Date: 2016-04-16
From: N of US 211

To: Tom Floyd Shelter
Miles today: 25.0
Weather: clear sky

I lost something that had become very dear to me yesterday and Will let me tell you about even though it happened on his journal day. Yesterday, when we went to the Big Meadows Wayside, they made us leave our packs outside. I needed to get the phone wire/plug in thing out of my pack and when I did, I set my Little Blue Thing next to my pack. And when I came outside to get my pack, he was gone!!!!And I was very, very sad. I looked everywhere. But he was truly gone. I think the wind took him away. I'm sure you have already looked at the picture of him I put on this page and thought 'what's the big deal? ' Well, let me tell you about him and you may come to see why he was such a big loss.I first found Little Blue Thing in 2006 when I was hiking the PCT.   Someone had abandoned him in the hiker box in the Post Office in Stehekin. He was four little sections of an old Z-rest pad. I rescued him from there and from then on he went with me on all my hiking trips, long distance hikes, shorter distance, training , overnights, even day hikes. Whenever we would take a rest break, Little Blue Thing was there to keep me comfortable and make sure I didn't get wet if the ground was moist. And he always did his job without complaining. I won't list all the hikes we went on, you can see a lot of them on the sidebar at the left of the page. But in 10 years it was thousands of miles. As you might believe, I got very attached to him. It's like somehow he got mingled in with my trip memories. And so it was very sad to loose him in such an abrupt manner.I thought about writing an Ode to the Little Blue Thing, but then decided that would taking it too far. So I'll just say ' Good bye Little Blue Thing, I loved you well.This morning we hustled to get on the trail and moving down it. There was food involved and so that should pretty much explain the haste.   As we hiked we talked about what we might eat at this next wayside store/diner. The buttermilk pancakes with the blackberry syrup were so amazing we thought perhaps a repeat of those would hit the spot, again. Will was quite certain that those pancakes were jet propelling him forward today. Talk about carbohydrate loading.But when we got there, alas, the store and diner were much smaller and so were the breakfast options. It was food however, and food equals hiking energy. We resupplied out of the store and took our breakfast outside to the picnic tables.   That's where we met a hiker named the Big Dumb Animal. Now, remember, you don't have to accept a trail name, so don't get too upset that he's wearing this one. It's up to him. He was section hiking. Sort of filling in the parts that he left out when he had to get off the trail last year due to injuries. He had been hiking with a mutual friend of ours, HoHo and his girlfriend Chicory. They were pushing the miles in Shenandoah even more than we have been. It was good to know that he was out there and doing well. After hiking a 26 then a 34 mile day the Big Dumb Animal, or the BDA, said he put the breaks on and told them he didn't want to do anymore over 30 miles days and bid them adieu. It couldn't have been because he couldn't keep up, because he blew by us like we were standing still when we left the Elk Wallow Wayside. Looked like a very strong hiker. I think he just wanted to slow down and smell the roses as it were since he didn't have to worry about doing the whole trail this season.We crossed the Skyline road again several times today and stopped by the Gravel Springs Hut to grab some water. This afternoon we climbed North Marshall Mountain and had some great views off the really tall cliff face there. We made our way to the Tom Floyd Shelter thinking to grab some water and keep hiking so we could cozy up to Front Royal, but the water ended up being quite a hassle to get, as it was quite far away from the shelter and down a pretty steep side trail. When we got there it was a very small rock covered hole that was hard to get at. But it was water, and we got some by golly.By the time we climbed back up from there to the shelter it was getting pretty late. Will asked a girl that was southbounding if there were any flat places or campsites on up the trail. She was very adamant in saying there was nothing flat, it was all downhill. So we checked out the campsites around the shelter and found one that works for us.We have our tent set up and we are getting ready to settle in for the night.   The sun takes its leave in a brilliant show of reds, oranges and yellows. Another day has gone to bed. And so must I. Catch you later!Road Runner