Date: 2021-04-26
From: Bearfence Mountain Hut

To: Random Ridge, Va
Miles today: 20.43
Weather: clear sky

It was cooooold last night. I hit my snooze alarm twice and finally started my day at 6:15. There were ice crystals in my water bottle, but I had taken the precaution of putting my water filter in the hammock with me so that wouldn¢t freeze and be rendered useless. There were two older section hikers tented near me and they came over as I was packing up to look at my hammock set up. They also informed me that the Skyline restaurant was open if I were heading that far north today. I was now!I got back up to the trail at 7:15 and just a half mile up the first climb I got three att bars for the first time in days. So I stood on the trail and got my journal updated. Chore done!It was a fantabulous morning on the trail. 37 degrees, sunny, and little to no wind. I took a lot of pictures of the mountains waking up. I availed myself of a short side trail to go to the top ofBearfence mountain. Back at the trail junction I came across Ryan and Easy who I had seen off and on over the last two days. Ryan was ending his 60 mile hike today while Easy is going to Front Royal where he left his car. Those two hike faster than I, but we would usually play leapfrog during the day as they took breaks while I methodically plod along. Plod plod plod, I¢m a plodder. Crossed over a few 3800 footers today and the tread underneath was very rocky at times. The downhills have been particularly vexing for me the last few days as I had injured my right foot on Friday. What had happened is that I was going down a steep incline and had about a 24¢ step down from a boulder, I had planted my left trekking pole into leaves and soft ground so I stepped down with my right foot directly onto a large hidden rock with a nasty point. Ay carumba, that stung more than a little. So now the outer arch on that foot is bruised and very tender. I have to be very deliberate with where I place it, but you can only do so much. My left foot is left to fend for itself. So I rolled into the Skyline Resort about 2:45 and ordered a beer (so so) a burger (not bad) and their signature Blueberry Ice Cream Pie (oh, momma). I couldn¢t finish dessert. I should have remembered my mother inlaws advice and eaten that first before filling up on the non-essentials. I debated staying at the resort, but rooms start at $150 which is a lot in bum parlance. So, I hiked on.A short while later I came across three guys backpacking together just as they were giving directions to a lost hiker. As we were consulting maps and chatting it came out that the young lady was from LA. One of the guys lived in LA for a few years, about 3 miles from where she had lived. She asked where they were from. They said ¢New York¢, she asked where? They said ¢Brooklyn¢.  She said where?  Turns out she¢s rented an apartment for two years about 1 block away from where these three friends live. It¢s a small, weird world sometimes. I hiked on, not intending to go much further than the 16 miles a had already gone. But I couldn¢t find any sites that I liked. There was another Hut about six miles away, but that didn¢t seem in my range, given the trail. As I passed through a picnic area who should I see cooking dinner at a table? Easy. He told me he was too tired to move on and was going to chance camping against park rules at the picnic area. Sounded like a plan to me, so I hiked another quarter mile and picked a spot for the night. So I¢m currently camped at about 3400 feet on a ridge looking out to the west in a sweeping vista. Pretty cool. Not supposed to get quite as cold tonight. So I¢m hoping for an early start in the morning. Warm temps are coming.