Date: 2013-06-03
From: Jim and Molly Denton Shelter

To: Campsite at mile 998.1
Miles today: 27.7
Weather: few clouds

I traversed two geographic highlights from the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter, the first being the Sky Meadows State Park, and the second being the sadistic and if anything, ridiculous, "Roller Coaster" section of the AT. By the end of the day, I was just under 2 miles from breaking the 1,000 mile marker north of Snickers Gap. I was the first one on the trail in the early morning. The forest was dripping from the rains the night before. The storm appeared to have added a few obstructions along the way too. The most significant obstruction was a large tree that had fallen across the trail, with no clear detour strategy due to dense brush and vine. The tree was covered in three-leaved vine, which I did not think about until heading up a steep field of grass north of VA638. I crawled on my knees beneath wet branches and made it to the other side. About 2 miles north, it had dawned on me that the vines on that fallen tree could've likely been poison ivy! I was first introduced to the appearance of this three leaved vine in the town of Damascus. It was pointed out by a fellow hiker also staying at The Place, on a large tree behind the hostel. Problem was, that there were ump tine other creep crawly vines with three leaves. My confidence level with identification of this vine was not high. I threw my back down on the wet grass, and grabbed the small bottle of Technu Heart Rock had thoughtfully backed in my last cache. Technu is a milky lotion that was originally intended to remove radioactive contaminants from the body, but by fluke, was discovered to effectively interact with and effectively remove the urishol tar of poison oak and ivy...both in the same family I believe. I have crawled through tunnels of poison oak traversing landslides during field investigations, washed intensely with this lotion, and at most broke out with a very light rash. It works most effectively, however, rinsing with cold water, immediately following the scrubbing. I sacrificed some of my drinking water and did the best I could to wash my exposed limbs. I hiked on, trying to shed off my paranoia, hoping, that by pure luck, it was something other than poison ivy! By late morning, I reached the entrance to the Sky Meadows State Park. The AT initially traverses corridors of dense hedges and grassy tread, before it wanders across open grass fields beneath random clusters of tall trees. It was a different flavor of trail from its typical long stints beneath the forest canopy. On the way down a steep hill, exiting the park, a portly man, sweating like a pig, and gasping for air, was waddling his way uphill with the most cumbersome of packs. I greeted him and moved on, wondering if he'd make it to the top of this hill without suffering a stroke. The excess weight had to be a strain on such a relatively small pulsating muscle. By 2:30, I had reached the notorious and sadistic 13-mi section of the AT that the trail builders proudly called the "Roller Coaster". I thought, how could this be any different from the trail north of Georgia? It was a virtual roller coaster all day along lofty ridge lines. What AWOL's guide fails to mention, however, is the terrain, which makes the hike ten times worse. The mid-afternoon air was muggy! I thought, as I always did, that I'd make 13 miles easily by the late afternoon. A short ways in, it became quite evident that the terrain was the limiting factor, not the steep ups and downs (which generally did not exceed 400-500 vertical feet). I cursed the blasted trail and the folks that thought it was funny to make such a senseless alignment. I would typically climb 2/3 up a steep rocky slope and hang over my walking sticks, gasping for air and dripping sweat like tears, upon my feet. I did not have a goal in mind, but realized as the sun rapidly dropped, that I had better make a plan. According to AWOL's guide, the Bears Den Hostel offers a warm bed, shower, laundry, pizza, and a pint of Ben & Jerry's for 30 bucks. This was beginning to sound really good. My energy, however, was running low, partly exhausted from the heat, then the relentless terrain. I decided to stop short of the hostel by only 0.5 miles, when a perfect, tranquil campsite next to a stream appeared by dusk. I remember seeing a camp chair fabricated by an abundance of duct tape and twigs. It certainly wasn't going to support even my emaciated weight of 190 lbs, but I tested it out of curiosity, and failed it. After dinner, I crawled into my tent, away from the relentless bugs, and listened to the nearby highway late into darkness, before closing my eyes.