Date: 2005-06-06
From:  Loft Mountain Campground/Shenandoah National Park

To: Skyline Drive, mile marker 88.9
Miles today: 9.9

This morning we woke to the sounds and smells of bacon frying! Dad was cooking up bacon and eggs for breakfast....what a delight!Before we headed out, we stuffed our packs, not with our regular gear of tents, sleeping bags, and clothes, but with soft drinks, fruit, and cookies. The plan was to hike as far as Mom's legs would allow her and do mobile trail magic along the way.We had walked no further than one mile, when we snuck up on a bear sleeping about 15-20 feet away! He wasn't one of those small ones you hear are so typical in these parts, I mean a big bear. He had been in the brush about a yard off the trail sleeping, when he heard us coming. He stood up real fast on his haunches and slowly turned and looked to find the source of the noise that had awakened him. The moment he spotted us...ZOOM...down the side of the mountain he went. Those guys are quick, we were unable to get a picture. Ahh, maybe next time.Just a few minutes after that bear, I saw another about 20 yards ahead, hurriedly scooting across the trail. Again, no pictures. Mom was with us and saw them though, so she can attest to it.Our first hikers of the day were Lobster and Train & Raindrop. We shared trail magic with them, for which they seemed very grateful. Mom, Pima, and Bonny hiked with us until Doyle River Overlook at which point all three decided they could use a break. We continued on for another 8 miles or so. Bug and I hiked by and shared with many of our past hiking partners throughout the day: Chuckles & Gotta Go (who got the last coke), Raj, Teach, Dirty Harry, and Pacman. We met alot of folks out dayhiking and backpacking for the week. We did not however, reach our goal of finishing by 12:30. Although we were able to hike fast with light packs, stopping every few minutes to chat slowed us up quite a bit. Mom and Dad were waiting for us at the arranged location, and as it turns out they had been doing trail magic of their own, by giving hikers who needed them, rides. They then took these two hikers back to Waynesboro so that we could regear at the outfitters. I bought some new trekking poles, Leki makalu ultralights. We also bought a few random items like a repair kit for the tent (for when the mouse chewed through the foot), shoe glue, Dr. Bronner's All 1 Peppermint soap, some techwash to renew the water repellency in our raingear, and a couple other things. Hairball and Snowbunny were there and were trying to find a ride back to Rockfish gap, so my folks were happy to give them a ride.After dropping them off, we all headed to Subway to get a bite to eat before going to Walmart. As we all know, going to the grocery hungry can be detrimental to the pocketbook, and in our case, detrimental to the back since we have to carry our purchases. We bought more trail magic supplies, some toiletry items, and resupply food for when Mom and Dad leave to go back home. Once that had been taken care of we went by the post office where we picked up our new Dahlgren (alpaca) socks (can't wait to try them out), a bounce box, and my boots. Bug's replacement pack has not arrived yet though.We went back to Loft Mountain campground and supped on Tuna Fish Spahgetti (another favorite dish) and salad. For dessert it was yummy yummy cherry coke salad. MMMMMMM!!!I am fairly well wiped out at this point, and I have a tooth that has been bothering me. I took some tylenol, aleve, and benadryl at dinner so I am going to call it quits for the day. More to come tomorrow!