok this is a real story and a real nutjob. Im glad she was heading south. Seven miles in we took a lunch at mosby campsite where we met cheeseburger and baggie. Two ladies hiking the trail. We passed them quick yesterday on our way to shelter avoiding rain. From there is was mostly downhill except for one dragon tooth. We moseyed over it and dropped down to the I-66 underpass. The ground was still wet and slippery. So the going was still slow. At that point it was up a long hill to the shelter we were to stay at. On the way up we went past a great stone wall up the side of the hill. It was a really nice old wall very well built and probably 4' tall. I cant imagine building something like that, let alone trying to work this land that is filled with stone. At the manasses shelter we met a ridgerunner and his wife, two other ladies doing a short section. Later another thru hiker came in, his name was hardtimes. Hes a german and has a guitar and is from germany. He started on april 3, cool guy that speaks very good english. So good i can understand him! Time now for bed, long day tomorrow over the rollercoaster on the way to the bear den hostle. Rumor on the street is they have all i can eat pizza and all i can eat pancakes in the morning. I will report back later on that. All my stuff is dry and happy so im happy.