Date: 2011-05-16
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It was tough to say goodbye again, but hopefully it won't be as long this time. Mary had to leave early and didn't get to have breakfast at the Inn. Breakfast was great with fresh fruit, Omelets, sausage, a sweetbread, and a pot of tea. There was only one other couple, Roger & Hilary, a retired couple from England, that we had met last night. They were great company at breakfast and I had a lengthy conversation with them about many different aspects of American culture. They offered to give me a ride back to the trail after breakfast as they were planning to go up the skyline drive. I graciously accepted and got my things. As I was loading my pack it was beginning to sprinkle. By the time I hit the trail it was pouring. I quickly put on my pack cover and rain jacket and set off. I was quickly saturated from my shorts down, and the weather was cool, so it wasn¢t very comfortable. When I got to the station to fill out my park pas it was raining so hard my carbon duplicate was a mess. I did the best I could but there was no dry area to work. The hard rain lasted about an hour, but it continued to mist, and the trail was a river in some spots. I took lunch at the Calf Mountain Shelter about 7 miles up the trail. As I approached the shelter I met four section hikers and stopped for a quick chat. When I told them my name one woman said she was following my journal and had read all the entries including last Thursday¢s update. It was strange to meet someone who was following my journal that I don¢t know, but at the same time it was nice to know that they apparently are enjoying it. I¢m embarrassed to say that I neglected to get their names, oh well, hi again anyways. After lunch the weather was better and the sun even poked out for a second or two here and there. As I pushed on to the shelter Breeze and Spoon passed by me, they were getting back from Trail Days and said they had an awesome time. As the day wore on my shin was a little sore and my feet hurt. The bottoms of my feet have been numb lately, I think from all the pounding. I don¢t have an answer for that problem yet. The new Dr. Scholl¢s cushion insoles didn¢t really help. Depending on who you talk to Trail Runners are either the answer or a bad idea, so I¢m still trying to work out what I should do about replacement footwear. My shin I¢m just going to watch and I will cut back my mileage if it doesn¢t keep improving. I didn¢t get to the shelter until after 7:00 as I got a late start, and it was pretty full with a lot of tents already pitched. I found a marginal spot and got set up for the night. I ate a cold dinner at the shelter because I was too tired to cook and it started raining again. I thought I found a break in the rain to hang my bag and hustle to my tent, but I was wrong. Once I was out in the open trying to hang the bag it started to really rain again. By the time I dashed into my tent I was quite wet; consequently everything is damp already with the promise of several more days of wet weather. Why is it when I get to the National Parks the weather seems to turn lousy? This looks like it will be the first big test of the trip with extended wet weather, so we will see how it goes.AlanAlan said he met the woman who was following his journal again and her name is ¢Gamache¢ (Hope I spelled that correctly) ¢ so hi to ¢Gamache¢. I¢m waiting on the next camera card and will add pictures to the journal when I receive it. ¢ Mary