Date: 2013-10-12
From: Calf Mountain Shelter

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: clear sky

Another night of hard rain on the shelter roof for most of last night, and thick fog rolling into the front of the shelter when I woke up. A steady rain continued the entire morning. There was a large area of new mowing on either side of Skyline Drive at Beagle Gap. The trail traversed across the middle of the large meadow, crossed the road, then went up the hill on the far side of the gap, all in full view of any approaching traffic. There was nothing else to do but go and hope a Park Ranger didn't happen to drive by. In good weather this would have made for fine views, but in the falling rain and fog I simply crossed and continued on. Just into the woods on the far side of Beagle Gap a large turtle was sitting in the middle of the trail, half hiding in his shell. I stopped briefly for a few photos then continued on. A few minutes later a hiker came by headed north. He was the first person I have seen since hitting the trail five days ago. He is active duty military on leave from a nearby army post. Seems he too is ignoring the Park closure and is doing a 5-day hike to Front Royal. I ended up seeing 3 other hikers on the trail enroute to Rockfish Gap. A busy Saturday on the Trail. Although it was raining steadily the entire time, I enjoyed the hike and recognized a number of places along the trail. One in particular was the radio tower complex on Bear Den Mt that had the old metal tractor seats stuck in the ground to sit and watch the view. The view was the same as the last time I was here, swirling fog and falling rain. Guess I'll have to have another visit to see the view from one of the seats! When I arrived at Rockfish Gap there was a note tacked to a tree with a list of drivers willing to shuttle hikers to and from Waynesboro. I called 'Mr Gizmo' and he said he'd be there in 15 minutes! Wow! Thanks! True to his word. He arrived on time at the place he told me to wait for him. Unfortunately, to get there I had to walk right past a Park Ranger sitting in his vehicle at the closed gate on the overpass I had to walk across to get to where I could see Mr. Gizmo was parked. With no choice, I went on, right next to the running patrol car, expecting them to roll down their window at any moment and say "Hi There". They never did so I just kept walking across the bridge and over to the nearby parking area. Mr Gizmo drove me down to the outfitter where I made a quick stop for stove fuel (denatured alcohol) and some show repair glue to fix a weld that had begun to delaminate on my boots. From there Mr. Gizmo drive me out to the interstate exit area where I had reservations at a hotel. Again, thanks for taking care of a soggy wet hiker Mr. Gizmo! Much Appreciated! Once checked in, I covered every available surface of my room with gear spread out to dry. Actually, most of the contents of my pack had stayed dry, everything was just damp from the humidity. It took most of the rest of the day and evening for everything to fully dry. In the mean time, I did laundry, walked a short distance for dinner, and glued the places on my boots that were beginning to come apart. Outside, it continued to rain. The high temp today was 54, but the temp at dawn was 44. Overnight there was heavy rain with occasional strong gusty westerly winds. Calm, foggy and raining in the morning, continuing throughout the day.