Date: 2003-06-15
From: Big Meadows, VA - Chester Gap, VA

To: Big Meadows, Va - Chester Gap, VA
Miles today: 45.3

Big Meadows - Chester Gap45.3 miles (953.5 total miles)Big Meadows was nice on day 73. We stayed there for a very long time, as it started raining very hard. But by about 3:00 the rain cleared, and we hiked out. Everyone left with different ingredients for a bbq. We had a fire going, and we roasted hot dogs and made smores. We had so much food. It was a great time with a great crowd.I was up and out by about 7:30 on day 74. We did 4 miles to Skyland for breakfast. I had a huge meal. We put a candle in Last Minute's orange slice and sang happy birthday for him. I fielded a bunch of questions from tourists. They even tried on my pack. When I came out from the restaurant, a mysterious trail angel had left energy bars on our packs. What cool trail magic!We hiked on in the heat, and came to find more trail magic at lunchtime. some thru hikers were temporarily off the trail, so they were handing out sodas and chips. As we were leaving, we saw another rattler in the grass. I was happy this one didn't rattle at me.We came down a long hill with the skies treatening. There was a campstore at Thornton Gap, where we stopped for more snacks. We waited for the rain to start and for it to pass. Some mysterious stranger showed up and played his mandolin. I was the first one out when the rain stopped. The trail was full of deer, and another blackbear. We lucked out again with our timing and the rain.We started with a very easy 7.5 miles on day 75. The sun was shining, and the terrain was great. The grass was soaked so my boots got wet. I saw another blackbear. We got to Elkwallow Gap at about 9:15.Dick and Clara showed up about 20 minutes after I did. It was so much fun to see them. It was fun to think that I flew into Atlanta, and that I had walked all the way up to visit my friends from DC. The brought sodas and brownies for me and all my friends. As we sat there, we watched a motorcyclist cut off a bicyclist, and cause quite a crash. It took about an hour for the ambulence to arrive. We then got into an ice fight. Hepcat held Slaughter down while Redbeard and I assaulted her with ice. Later on Slaughter and Kodiak dumped the rest of the ice chest on each other. We felt that we had entertained Dick and Clara for their generosity. Thanks!We walked on the last 6 miles to the shelter. It was another short (13 mile) day, but our shelter options didn't give us any other choice. It rained, but not too hard. Once again my boots got wet. It was another relaxing evening in the shelter.Day 76 was a long 13.5 miles into town. My feet really hurt. As we walked out to the trail from the shelter, we saw a bear cub in a tree. The mother was not far behind, guarding the tree. We hiked on, mostly downhill, but it was very tiring. It's time to buy a new pair of shoes. That will be my reward in Harpers Ferry when I hit the 1000 mile mark.We got to the road crossing by about 1:00. There was a crowd of about 15 of us. Cuba's son met us at the trailhead and brought us into Front Royal. We did our laundry, showered, and ate. We were excited, as this was the first Dunkin Donuts we have hit since we hit the trail. Another sign of progress is that we have walked far enough north to leave Krispy Kreme territory and enter Dunkin Donuts territory. Very exciting.It is was especially fun hiking Shenandoah, as we had Jen (Willow's sister, aka "The Bubble") along. We were worried that we may be working her too hard on the trail, especially giving her 20 miles on only her third day. But she ran around, leaving us all behind. Unfortunately, she is going to think we only hike in the sunshine, eat at restaurants and campstores, see bears and rattlesnakes everyday, and party with hot dogs and smores every night. Shenandoah was a wonderful stretch of trail for her to hike with us. Glad you could join us, Jen. It was fun!