Date: 2013-09-27
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Jarman Gap
Miles today: 25.2

DAY 110MILES ON AT FOR DAY- 25.2MILES TOTAL FOR DAY- 25.2Surprisingly even though we went to bed late, we woke up pretty early and were out by 8am. At least UPS, Nectar, and I were. Said goodbye to Sisu and we were off to the wayside for breakfast! The other guys were getting a ride back to wayside so we would see them in a bit.We hiked an easy 4 miles to Loft Mtn Wayside. Nectar hitched on skyline drive because her feet were killing her. And of course all the other guys were already there. I had coffee, a breakfast sandwich, and home fries. After I managed to let that settle I had my last blackberry shake since it was my last wayside. So sad.Nectar obviously needed new shoes badly so she was going to go into Waynesboro with the guys who were planning on yellow blazing there. Alex would drive them all in. It was about 30 miles away on the trail. Spits was meeting a friend in Waynesboro so he was going to road walk 25 miles. It was just me and UPS who were stickin to the trail. Thanks to Furprittius and his sweet talking, we ended up getting slacked so we decided to do an extra 21 miles on top of the 4 we had already done. They would take our packs and then drop them back to us along with Nectar later. Pretty sweet deal!After food and finally figuring out the logistics, we got going around noon. It sounded like a lot of miles after noon but we were slacking so we would fly. Right after we got back on the trail we hit the 1300 mile mark! Always feels good hitting another mile marker. At one of the road crossings we met a couple passing is who said to be careful at the road because a motorcycle had hit a cub and the mother would probably be lurking around. So sad I couldn't believe our friends hit a bear last night and then someone hit another one this morning. It really must happen often. Thankfully the driver was ok and we didn't see the cub at the road. I couldn't handle that.Not long after we saw a live cub ourselves. Right on the edge of the trail the smallest one id seen yet scurried down a tree and took off. While UPS and I were hiking and talking I also passed by a buck that was literally 10 feet to my left and scared the shit out of it and myself. I didn't see it till I was next to it because I was distracted and when we met eyes we both jumped haha.We came out to a nice spot called Blackrock that felt almost like we weren't in the Shenandoahs but in PA or NH. It was extremely rocky and had amazing views! You could start to see a few trees on the mountains changing. It was the first time I had noticed that fall was here and that the leaves were changing. I couldn't wait until they were at their peak.At the gap at the bottom of the mountain we ate lunch. Nice chicken ceased wrap from the wayside and the last of my blackberry chocolate (blackberry flavored foods are quite popular in the Shenandoahs)! After that it was time to kick it up a notch and try to finish before dark. We were making great time. Right around 3mph. Ahhh how I wish I could slack pack all the time!Right after our break we saw a bear crossing the trail! It stopped right in the middle of the trail and I managed to get a picture but it was far and blurry. This was probably the biggest I'd seen yet. The trail was easy the rest of the way. We got turned around in one spot due to some stupid green blazes painted on the AT but didn't waste too much time. It was dark and we had been hiking with our headlamps for about 30 min. We were about to start uphill to the shelter a mile away when Nectar called. They had good for us and wanted to stealth down by the road. Food! Wahoo!Where we waited by the road a stick bug happened to be as well. We just observed it. Closer than I ever had before. As UPS said its amazing how evolution works. These bugs evolved to look like stick to not get eaten. Pretty crazy to really think about.Finally the gang showed up! And with pulled pork sandwiches and french fries!! I was in hiker heaven. We gobbled our food down, said bye to Alex, and then they were back to Waynesboro. Nectar, UPS, and I literally walked about 100 feet down a fire road near skyline drive and plopped down. Good enough spot for the night!