Date: 2018-05-05
From: Harper's Creek Shelter

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 27.0
Weather: overcast clouds

With no rain, yet, I was up and out of the shelter by 6:30. Fairly early for me. I had a 2000' climb over 3 miles this morning and I was poised to get up and over it before the rain and potential thunderstorms started. The climb reminded me a lot of the police boot camp I did back in the day. Being woken up out of a deep sleep and pushed to your limits is not extremely fun but I had signed up for both.Once up, I was to essentially walk a ridge with small climbs of 300' or less. The trail paralleled the Blue Ridge Parkway at some points and again I had the opportunity to throw out my trash! Two Clicks and I had met up by now and had our coffee and lunch earlier than usual. The rain had held off for the most part and we wanted our caffeine fix before the skies opened up as we had expected.We ran into a group of trail maintainers working on cutting some blowdowns. Thanks to the Tidewater Appalachian Trail Crew for your hard work and for the orange you so nicely gave me!We began hitting more popular hiking destinations and you could tell it was Saturday. Day hikers swarmed Humpback Mountain as we were descending it's peak. I met a few awesome hikers who asked "you going all the way to Maine?" I answered with my usual remark "I'm trying!" While attempting to be humble. They yelled "you're not trying, you're doing!" And at this point with the miles I had hiked I realized they were right! Other day hikers seemingly unaware of what the AT was simply gave me weird looks. I can understand why though. I really do think I smell beyond typical BO. It's sweat, foot stench and a terrible diet mixed in with hot, humid weather to make a nice ripe smell. The only thing that had helped me were the creeks I had jumped in the last two days.Upon meeting up with Two Clicks and Bags along the trail we all decided to push the 27 miles to Waynesboro. We originally were going to stay at the shelter then do a nearo in on Sunday but man, food is a huge motivator. Thru hikers including myself unintentionally starve themselves in the woods then end up eating so much in town. It's hard to get used to! With that, we were on a mission. Even a hiker further down trail said "that's the pace of All You Can Eat I hear!" He was right, we had our sights on Ming's AYCE Chinese Buffet based on recommendations from a few hikers we'd seen.In our race for fried Chinese food, we ran across a hiker stopped in the trail. The notorious sound of a rattle was behind him and as we approached he said "you guys want to see a rattler?" I'm thankful he had stopped to warn us as the snake was right off the trail! We cautiously and nervously passed by without incident but it was a cool encounter!On arrival at Rockfish Gap, we were surprised to a popcorn food truck where the Blue Ridge Parkway ends and the Skyline Drive begins! I gave a call to the hostel we planned on staying at, Stanimals, and he sent a driver to pick us up for free! Stanimals sounds like that kids snack but it's a really cool place and offers a ton!We settled in and made our way to the Buffet. I put myself in a coma and regretted it after but I was able to sit in the living room with everyone else and watch Borat while relaxing and digesting. It was a good night with freshly washed clothes and I planned my first zero in 400 miles for tomorrow.P.S thank you to all who are reading this. It's really cool to see your guest book entries and sometimes to run into people who know me based on my journal! I try to put in some decent effort into telling of the realities of the trail for both your entertainment, because it is hilarious I think, and for the sake of my memory when I finish hiking. I'd love to hear from more of you so feel free to comment! Thanks Connie for following and your nice words on my journal!