Date: 2016-06-06
From: Cabin, Lewis Mountain Campground

To: Skyland Lodge, SNP
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: overcast clouds

"Connecting with the wilderness allows us to live in the flow of a meaningful, joyful life. Embracing this state of connectedness or oneness with other living beings including animals, as opposed to feeling an "otherness" or "separateness" brings a sense of harmony and enables us to be at peace with oneself and the world." - Sylvia DolsonDay 87After enjoying a final cup of coffee at the Lewis Mountain Campground store, I hopped back on the trail and headed north. As I descended Hazeltop near mile 919.5, I saw the first of more than a dozen deer I would see in Shenandoah National Park (SNP).As I approached the Big Meadows area, I saw another deer sitting in the grass off to the right. I decided to stop for a snack, so I sat down by a tree about fifteen yards from her. She looked at me but didn't move. I chugged some water and then pulled out a Clif energy bar. As I did so, the deer stood up and stared at me. She had that "Fob, I want a bite of your Clif energy bar" look in her sultry eyes. Then she cautiously took a step toward me. With my heart racing just a tad, I pulled out my phone and started recording her. Next, I violated the principle of "keeping wildlife wild" by holding out my Clif bar. Intrigued, she took another step toward me and then another. At this point I should have stood up and left. After all, she should eat natural food. She should fear humans. She could get spooked and injure me or maybe get a disease. My head told me this maybe wasn't a good idea. My heart told me it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I should go for it.My heart won out. I wiggled the Clif bar and she kept moving closer. Just a couple of feet from me, she stuck out her neck and licked the bar. I didn't have a good grip on it and it fell, causing her to jump back a step. Continuing to film, I picked it up and held it out again. She approached and gave it a few more licks. She was so close I could almost smell her breath. She then decided it wasn't for her. Or maybe she smelled my breath. Clif bars are nutritious and delicious, but they require a lot of chewing to get down. Perhaps she wasn't up for that. She eventually slowly walked away. It was a really cool wilderness moment that I will never forget. It wasn't necessarily the right/textbook thing to do, but it was certainly the fun, cool, and memorable thing to do. I won't do it again because I've done it once. But would I do it again a first time? Absolutely! How often can you live a happy, magical moment that you will remember the rest of your life?Fresh off this wildlife encounter, I took a short side trail to the Big Meadows Lodge where I had a Caesar's salad and seven glasses of pink lemonade. Why? Because I could. This is SNP, the second happiest place on earth...just behind Disney World. I hiked on, passing two more deer and a small snake (#11) near Fishers Gap.After 16.7 miles I arrived at the Skyland Resort and Restaurant around 4:30 p.m. This is a fairly upscale place so I assumed a room would be out of my price range. But since I was close, it was worth a shot. The normal price was well out of my range. The "thru-hiker rate" was substantially less, but still more than I wanted to pay. Then I thought to ask if they had a military rate. Bam! Bada-Bing! It was even less than the hiker rate and within my fair and reasonable range. So I got a 1-room cabin and took a nice hot shower.I put on my less funky set of clothes and headed to the Skyland Restaurant for the fried chicken basket (1807 calories, according to the menu) which included half a fried chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, cranberry relish, and steamed cauliflower. The waitress brought me the dessert menu and I selected three large scoops of ice cream...vanilla bean, chocolate, and signature blackberry...coming in at 1026 calories. As I swallowed the last bite of ice cream, a guitarist took the stage and sang and played for the next couple of hours. He asked the audience where we were from. I didn't answer because I don't know. It's complicated. I'm just an American. He then asked the thirty audience members...day hikers, vacationers and me...who had seen a bear this week. Every single hand went up but mine. This hardly seemed fair.As I laid there that night in my soft cabin bed, I reflected on my near perfect day. Where in the world do you have a close encounter with a deer, a Caesar salad with lemonade, a fried chicken dinner, three scoops of ice cream, live music, a hot shower, and a soft pillow and bed to sleep on? At Shenandoah National Park, I say, the second happiest place on earth.Fob