Date: 2016-05-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 26.0
Weather: clear sky

My last day in the Shenandoah National Park offered a climactic resolution to a week of rain and nothing but fog. After waking up in my tent later than expected, I took to the trail. Seeing family and having a dose of normality for the weekend, posed the familiar challenge of acclimating back into trail life. This was quickly disrupted when I walked right into a bear on trail. Standing not more than 10' in front of me, the bear and I were equally surprised to see one another. I laughed a nervously excited laugh the second I realized what was happening. I slowly backed away from the bear, and he from me. It was a mutually nonthreatening standoff between two beings alone in the wilderness. I took a good look at the bear from my new, more comfortable distance and realized that he was not going anywhere. The bears in the Park, like the deer, seem to have lost their inherent fear of humans. So I put my phone on loud and played Van Halen's "Panama." I'm not sure why this song, it just seemed to be the noisiest I could think of. I then cleared my throat loudly and the bear took off into the woods. Before he disappeared, I snapped one good picture as he looked back at me. Feeling renewed in my sentiment, I continued on.I soon made my way to Elkwallow Wayside, the last wayside before I left the park. Essentially, the wayside system is a touristy, overpriced, pit stop along Skyline Drive, the auto road through the Park. They offer a selection of groceries, souvenirs and food from the grille. While overpriced, the food provides hikers with a hot meal to supplement their nutrition in the middle of the day. I sat there in the sunshine enjoying a nice lunch as I savored the first bits of sun to penetrate the sky in days. I chatted with an older couple from Massachusetts, now living in Vermont, who both had worked for the AMC in the past. I also had the chance to meet a group of SOBO Flipfloppers. "SOBO Flipfloppers." How's that for jargon? Basically what's happening right now on trail is a flood of south bounders (SOBOs) departing from Harper's Ferry, the theoretical halfway mark for the Appalachian Trail. The little West Virginian town is also home to the Appalachian Trail Conference headquarters. This is a milestone, a massive milestone, for any AT hiker. The reason for the traffic, is people seeking a non traditional route to hike the AT in an effort to avoid the crowds. This is called a "flip flop." They start in the middle, hike to one terminus, and then either hike the opposite direction for Harper's, or from the opposite terminus, back to Harper's. These newbee hikers allowed me to reminisce about how far I've come along on the trail since I started. I got pretty sentimental as I gazed off into the distance and enjoyed my meal. All of the hardships and pleasures flooded back to me, while feeling quite seasoned as a thruhiker, I know that this journey is only half completed. Who knows what will be written in the second chapter.As the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped, I felt a familiar feeling in the air, rain. The rain held off as I hiked, but I knew it was coming. I worked over the last 3000' peak that I will see until I reach Mt. Greylock back home. I can't help but feel "the homestretch" closing in. The terrain is much less challenging and I'm only a few weeks from hiking through my backyard. Again, sentimentality flooded my inner narrative as I walked along. Just as I came to the 2900' Compton Peak, it happened. The massive black cloud looming above let loose. Like a tidal wave sweeping through the leaf cover, the cold and heavy rain drops blasted me all at once. Instant torrential downpour. I looked up into the rain and began laughing. My reaction to curveballs on this trail is no longer anger or disbelief, but an elevated level of acceptance; an, "of course" attitude. The thunder rolled around me as I found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time for the fourth or fifth time in my travels. It seems I'm always on top of a high peak and hoping to avoid lightening. Then, as soon as it started, it stopped. There were a few volleys of hard rain, sputters if you will, before the waterworks were instantly turned off. I looked out over the cliffs and saw the storm moving slowly across the rest of the Shenandoahs, their peaks clouded and looming far off in the distance. The rain was behind me at last. At Compton Gap, I moved on to the last segment of the park. A nice flat walk lead me out. It was a wide, flat country road. Tall blades of grass flopped alongside the trail's edge. Each white blaze stood proudly on the wet bark of ancient trees. Everything was alive in the wake of the storm, the birds chirped and sang as night began to creep in. The sun exploded on the horizon in a deep fiery red, bathing all of the forest in red tint. The last bits of rainwater lingering above dripped off the leaves and fell to the forest floor in the breeze. As I walked along the road, I had just enough time to catch one last bear jump into the bushes. It was as if he were there to bid me farewell.Though not my home, West Virginia symbolizes a new hike for me. Virginia consumed me and spit me out raw. As a good friend told me early on in my Virginia Blues, "Once you're raw, it's up to you to decide what happens next. Life right now is like a prism. White light goes in one end, and shoots out a spectrum on the other side. Some of the colors you see you may like. Other colors, maybe not. But once you're raw, it's up to you to decide."It rained almost every single day that I was in Virginia, and I wouldn't trade it for any amount of sunshine. I've been tested in a way that has expanded my limits. I know now what I'm capable of. I know more of these trials await in the second half of this adventure, but right now, in this moment, I feel accomplished. I see myself changing, I have seen myself change. I left in the winter, and walk home with summer."Almost heaven, West VirginiaBlue ridge mountains, Shenandoah riverLife is old there, older than the treesYounger than the mountains, growin' like a breezeCountry roads, take me homeTo the place I belongWest Virginia, mountain mommaTake me home, country roads."