Date: 2004-06-08
From: Bear Fence Shelter

To: Rockspring Hut (Tenting)
Miles today: 11.5

Shenandoah National Park7PM - Rockspring HutPeople - Shenandoah National Park (SNP) in June is quite different from SNP in March. When I started in March there was hardly any green. There were no leaves on the trees, so you could see all around you, even to the next mountain. It snowed every day I was in SNP in March (but didn't accumulate much). But now there are so many leaves on trees that the forest seems dark to me, and 4PM sems like 7:30 or later. I often get overheated with just one thin shirt on. And most of all, in March I hardly saw anyone, but now the place is full of campers, sightseers, and even thru-hikers. In fact I seem to be travelling in a crowd. Here in this shelter area tonight with me are Stretch, Neptune, Houston, Rex, Megabite, Yankee Turtle and Boonie, all of whom were at Bearfence Hut last night.Nature - I encountered much wildlife on the trail today. At least half a dozen deer, a rabbit, a groundhog, a snake (about 10" long) and many birds. (And as I am writing this in my tent, there is a deer grazing not 40' away.) But no bears. Since I got in early today, I read all the shelter register entries for the last couple of weeks. At least 3/4 of those entries mentioned that they had seen a bear that day. But not me. I am interested in a bear, but am not sure if I could take the excitement of meeting one as close up as my encounters with deer :-).The frequency at which I am encountering deer lead me to estimate that I am always within earshot of one or two deer while I am in SNP. Using a standard estimate of a biomass ratio of 20 to 1, herbivores to carnivores, I estimate that I am within earshot of a bear for at least an hour a day. I have not even heard one yet. I wonder if they are hearing me, as I wander through the woods all by myself?There are some laurels in bloom, but I haven't noticed a single rhododendron plant yet, and there were so many not too far south of here.Food - SNP is known among thru-hikers as 'cheeseburger alley', since there are so many places to buy food. In March none of these were open, and you already know they are not all fully open yet. But I am looking forward to having tomorrow's breakfast at Skyland, an evening snack at Panorama, and breakfast the next day at the restaurant at Elk Wallow campground. Boy, this thru-hiking's tough business.Trail - Some thru-hikers refer to the AT in SNP as a 'sidewalk'. This is an apt description compared to a lot of the Trail south of here and certainly to the Trail through the White Mountains. The Trail in the SNP is almost always quite smooth with a minimum of rocks and roots to trip on. The slope is uniformly gentle, with lots of switchbacks where there is a large elevation change. I feel thankful that an unexpected benefit of my 'Flop-Flip' mode of walking the Trail is that I have been able to start both the SoBo and NoBo legs with such amenable trail, allowing me to ease into the shape I need to be in for the other 2000 miles of the AT. (After foolishly walking 15 miles yesterday, I was a bit stiff today, and my left quad and hip were actually sore. I'm hoping that today's easy day will cure that, since I'm planning another 15 mi day tomorrow.) The Trail is within 1/2 mi of Skyline Drive for most of its length in SNP, so cars are often audible. This bothers some thru-hikers since it detracts from the wilderness experience, and they get particularly upset because most of the scenic overlooks are on the road but not on the Trail. Since we are in the woods most of the time, we don't get to see a lot of views. I myself am quite content with the way things are, and savor the views when we get them.I'm happy that spring has finally caught up with me here.