Date: 2016-05-13
From: Front Royal, VA

To: Dicks Dome Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: light rain

Final morning at Bear's Den. Dog's are not allowed to sleep inside the hostel, so our arrangement was for me to park my mini-van in the parking lot near the hostel with Jackson sleeping in his crate inside it. I chose a bunk nearest the lot so if there's trouble I can hear him. This morning for some strange reason, Jackson started barking while it was still dark out and everyone was asleep. Concerned for Jackson and worried he'd wake everyone, I crawled down from the top bunk and went to see what was the matter. Assessing that there was no issue, I quieted him down, returned to my bunk and got dressed. I hit up the kitchen next for breakfast and then returned to my bunk to gather all my gear. Debbie was up and doing the same. We tossed all the gear into the mini-van and headed to the lower parking lot to wait for Strings. Debbie and Jackson climbed in with Strings and I drove my mini-van to the Ashby Gap parking lot with Strings following behind. We left the mini-van there and then headed off to US Hwy 522 in Front Royal, VA. I had missed this section between Front Royal and Ashby Gap last year due to the excessive heat. We were now going to spend the next two days tiding that little mess up.After hitting up LOVE'S for coffee, we arrived at Front Royal and said our good-bye's to Strings. It was cool and overcast but not raining. They had a terrible amount of rain the week prior to our arrival and everything was still pretty muddy on the trail. We crossed over Bear Hollow Creek and began our 1000' ascent for the morning.5 miles north out of Front Royal, VA we decided to stop in at a luxurious shelter and check it out for 2nd breakfast. It is the Jim & Molly Denton Shelter. Nice place. It has Adirondack chairs, solar shower, fancy privy, windows in the shelter, steel roof, painted decking, horseshoe pits, separate pavilion with picnic table! Fancy! According to radar, there was ONE cloud in the sky and sadly it moved over us during 2nd breakfast. It started pouring. Wisely we waited it out and stayed dry. I headed out before Debbie and found the trail to be very slick now due to the rain. I had to move carefully as the trail now was heading downhill to a stream and I'd prefer not to fall in the mud. The stream crossing was rather tricky and Jackson and I paused for a bit to wait for Debbie and help her with the crossing. When she didn't arrive, we decided to move on. Around 1:00 p.m. we arrived at a picnic area with a big footbridge that crossed the next stream. There was a nice picnic table so we stopped for lunch and Debbie arrived shortly there after. We all reloaded on water in preparation for the next 800' climb. And that climb was MUDDY! Wow!We arrived at Manassas Gap Shelter around 5:00 and sat down for a snack. We pulled out maps and discussed whether or not we should simply stay here or continue on to our originally planned Dicks Dome Shelter for the night. That was still 4.5 miles away. We moved on with a quickened pace.Somewhere in that 4.5 miles my trick right knee decided to be tricky (usually downhill while in a hurry) but we managed to arrive at Dicks Dome Shelter before dark. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a barking dog who's owner refused to call off of us. After repeated attempts to get her to call off her dog, I turned Jackson lose and the two dogs worked it out. The original shelter was full but a new shelter was being built up the hill and was only a platform so far. We opted to sleep up the hill on the platform and were later joined by two other hikers. We quickly set to doing chores as the light was fading fast. Strangely Jackson passed out in the tent before dinner, got up when I fed him, and immediately returned to the tent. Huh? OK? Chores done, bear bag hung, nature call taken care of, hit the sack exhausted.