Date: 2015-05-03
From: Loft Mountain Campground

To: Hightop Hut
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: few clouds

5/3, hightop Hut, 14We took our time getting out of camp this morning because we were planning to stop in 3 miles for breakfast at a Skyline Drive wayside. Just as we lifted our packs onto our backs Maverick cried out oh no! He had purchased a new pack in Waynesboro, and yesterday was his first full day of hiking with it. When he set it on his back he discovered he had a bruise on his hip. In fact he discovered the pack frame below his belt left a bruise on either side, that made his pack painful to carry. This is the kind of fit problem that can only be discovered when hiking long miles. We decided to hike to the wayside where he would figure out what to do. We arrived at the wayside at 9 just as they opened and Maverick said he had decided he needed to return the pack to the outfitter and get another. In order to do that he decided to hitch a ride 25 miles back to Waynesboro, deal with the pack and then figure how to get back. I may have decided to travel back with him, but I am meeting Kathy and Beef further up the trail tomorrow for our hiking week together. We ordered and ate breakfast and Maverick determined that the outfitter is open today, so we exchanged phone numbers and he packed up and set himself by the wayside entrance toward Waynesboro, and raised his thumb. I was originally planning to catch up with him after hiking with my family, so now he will catch up with me. It may work out better this way, but I will miss hiking with him. I set out back to the trail around 10:30, planning to travel just 11 more and then turn in early to rest up for a 20 tomorrow. The rest of my hike was pleasant and uneventful. The weather today is warm and the only difficulty is dealing with biting black flies. They are starting to get fast enough to catch my ears while I hike, so I have taken to trapping my bandana strategically beneath my ball cap, to cover my ears and neck. It seems to confuse them enough to keep them at bay. Using insect repellant, when I have no shower before bed, is not something I do except in the most serious situations. This situation is very manageable.I arrived at Hightop Hut, that is a shelter in the Shenandoah Park, at 5 pm and found two gentleman having dinner. They were set up to camp out behind, so I have the shelter to myself, and the resident rodent clan. The two looked familiar and we determined tat they passed me slack packing a couple days ago. As we talked I remembered they are section hiking and are on trail for several days, in from north eastern Ohio. We have more in common as well as they are Christian men, and one of them is chaplain at the county jail. We had a nice evening talking hiking, and church, and world issues but we all headed for bed as he air temp cooled around 7:45. It will be an early out for me, and they like to hike early as well.Tomorrow Kathy will pick me up on Skyline Drive either at the wayside at the end of my hike, or along the way if I decide to stop earlier at a Skyline Drive overlook. The AT crosses several of them tomorrow afternoon so I could flag her down anywhere. I may or may not have cell service there, so we have a plan. I just hope the plan works, or worst case I just hike all the way to the wayside. When we all start hiking together it will be from wherever she picks me up so I can continue to cover AT miles. Speaking of miles I crossed the 900 mile mark today. It is hard to believe I have walked that far, but in perspective, it is still short of half my journey. I have so much to look forward to it is hard to believe it is still happening. Thank you for coming along.Silverback