Date: 2003-05-28
From: Big Meadows Lodge

To: Pass Mt. Hut
Miles today: 18.8

Rain! I had to have breakfast before facing that. Commander In Chief and Itchy Feet wanted to get their usual early start, but Just Do It (Ben) wanted to eat a hot meal. So the first two set off into the rain, and Ben and I waited for the 7 am breakfast call.Some hot coffee, scrambled eggs, toast, jam and orange juice later, this hiker was made of sterner stuff. Though it DID take all the self-steeling I could muster to step out of the dry and into the grey, wet and cold.It didn't take long and I was again soaked through on my neck, shoulders and back. I could feel the cold shivers seeping in, and much earlier today. After yesterday's skate on the edge of hypothermia, I was apprehensive about hiking this day.But after a bit, the rain stopped and the wind began to blow. This did increase the wind chill, but the moving air felt dryer, despite all the wet dripping about. For once, I didn't mind the blowing. This wind held promise.We walked though the fog, me leading. At one point, a turkey darted out of the bushes and ran up the Trail ahead of me. I tried to get Ben's attention, but he was marching with his head down against the wind. One doesn't see a thru-hiking turkey every day! Eventually the bird took to the wing, and flew into a nearby pasture.In that mountain pasture was another critter - a horse. Many wet horses. It was the park riding concession. We walked in and looked around. The pasture was a mudpit, the fencing barbed wire. But the horses looked healthy enough. What a life, packing tourists around.I began drying out as the rain ceased. The heat of hiking worked like a dryer. Today's terrain was more interesting than yesterday's "long green tunnel" of woods, though "the tunnel" can be interesting too if you know what to look for - animal tracks, wild flowers, birds, perhaps a glimpse of a born-free critter.We walked along cliffs, rock jumbles and stone gardens.About noonish, the sun came out, weakly. After a brief battle, the sunlight held sway for most of the day. Ben and I ate our lunch on a rock wall near a Skyline Drive overlook. The wind blew hard, bringing in new weather. The haze came and went, and every once in awhile we could glimpse the valley below.The rest of the afternoon was splendid hiking. I could feel the happiness bubbling up. For the first time - views! I could see stuff! At one high, stony point we threw off our packs and sat on a rocky ledge looking down on the western flanks of the Shenandoahs. We sat there in the sun, not doing much, until the chill of the wind drove us down from our rock.But I had a certain peace with the wind today. It rippled across my arms, raising gooseflesh. But my core was warm from hiking, so the effect was exhilarating, refreshing. At this juncture, here I must blurt: I've seen a bear! A BEAR, I tell you! Coming down through a blackberry woods, I focused on a black spot - a very black spot. It moved, and had a brown snout. I alerted Ben, and we backed off to assess the situation. The bear watched us, but kept eating its bear lunch.Instinctively, we both whipped out our cameras. I felt none of the fear I thought I might feel, only excitement and wariness - full awareness of the wild beast 25 yards away. I racked off one shot of the black pinprick amidst the abundant green, - one shot, I tell you - then my camera blinked and beeped. My CF card was full! No! Not NOW! Unbelievable timing!I tore out another card, and fumbled to exchange them. Meanwhile Ben is ripping off several pictures, then he paused and got his penknife out. "What's that for?" I asked. "If I need to, I'll fight him. Poke at his eyes." The bear didn't seem that affected by us at the distance we were keeping, but shoot - should I get out my pepper spray? I do, and there sit The Two Stooges, Armed for Bear. Actually, I am so excited at seeing this wild, glossy, nonchalant creature that I drop my new CF card. Ben, meanwhile, is racking off the shots. The bear starts to move, and ambles broadside to the Trail, white blaze in the foreground. Can you say "Photo Op?"No, you can't. Because as I slammed in the new CF card and snapped off The Dream Shot, I got a new beep - CF card full. NO! The new card needs reformatting. All old pictures need to be erased first. I don't have my glasses on either, and so I am holding my camera menu up to the light, squinting, as the bear strolls down the trail. Ha!Then it sits - right where we need to go. Now what? Ben follows it, and I follow Ben. We want to keep track of the beast, about 200 pounds of wild animal, so we don't stumble into it further along. It ambles off again. Ben is whistling at it like a dog, hoping it will turn it's head. What, are you crazy, man?!I finally find the right setting and start the reformatting. It takes awhile. Bear sits and waggles an ear. Chews. Watches us. "You can still get a good shot," says Ben. No, I can't, the darn camera takes time to wipe the slates clean. Finally! Done! I raise my camera to my eye and knock off a splendid pinpoint view of the bear's scruffy behind disappearing into the shrubs. Maybe six or seven pixels worth... I hope my photo support/photoshop wizard guy Ken can extract something exciting from the tiny little dot on the LCD screen. My Long Trail partner Clyde claims he saw a moose last year when we walked Vermont, and brags he has the pictures to prove it. He's never let me forget it (though the "moose" is about the size of a deer tick, and looks like a cat). Now, I've seen a bear and for sure Ben has the pictures to prove it. I might, and I might not.But I know the Truth. So far, the Trail score is Bears, 1; Moose, 0.The day has been a rocky one, rare so far in the Shenandoahs. My ankles twist this way and that. Always inelastic at the end of the day, my tender feet hammer away at the rocks which in turn hammer at my tender feet. I feel a zing go through my right foot, the length of the instep. About where a foot bone might be. We are all slightly hypochondriac out here, but with good reason. Some pains can be walked though, and some need rest, some are hike enders. As the spot continues to zing, I put it on the "watch" list.Luckily, I have my Lekis for help on these rocks. For any thru-hiker still on the fence about hiking poles, I should say here that there is hardly a day when they don't save me from a fall. I wonder if I could have made it this far without them, I truly do.The long, rocky descent ends with a pot of gold, though. The Panorama store sells drinks, chips, candy and it is here the gang assembles at the end of the day. Cindy and Itchy Feet have waited for us, the sun is out, the belly gets a little carbo treat.The four of us walk uphill to the shelter together. There is Buddha, who I haven't seen since Trail Days. He is nursing what he believes to be a shin splint, and will cool his heels at an upcoming hostel .Notes and his dad wander in late, poor Papa Notes did a 15.5 mile day today - he is beat. Notes took his food bag for him near the end of the day. I spot mice running around even before the lights go out - not a god sign! The privy is cute, with Mens and Womens sides. We go down early. The sun is still out! Maybe tomorrow will be clear. Life is good.