Date: 2016-06-19
From: woods

To:  Shenandoah 
Miles today: 16.8

Day 69- June 19, 2016Dregs here,This was another great day, possibly my personal favorite but for off trail reasons as well as on. We woke up and our friends made us a wonderful breakfast of bacon and cinnamon rolls. It was truly great to hang out with them and it was a real blessing to get three meals as a gift from them. After packing up camp our friends hiked back to their car and we said our goodbyes. Not too far into the day we passed the 900 mile mark. Not too long after that we came to a road crossing where there was some really great trail magic. There was a couple with sloppy Joe's, beer, homemade banana muffins and they also had some resupply items for free. We walked away from there with a hiker named Mossman and had some good conversations for a bit. We met back up with storm trooper and started making plans about how we were going to see game seven of the NBA finals. We found a camp near skyline Drive and discussed whether or not all three of us would be leaving the trail. Chicken Hawk said she wanted to stay. The plan was to hitchhike 6 miles south to an exit of the park and then hitchhike an additional 3 miles to a cabin that we had rented. Chicken hawk would stay on the trail and sleep in the woods like usual. There was a PATC cabin right next to where we were set up and they had more trail magic. Me and StormTrooper headed off on our adventure and we will hear about the evening from chicken Hawks perspective first. Chicken HawkSo while dregs and storm trooper are off on their quest to watch game 7 of the playoffs between the cavs and warriors, I have chosen to stay behind and make camp on my own. I am excited for my own little adventure of being out here on my own for the first time and doing some of the things that dregs usually does like hang a bear bag. Before they left, dregs helped me find a good tree for the bear bag hang but I got to throw the rope and figure out the PCT method on my own. I've only watched how to make the knot twice before, in Georgia, yet I believe I did it correctly. Once my food was hung, I walked over to a cabin not too far from my camp spot where a family had set up for trail magic. They served me two BLT's, watermelon, and homemade pound cake made by the little girl. The girl asked me all sorts of questions about the trail and wrote them down as she likes to keep track of hikers answers. Another hiker happened by the cabin looking for water and was talked into coming over and having a sandwich. He said his name was free bird and apparently has met trooper a few times. We all chatted for a bit and then I headed back to my site for some much needed RnR. Apparently I am surrounded by bears as other hikers have reported seeing 6 bears in the last 5 miles. While in my tent, I have heard something approaching my site from the woods. I clapped my hands and the animal seemed to turn and head back the opposite direction. If it was a deer, no problem. If it was a bear, I'm sure it will be back later to check me out. I am excited to get to listen to my book and go to sleep when I want and have all the space to myself. I hope dregs and storm trooper get to watch their game and come back early tomorrow ready to hike. I'm sure their adventures will be more interesting than my quiet evening, but I'm glad I stayed. 16.8 milesDregs againWe hiked out to the road and started heading south along the road. Storm trooper and I stuck at our thumbs to hitchhike but there was clearly no place to safely stop. We had to walk a couple miles on the road to get to an overlook where we could stand still and hitch. After sitting there for a long time someone finally stopped and got us and took us out of the park and all the way to our destination. I saw that he had a small container of cigars and did my best to impress upon him that I loved cigars and didn't get to have them very often. After dropping us off he came over and handed me a cigar. We went into the office and got our key in and get situated in our cabin. I raced around cooking pizzas and taking showers trying to get everything done before the game started. The pizzas were good enough and the game was excellent. The Cavs won the championship making this Cleveland boy very happy. After watching all of the post game we sat outside and smoked a victory cigar. I was too excited for sleep so I didn't get the best night of rest but still this was one of the best days!