Date: 2018-07-21
From: Skyland Parking 956

To: Panorama Parking 042.6
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: light rain

Forest Diva packed her tent up this morning.  She waited for Hugs and I to shower then drove us to our starting place.  We stopped at a Wayside for coffee and some girl time before we had to say goodbye.  This will be the last time we see Forest Diva for a while.  I¢m hoping we can meet up again when we get to New York.  If not, I plan to fly to Mexico in November to watch her perform.  She has quite a list of adjectives by her name, but world renowned opera singer is one of them!  More than that she¢s a wonderful human being who I am so blessed to call my friend!  The drive to our starting point was a foggy one.  Our morning views were just a grey abyss.  It was also beyond chilly this morning. I have actually been cold all day.  Hikers usually just carry clothing they need for the current season.  It¢s July, so at this moment I have no pants, and only one long sleeved shirt that I sleep in.  Dilemma!  I don¢t want to hike in my only long sleeved shirt and get it all sweaty.  Then what do I sleep in?  I simply had to hike in it today. No choice. Sadly I will sleep in it tonight too.  I¢ll probably have to hike in it again tomorrow as well. Hopefully I¢ll be warm in my tent tonight.  Hugs and I have noticed lately that we don¢t see turtles anymore.  They used to be on the trail every day.  We¢re pretty certain most of them are in Maine already! Haha!!  I guess sloths are slower than turtles! Since we were both cold we hiked at speedy sloth pace.  I began having issues with one of my contact lenses so I stopped to manage the problem.  Hugs hiked on.  Today is the blackberry festival at the Shenandoah National Park so it¢s even more busy than usual.  In my rush to catch back up with Hugs I met a family of 6 hiking the other way.  I love seeing that!  Hiking is a great family activity.  Anyway, about 1/4 mile later I caught up to Hugs. She and I hiked a little ways together when she said ¢where¢s your poles¢?  Oh no!!! The terrain was so nice that I didn¢t miss my poles at all. I had to run all the way back, and pray that family didn¢t pick them up.   The man up front did pick them up, but he turned around to bring them to me.  Somehow he knew they must¢ve been mine. I was so grateful!  The world is full of good people, but hikers are especially good!   We hiked on in silence for quite a while.  I just tuned in to my favorite radio station.  It was cold, but the birdies were chirping. The next thing I know, Hugs was grabbing me in a place I¢m sure she wasn¢t aiming for, but right there was a big beautiful Buck!  They do exist!  I¢m going to say he was a 6 point( guessing). I only got to see him walking away but I was excited! There was a Wayside just ahead so we stopped there for lunch.  It was outside seating only.  Ugh!  We had picked up a cold roast beef sandwich this morning.  We just ate our sandwiches quickly and got moving again before we turned into ice cubes. While we were eating a gentleman approached us asking about our hike and the trail. He said that he thru-hiked a few years back when he was 66 years old. I think he said he is 71 now.  His name is Bloodhound.  He wished us well and as he walked away we noticed he still has calves of steel.  A sure sign of a hiker.  We hurried on our way again.  Thank goodness the terrain was excellent again today. Not much would slow us down, until we met a thru-hiker named Onion.  We were on a slack pack flip flop again today so we get to see all the NOBO¢s still out there.  As soon as Onion realized we are thru-hikers too she said ¢I have magic¢ as she pulled out a tall Coors lite.  It¢s funny, I¢m not even a beer drinker but I popped the top and we three shared it until it was gone.  Soon, her hiking partner Gusto arrived and we said our goodbyes. I took her trash with me since I was coming back to camp.  We only had a little over 2 miles left of our hike. The terrain stayed great the whole way. I looked up and there stood another Buck with a couple of does right on the trail.  He¢s a young buck, but definitely antlers are there. A half hour later we arrived at the Panorama Parking Area.  Our hiking day was done.  Our tents are still pitched at Big Meadows Campground about a 30-40 minutes drive away.  Thumbs up and out!   A couple of very nice gentleman picked us up, Richard and Chandler.  We had great conversation the entire way back to the lodge. We took some photos with them and thanked our final Trail Angels of the day!  Tomorrow we will pack up our tents and hike right on out of the park. It¢s been fun slack packing all around our campsite, but I¢m ready for a real bed and resupply. Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018)Where¢s your faith?