Date: 2010-05-20
From: Three Ridges Overlook - BP mile #13.1

To: Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 25.5
Weather: clear sky

Day 53 ¢ May 20, 2010What a great stay. For those who want a nice trail experience, this place rocks. The owners understand hiker mentality and work around the requirements and nuances that hikers have. But today is the end of my stay. Bummer. My goal is to go 25.5 miles passing Rockfish Gap, by-passing Waynesboro, and land right before the southern boundary of Shenandoah National Park at Calf Mountain Shelter. After this point, the shelters become huts through SNP.   Ahhh ¢¦. Soon I will be experiencing the magic of the Shennies. Where thru hikers say the magic words that only they know and escalators magically appear to whisk you up the hills. The best part is that you still get credit for the miles. A place where you do not need to carry the weight of food since food stops magically appear as you get hungry. Where the bears stop for photos with you and the family. Where scree fields are evened and filled with gravel so you won¢t twist an ankle. Ahhh ¢¦. The magic of the Shennies.I was moved from the bunk house into a private room yesterday to enjoy my zero day. It was a nice room complete with TV. Of course the weather channel is all I ever seem to watch. Nice weather is expected for the next two days and then a chance of rain kicks in again. Up at 6:30. Since I had a bed, my pack was packed last night and I go to the dining area for coffee. Much different then last hike, as drinking coffee is something that I do whenever I have a chance. The Doc is already there with his crew. Breakfast is served right at 7:00. With breakfast done at 7:20, I get my ride to the trailhead.The day has started out nice. The owner stops at a lookout and explains the last 25 plus miles that I hiked pointing out the Priest, Spy Rock, Three Ridges, the gap of the Tye River etc. It was actually really nice to see it all in one panorama view. Then on to the trailhead where I get out and quickly start my hiking day. Of course, the recent availability of a flushing toilet does not matter. Now nature calls and I need to find a reasonable place to go among all these rocks. In addition, with the recent rains, the side brush is still completely soaked and is a tick wonderland. Either way, nature calls and the calling was answered. By the end, my shoes were soaked with the water on the brush and my ankles were nearly broken headed out of site of the trail.The trail for the day is actually reasonable. The rocks still appear but you at least have some good tread to stride out. My 18 miles to Rockfish gap went quickly. Coming down the hill I could see the gas station was closed. Since I ate most of my snacks in the morning hike, I was hoping for a small resupply of candy and/or nuts. No big deal. I then stopped at the visitor center anticipating a vending machine where I could grab a snack and a soda. Nope. None there either. At least I was able to get my water bottle filled from their water cooler. The hotel up the hill where I stayed one night in 2006 looks abandoned but they tell me it is still open. It does not matter since I plan on moving on. And that is what I did. I had seven more miles to reach the shelter. Just past Rockfish Gap was the permit station for SNP. I filled one out and on I went. Within the first mile or so I came across several people carrying gallon bottles and backpacks full of water from a spring just off the trail. Ok ¢¦ why not I guess. The trail conditions were reasonable and the general climb began right out of the gap. With SNP you go up and down 300-700 foot bumps with a general elevation gain until about Big Meadows. After big Meadows you do more bumps then go generally down until Front Royal.   At the Shelter were a couple of guys I was with at Dutch House. They stopped off in Waynesboro and each picked up a beer and a bottle of wine which they were enjoying at the shelter. Also there were a German man and women who, although are not hiking together, happened to meet up there. They seemed to be enjoying speaking their language with someone who understood it. Also there was a man from England. London, I think. There were also several tenters who never came to the shelter.It was fun talking to everyone and joking about the ease of hiking the Shennies. With the day done, I headed to the top platform to go to sleep. During the night, I heard something running in the shelter that was clearly larger then a mouse. In fact, with all the clanking noise it made, it sounded more like a possum or raccoon. It kept running past my head jumping down to the lower level and began crunching on a pack or food bag. Then it was shewed away, jumped back up to my level, again past my head, down to the other side and began crunching on a different pack or food bag. This went on for at least an hour. The two hikers who had the wine and beer seemed to be the slowest to react. I know one of them cooked a meal earlier but did not eat it. By the sound of it, I suspect the animal was having a feast. Over the next two days, I was told by two other parties about the very large rat that occupied this shelter. They are not kidding. This is the first time in nearly 3000 miles of hiking the AT and staying in the shelters that I came across a rat instead of a mouse. It was big, it was active but since it did leave me alone, all is ok for tomorrow it is all about the Shennies.      (F)at (O)ld (G)uy - FOG