Date: 2010-06-19
From: Hightop Hut

To: Rock Spring Hut
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

19 June 2010, Rock Spring Hut   The day started out slow with everyone being awake and waiting for Bluesky who was not even out of her sleeping bag yet. We were all up at 7:30 and pretty much ready to some extent. When Skyblue was done and ready it was 9:30. We got to the trail head at 10. Rick our shuttle guy is slack packing his wife all the way to Maine, her trail name is HDMomma. After he drove off Max Factor showed up at the trail head and asked us if we wanted a cold drink and gave us some powerade.   A few miles into the hike we saw a bear at one of the overlooks. While we were there Hunter, a three time thru hiker showed up and asked if we needed water and talked to us for a bit.   We ran into Cabana Boy and Dutch Tape sitting at one of the road crossings eating their lunch. They gave me a fresh strawberry. They asked if we were hitching. I explained that we were not and that we were ultra purist because were walking the original AT. The original AT was Skyline Drive. I also explained that I was going to come back and hike the white blazes later on sometime before I summated Katahdin.   About a mile from Lewis Mountain Campground a thru hiker from this year drove buy and asked if we wanted a cold drink. Of course we said yes. We got cold cokes and two peanut butter cookies. I do not drink anything with caffeine in it but I could not refuse a cold coke. The hiker doing this trail magic was Pee Wee and his wife. Pee Wee was hiking northbound this year and had to get off in Catawba for knee problems. The doctor gave him a cortisone shot in his knee and said he could not return to the trail for three weeks.   We stopped for lunch at Lewis Mountain Campgrounds. I went to the camp store and got an ice cream cone, a soda and a map of this section of the AT. Then I sat with Spoons and Wallflower while they ate lunch. While we were eating Pee Wee rolled in with his truck with Bluesky, Cabana Boy, and Dutch in the back. He dropped Bluesky off and took Cabana Boy and Dutch Tape to Big Meadows Campground.    We had six more miles to reach Big Meadows. About four miles into the hike we walked into some trail magic. A couple, Paul and his wife were driving to the trail head and do trail magic but they saw us walking the road and turned around and stopped at one of the overlooks and set up trail magic. This was the best trail magic I have had to date. They had a ham, cheese and tomatoes sandwich on a sub roll. They had cold cokes, chips and candy. I had a sandwich and so did Spoons but she was a vegetarian and gave me her ham. I drank the coke and also a diet caffeine coke. Wow two cokes in one day. While we were eating a college group consisting of mostly girls showed up and were trying to figure out how to take a picture of themselves at the overlook. I told Wallflower to go help them. He went over and took their picture. I teased him and asked if he got any phone numbers. After I ate I got a good 1/2 hour head start on everyone else.   I made it to Big Meadows before anyone else. Then Bluesky rolled in, in the back of a truck. I told her that was bull shit. She has done this more than a few times so far. She is the one that talked me into doing the road walk with her and now she is hitching some of it. She was only last week bitching about the people hitching and skipping sections and now she is doing it.   When we arrived here tonight we ran into Josie Walls who is southbound. Lead Foot who is section hiking. Also Olive Oil, and two other northbounders setting up there hammocks off to the side of the shelter. Spoons hiked in with me and Wallflower came in at Dusk. There were two groups that came in during the middle of the night after the rain came in. I think it was the group that was sitting around at Big Meadows drinking the cheap beer in front of the building.