Date: 2015-06-03
From: Blackrock Hut 

To: Loft Mountain Camp Ground
Miles today: 6.0

Wednesday we hiked 6 miles to Loft Mountain Campground where Chris said it would be easiest for her to find us. Although it was early in the day, it was pouring and very chilly out so we decided to wait it out at the campground rather than trek on. The original plan was for a meet up on Wednesday but life throws us curve balls. A good friend of Chris & John's had started his hike after his college graduation in May. Because he started so late he found very few hikers on the trail down in Georgia. Chris and his Mom decided to devise a plan to transport him up to us here in VA where he can get more of the hiker community experience. Chris and Elroy's brother (who is a pilot) flew down to pick Elroy up and fly him up to VA. Their flight got rerouted to Knoxville because of thunderstorms in NC where Elroy was, so they had to rent a car to drive 2.5 hours each way to pick him up in NC and bring him back to Knoxville. That was Wednesday. This morning they flew up to VA to drop him off with us. So today we took our 4th zero day. We had to wait for Elroy till a little after noontime and it is STILL raining. We did have a short visit with Chris and Elroy's brother at the campground before they had to head back to the airport to fly back home. We will head out in the morning and get at least 15 miles in to make up some lost mileage and get through the Shenandoahs. I hope the rain stops by morning.-HootiWe left our tent site at Blackrock Hut about 9am. Drizzle, fog and rain. We hiked 7 miles to Loft Mountain Campground in the SNP where we will be awaiting the arrival of another hiker that will joining us tomorrow afternoon. Not much to report about today's 7 wet miles. We crossed Skyline Drive at least 4 times as the trail parallels the road on either side. We were excited about the Campground as it listed Laundry, Showers, camp store and a restaurant. However when we checked in and got a campsite the laundry was not open and the showers were being renovated so there were portable showers at the restaurant a little over a mile away from where we are camping. In the rain. The staff at the check in station were very helpful and offered to drive us down to the restaurant so we could eat and pick us up an hour later. Which we did. If you had a vehicle this is a great place. The restroom is close and the electric hand dryer is awesome! We were warned that the ticks are very bad and there are 6 very active Bears in the park. We got a site with a Bear Vault and we were told to keep only what was needed in the tent everything else goes in the vault. 8 pm. And still raining. We will see what tomorrow brings.Goodnight.Rained all night and most of the day. Around 10am it slowed to drizzle so walked the mile down to the camp restaurant and had breakfast. The hiker (trail name Elroy) that will be joining us was due to arrive around 1pm so we stayed and waited for him to arrive. We got a ride back to our campsite where Elroy set up his tent. We had supper around 6pm when the drizzle turned to rain again. We retired back in our tents and it's still raining steady as of 9pm. We can only hope for a better day tomorrow. Rain or shine we hike.Goodnight. ~Robi1