Date: 2017-06-08
To: Loft Campground
Miles today: 46.5

I officially entered Shenandoah National Park on Tuesday, June 6th, at 10 am. There was a self registration station on the trail, but they were out of forms. I'll wait till I get to Big Meadows campground to register. There is no charge for thru hikers, but they just want to know who's in the park. The terrain is a bit more tolerable in the respect to the height of the mountains. None are over 4000 feet. The three peaks mountain range, I came over the other day, was a killer. Hopefully no more of those till I get to Maine.Today, May 7th, I was able to hike 18.5 miles to Loft Mountain Campground. Arrived at 5pm and barely able to get tent set up before it started to rain again. After set up, I put on my rain jacket and proceeded to walk another half mile to the local camp store for a small resupply. They told me of a restaurant down the hill about a mile away. Since I was famished, I figured I can walk another mile yet, so down I went. It was raining a little so I had rain pants and rain coat on. On the way down the hill, I thought I might jog a little to stay warm, so off I went. After a few hundred yards, I thought better of running so I stopped and went to check my phone to see if I had a signal. WHAT? NO PHONE! I thought I had put it in my raincoat pocket before leaving my tent. Where is it? Maybe I didn't put it in my pocket after all, when I was back at the tent. It must still be in the tent. By now I was at the restaurant and anxious to get some hot food, so I ordered a cheese burger, a chicken sandwich, some cheesy fries, a root beer float, a large coke and 2 scoops of blackberry ice cream for dessert. After my feast I began to think about the long hike back to camp. It was going to be a mile all up hill to get back. It was also getting late and still raining out. What to do? I looked around the restaurant and so four people eating a nice meal of chicken. I thought I saw them drive in earlier, so being desperate as I was, I walked over and asked if they were staying at the same campground as I. They said they were and so I gave them my story of the phone and asked if they would be so kind to give me a ride back to my tent. They graciously said they would when they had finished their meal. After arriving back at the campground and back to my tent I checked for the phone. Nope, not there! It must have fallen out of my rain jacket pocket when jogging down to the restaurant. It was raining harder now, but I have to see if my phone is laying somewhere along the roadside. It may have jumped up of the rain coat pocket when I started to jog down the road. The pockets in my rain jacket are rather shallow in depth. I looked but couldn't find it. Went back to the camp store, in case they found it. No luck. Upon leaving the store, I walked through the tall grass, between the store and the highway one more time, just in case I missed it the first time I had retraced my steps in that area, and there, face down, was my phone getting wet from the rain. Thank God. What a relief! It appears it will be ok once it dries out. Now in my tent, dry and tired, but relieved that I'm united with the phone once again. The rain is falling hard now so will sign off till tomorrow. A very humble and thankful Huck