Date: 2004-06-04
From: The Woods near Laurel Springs Gap

To: Waynesboro, Tree Streets Inn
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: overcast clouds

¢Incredible!¢ ¢Unbelievable!¢ ¢Statistically Improbable!¢That¢s how I began my Journal entry to describe the coincidence of running into ¢Meanderthal¢ immediately upon my return to the Trail. Well, in that case what should I use to describe today¢s coincidence¢¦¢Double incredible!?¢ ¢Beyond unbelievable!?¢ ¢Statistically not- anywhere-in-the-cards!?¢ You can see I am excited about what the day had in store for me! But before I tell you about my coincidental reunion with an old friend, let first set the stage for you. The day began at 5:05 a.m. when, in complete opposition to the weather forecast, the first drops of rain plip-plopped their way through my mosquito netting and hit me in the face. About the same time ¢Polar¢ let out a surprise ¢ What is going on here?¢ and her Goldie ¢Jack¢ harrumphed. Within moments we were all in action attaching rainflies and getting gear in out of the wet. Ready or not a gloomy day of rain and fog had begun. After a quick breakfast we were all soon on the trail headed towards Rockfish Gap in Waynesboro, VA. All very wet!With little to see along the way besides the rock staircase dubbed ¢The Stairway to Heaven¢ my attention was on the slippery footing of the rocks underfoot that made up most of until Trail half way down Humpback Mountain, (as one hiker put it in one of the Shelter Logs, ¢How can Pennsylvania be any rockier than this?¢). Between the rocky footing and the steady rain there were only two things to concentrate on¢staying upright and putting one foot in-front of the other. I was successful at doing both of these tasks and consequently, covered 9 miles to the Paul C. Wolfe Shelter in just 3 hours and 15 minutes. I stopped there for a bowl of hot Top Ramen chicken noodle soup and a PB, honey and GORP burrito around 10 o¢clock. After my break I followed ¢Goodtimes¢ and ¢Blueberry Bert¢ down to the Rockfish Visitor¢s Center, chatting intermittently with them along the way. Once there I wasted no time sticking out my thumb and was quickly picked up by a fellow named Brian who drove me directly to the Tree Streets Inn where I had made arrangements to stay. (So there, ¢Wilson¢, who needs you anyway?!)I had just finished unpacking and spreading out my sopping wet gear around the attic when one of the Innkeepers, Bill, stuck his head in my door to introduce me to a fellow AT hiker named ¢ Stretch¢ I had seen various entries by ¢Stretch,¢ in the Shelter logs for the past several days in the shelter logs. ¢Stretch¢ turned out to be none other than Joe Schmidt, a friend with whom I had worked for over 9 years at Black and Decker, back in the 80¢s and whom I hadn¢t seen for over fifteen years. Who would have ¢EVER¢ thought that he and I would both be drawn to hike the Appalachian Trail, let alone in the same year? On top of that I wasn¢t even supposed to be here, today, anyway, based on my original plan and Joe was here only because the Quality Inn was sold out when he had arrived in town. The only way Joe made the connection between ¢Bumpo,¢and my real name was because the B & B had one of those old fashioned registers and I had signed in just ahead of him. What a surprise! What a coincidence! (Somebody once said that a ¢Coincidence can be viewed as God keeping his anonymity.¢ Humm¢¦. Is it odd or is it God?¢) After running errands (laundry, grocery, outfitters, Post office, etc.), Joe and I met on the porch and began a rambling, fun, process of updating one another as we shared key events and milestones from 1989 through the present, with a heavy emphasis on the past few months, of hiking the Trail. Like all true hikers our conversation eventually got down to the same basics: gear, food, people, places and experiences. It was a delightful evening and one I shall not forget.It¢s good to reconnect with an old friend, that¢s for sure. Now, after a real steak dinner and having rekindled memories of our ¢bear club business days,¢ it¢s time to get some shut-eye in a real bed.