Date: 2007-06-17
From: Hightop Hut

To: Big Meadows Campground
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: clear sky

Nothing dried over night and there was a heavy dew hanging on everything in the morning so my clothes and tent were wet. I got even more wet walking through the several long sections with tall grass. At least my clothes got a partial washing overnight! The day's milestone was crossing the 900 mile mark for the trip!The day started with a 400 foot climb up Hightop Mt, which wasn't bad on the well graded SNP trails. Then, it was down 300 feet to a crossing of the Skyline Drive at Swift Run Gap. I recognized this crossing from a brief visit here last Thanksgiving. This was the first place on the trail that I had been before and it was fun to see some familiar ground. I continued on to the South River Picnic Grounds where I filled up my water containers and sent an email on my hiking plans for the next week to Dave, Laurie and Brenda. There was no voice service but I hoped that data might work since I showed 1 bar of service. I was wanting to line up a pickup date and time with Dave at Snickers Gap for our upcoming weekend visit. While at the picnic area I biefly chatted with 2 large families from the Sudan who were having lunch there too.The 6 miles to Lewis Mt Campground went pretty fast but the camp store was prettt thin on lunch materials so I had to settle for several rounds of milk and ice cream.Just after leaving the campground I was going down a hill and looked ahead to a corner where the cut end of a fallen tree trunk was sticking out into the trail. As I got close to it I realized it was actually a bear sitting on his butt next to the trail looking for all the world like a big black lab waiting patiently for suppertime! I stopped short within about 20 feet of it and quickly took a few steps backwards. The bear did not move but was clearly alert and watching me intently. When I backed up it settled down and basically ignored me. Just as I got my camera out and powered it up it got up and slowly ambled up the hill into the thick underbrush. It looked to be in great shape and had a big pot belly. I got no pictures of it but rot a great look anyway!A while later I stopped at Milam Gap parking area for a snack and water break and to look for Yogi opportunities but there weren't any tourists around. Yogiing is considered by many thru-hikers to be a higher art form. It is the art of getting people you've never met to offer you food without actually asking them for it. There are only a few simple rules. No direct begging allowed; it is OK to Yogi any tourist; it is Not OK to Yogi other hikers, unless they are Acting like tourists and then they become fair game; in general, props are frowned on (props such as empty peanut butter jars demonstrate how starving you are and using them seems a little like cheating. Things didn't look promising here so I moved on towards Big Meadows Wayside.I got to Big Meadows amphitheater about 6.30 PM and cut over through the picnic area towards the campground. While walking across the picnic area a man yelled to me "are you hungry, we've got plenty of chicken"? Well, you don't have to ask me twice! I set my pack down and joined their barbeque. They were 2 families from Norfolk who were vacationing together and had a gill going, cold beer in the cooler and all the usual picnic fixins. they were very interested in my hike and were a lot of fune to chat with and I had a very enjoyable evening. About 8.00 PM I went over to the campground, found a tent site and paid my $20 to set up my tent. Somehow it seemed wrong to pay that much for something I had been doing for free for the past 2 months but the showers and laundry next door were just too convenient to pass up.