Date: 2009-04-07
From: Ashby Gap

To: Manassas Gap Shelter
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: broken clouds

Going into town tomorrow. Trying to find a hotel with internet service and will do journal entry myself.Miss P & B for TicUPDATE:My cell phone battery showed 2 of 3 on the power bar when I dialed my call last night, then went to 1 bar during the ringy-dingy thing, and then red at the connection. Soooo, here's the full report for yesterdayWord for the day:   Zero day - a day of zero hiking, usually in town or hostel to recover, resupply and relax. Monday night was somewhat challenging. It was almost full Moon, bright skies, cool and windy of course. We camped on what was the flattest piece of land outside a shelter that we had seen in probably two days. I'd say the grade was probably about 3% [Note: Chief Smith has another handle he prefers, so delete Chiew from past references and insert Truckie. Truckie will someday achieve the coveted Person of the Day (POD),; but he's not ready yet.} anyways, Truckie knows my hill inclination expertise well and would suggest that the incline would have been more around a 8 or 9 % grade. Next, we have Terry is slippery satin mummy bag and he he can't stay on the mattress. I woke up several times during the night and even took photographic evidence of the tent interior. About 1/2 the space had Terry's boots and light, Terry's bag took about 3/8 and I had a 1/4. And yes, you perfectioners of fractions, that is greater than 1 because Terry was all over me. I was beginning to fear one of theose Bareback Mountain scenes for a moment. Needless to say, neither of us slept very well that night. I have a name now for my toe: "Big Ugly". Its big and its ugly. But, i need to digress a bit. We have a genetic defect on the Moore side of our family [Note; Lyndy and Corky don't try to deny it because you know its TRUE] Not all of the Moores, only some of the best, are born with the second toe longer than the big toe. Our son Buck is also so favored. In fact, the first two sentences after his birth was the doctor saying it was a boy, and me saying he has my toe. Sorry about that Buck. I have broken toes numerous time in the past. THere's no real treatment, other than tpo use stiff soles and i got that. I figure the toenail will prooooobably fall off in several weeks or so. But,I'm watching it closely and if it gets much bigger or uglier, I'll have a doc take a look at it.Terry also said something abut his toes recently. I don't remeber exactly what it was. either he could see his toes or touch his toes. Anyway, he seemed quite pleased and has comented that his trous are fitting much better now.We got up and left Ashby Gap and had the best hike yet. We had about a 200 foot wake-up climb toour first real mountain meadows. Crossed our first fence stile, which are built diffenrent than the ones in S Texas. We had lunch at Dick Dome's shelter, which apparently is the end of the Roller Coaster section of NoVA. Saw lots of bear sign scat again, even PaPa Bear. Saw an engorged female dog tick, the size of the end of your thumb, and several other carnivore scats I can't positively identify.The maps here are somewhat lacking. It wasn't clear that we had water between certain stops. So we watered up and carried about an extra 10 lbs about an extra 10 miles. There were probably a 1/2 dozen water spots in this gap. [Note to Truckie: The map is your friend; but it is only a guide. Repeat 10 times!]We also passed a train memorial. Saw a wooded cross, the letters "SD" and a plastic flower arrangement. Rest in peace SD.We finally crested out on this section and started a long downhill. It also was the first section where rocks weren't a major obstacle. I think we may have gotten up to maybe 2 mph or more during this stretch. We planned to hike until abouut 5:00 pm and then look for a much flatter spot to camp last night. At 5:00 we were about a mile from the shelter, and not all that tired, plus it had been cool most of the day, snowing lightly most of the time. So, we decided t try to make Manassas Gap shelter. We were there by 5:30, best move of the day. Really proud of Terry that we were able to set a mileage personal best just under 10 miles.The MG shelter was excellent. Only 100 yards off the trail, 3-sided wood shelter, privy (with a plumbers tool!!) and spring water out of a pipe 30 yards away.C/Q of the Day - If you haven't found it, there is a guest book which you can sign and add comments or ask questions. I'll try to answer all in this forum. Freddie from Mount Belview comments: remember to keep your head up and enjoy the view. Ans: Fred - youneed to know these rocks. One false step and it could easily and most likely end the AT trek right there. At best, you'd probably get cuuuut and/or bruise and it worse I could a person getting killed very easily. But, we are taking it easy, trying to be very careful around the most dangerous portions and our trekking poles have prevented falls proobably several times on a daily basis.POD: Phoebe Elizabeth. Phobe, Goddess of the Moon. The Moon has beeen so bright lately, it casts a hard shadow. Happy one month birthday, Baby Phoebe. Grandy.Life is Good