Date: 2014-05-08
From: Maupin Field Shelter

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 20.9

I was up and packed early for once. All set to get an early start with Guy on a Buffalo when one of the UVA guys joined us. Not long after his girlfriend stirred and joined in the conversation as well. It was a new, but pretty rewarding, experience being interviewed about actual life on the trail. I was used to the standard exchange along the lines of, "You hiking? Cool. How far you going? 2100 miles? That's quite a ways, when did you start? Alright, well good luck to ya." Interest in what the trail is like was all new. It reminded me of my first experience with the trail - a day hike when I was five or six - and my first encounter with a thru hiker and bombarding him with questions. I didn't want the magic to end.My feet still hurting, and knowing I had a decent amount of millage to cover, I finally bade them farewell and got going just after 8:00am. Guy on a Buffalo was well ahead of me and the day was beginning to heat up. The morning was pretty miserable. The trail was rocky, the air muggy, and I sleep deprived. I was struggling to hold anything close to my usual pace and had to just sit down a few times.After what seemed like much longer than six hours I finally arrived at the next shelter marking only five more miles into town. Guy on a Buffalo was wrapping up lunch when I arrived and I joined him for my own, alternating eating with soaking my feet in the cold stream.He was ready to get going well before I was and after he left I decided a little pre-town bandana bath wasn't a bad idea. Halfway bent over in the middle of the stream I heard a "Yooo whoooo!" behind me and spun around to see Gentle Spirit coming down the trail. He had been putting up miles that morning! I finished getting my things together and joined him for the last haul into town.Going up the last climb of the day we met a trail runner coming down who alterted us to a bear in the next 0.2 miles. We slowed our pace to a crawl, neither of us having seen a bear yet. Finally I spotted it up to the left. It was hidden pretty well behind the foliage, but was without a doubt a bear. We celebrated the terrible vantage point briefly before checking the time and continuing on.Shortly thereafter I pull over for a few minutes and Gentle Spirit continued on. The last two miles to Rockfish Gap with no one to talk two were all pain and I couldn't get shoes off fast enough upon arrival. Guy on a Buffalo was there on the phone when we arrived and the three of us headed down to a food truck for a soda and hotdog before flagging down a hitch into town.We got dropped off at the YMCA which offers free showers for hikers and free tenting across the street in the park. We headed over there to find Violet and Moose hanging out. Moose had caught her at the last shelter around 5:00am and had gotten her to do the last stretch in with him before passing out in front of Krogers for a few hours. It was my first time seeing Violet in a while, a joyous reunion only somewhat marred by the news that Half Rack had beaten my pancake record in Damascus by one pancake.That didn't stop me from joining the trip to the buffet and destroying quite a few plates there. As dusk settled in the hiker pavilion became quite the place to be: music, wine, fruit (it may not seem like a big deal, but it is), chess, and many tales to be caught up on. I played my first game of chess in quite a few years against Gentle Spirit and boy was it close. It came down to four pieces on the board before I finally took him. At that point it was pretty late and I once again set up on a picnic table, not feeling like setting up a tent.