Date: 2009-05-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 115.0

Dear readers,It's been an eventful week since leaving Waynesboro. Let me reiterate how friendly Waynesboro was. It blows Damascus out of the water as friendliest trail town. A shoutout goes to Leanne, the Director of Tourism for Waynesboro who asked G and I if we needed a ride anywhere. She took us to Target on the outskirts of town for a shopping spree! Man, it's been a long time since I've been in Target, and it felt good. Our primary reason for going was a secret birthday mission. Gangsta and I bought men's undershirts and fabric markers to decorate for WindUp's birthday which was the following day. Yes, Leanne was awesome.After decorating a tanktop for every member of the Goonies (the collective name of the crew, most commonly used in registers to imply all of us), we hit the trail ready to take Shenandoah by storm. Okay, so if you read my mom's last entry, maybe we didn't take the park by storm - most people didn't even realize we were thru-hikers, or know what a thru-hiker was. We were expecting loads of trail magic on the memorial day weekend, and instead, we got crowded shelters full of novice backpackers who seemed to think they knew more than us about backpacking. Most of them seemed to be in the demographic of older men (50+) who seemed to think myself and Gangsta were teenagers (yes, someone thought I was 16), and treated us like kids, and figured that since we were females we didn't really know what was up. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to say "hey, why don't you add a decade, oh and did you know I'm a thru-hiker and just passed my 900 mile mark? Thanks, but I know what I'm doing." (sorry, I'm ranting). Also, we passed many day hikers with packs larger than ours, and the recreational weekenders had packs twice the size. No trail magic awaited us, really. Gangsta said we're like C-List celebrities. We get excited when people recognize us [as thru-hikers], and pissed when they don't. Yes, I guess we've grown accustomed to special treatment and getting idolized when we go places. There were a few exceptions to the trail magic, however. The biggest being in the form of WindUp's friends, Flynn and Mora, who came out for a night to celebrate her birthday. They took all of our extra gear in the morning and allowed us to slackpack for 24 miles. Then, when we arrived at the shelter 9 hours later, they had an AMAZING dinner ready and waiting for the birthday girl and her hiking buddies. When I say amazing, I mean they cleaned out Whole Foods. Steak, fresh fruit, hummus, salsa, guacamole, goat cheese, salmon burgers, corn on the cob, chicken cabobs, asparagus, broccoli, squash (all grilled over the fire), birthday cake, and of course, s'mores. They are incredible friends!!!!!! It was the best birthday I think I've ever had, and it wasn't even mine! And of course we were all sporting our "Happy Birthday WindUp" tanktops! Yes, that day was fanstastic. Can you believe I woke up starving the next morning? Thank you WindUp for having such incredible friends.My second dose of trail magic is on a much smaller scale, but by far takes the cake for the funniest story yet. I walked up to my friends Cuppa Joe and Paulman at a Wayside (a restaurant with grilled items, multiple are located throughout the park). I asked about the showers at a nearby campground. They said they were $1 for 5 minutes. I jokingly said "man, I'm gonna need an expensive shower." Then, I went inside and ordered my food. When I came back out, Cuppa Joe handed me $2 and said "the man sitting at the end of our picnic table gave me these singles and told me to give them to you, so you can take a nice long shower." A total stranger paid for me to take a shower. Awesome. I don't know his name or what he looks like, all I can remember was he was a biker. Thanks Mr. Motorcycle Man, my shower was wonderful!Yes, I smelled horrible. WindUp summed it up best, when she said we all smelled like decaying animal carcasses. It's been raining for 2 days and nights. When it's not raining it's hot and humid. Stuff was damp for days. Everything REEKED. Gangsta is sure a rat peed on her pack, it smelled that bad. I knew I smelled bad, and when I can smell me, well, I can't imagine what others think.Maybe that is why I didn't see a SINGLE bear!? Everybody else did. Not me. I hiked most of the days solo, walking quietly and alert, but no such luck. In the registers, peoples' bear counts were as high as 6-12!!! Me: 0. I was so bummed. And, 5 different times, I was within 2 minutes of seeing one! People a quarter mile ahead saw one, Gansta saw one hiking a quarter mile behind me, she also saw one behind the shelter when she went pee, I could go on... I guess I just wasn't in the right place at the right time. Big bummer. Did my stink keep them away? Why do I feel like they were all hiding behind trees laughing at me as I walked by?Yes, overall, SNP was not very exciting. It truly is a long (105 mile), green tunnel. Terrain is easy, which is nice, but can get boring at times. We did some big days though, two 24's, a 21, then two shorter days of 11 and 16. There might have been views a few times the last two days but it was raining non-stop and we were totally fogged in. Yes, we are all grateful to be done with SNP. The one great thing about the park was the Waysides. Each day I managed to have a midday meal of a hamburger, hotdog, and blackberry milkshake. It was a nice escape from the hot/humid or exceptionally wet weather we had each day. And the blackberry milkshakes definitely lived up to the hype. The Waysides also managed to drain the bank account, however. It will probably be the only time I will ever pay over $3 for a hotdog, and that I will actually consider it worth it.Another high to SNP was on the last day I saw Lady Slipper orchids!!! I have only seen them one other day on the trail, about a month ago. We saw six orchids in northern Tennessee, I believe. I saw a cluster of about ten Lady Slippers right next to the trail! I took a bunch of pictures and never saw them again. I think it's a pretty rare flower, although I'm not sure. Aren't orchids difficult to grow, though? I ran into some older gentlemen who seemed more knowledgeable about wildflowers than I and they said they've been hiking in SNP for 12 years and have never seen Lady Slippers until this season. They had counted 75, thus far. Exciting!Yes, after 100+ miles of walking through a forest, we are all ready to be done with Virginia. Currently, I'm in Front Royal and will be in Harpers Ferry on Monday! WOOOO HOOO! Can't wait! I can't believe we're basically halfway. Crossing that 1,000 mile mark will feel good, too! There better be a sign at it! A lot of people have asked me about my body weight. It's funny, men can't seem to keep the weight on. Saint has lost 30 lbs. The girls (myself, WindUp, and Gangsta anyway) have not dropped a single pound! However, the fat/muscle percentages have definitely changed. Muscle has displaced fat. My luv handles have shrunk, legs are more defined, tummies are not so flabby, shoulders are strong. In the words of Gangsta (yes, she said this to a total stranger), "pound for pound, the scale has stayed the same, but we look better naked!!!"Oh, and for some fun trail entertainment, we've started a game. It's called the "catfood can" game. Gangsta bought a can of catfood (Fancy Feast) and the object is to hide it in someone's pack without anyone seeing you. If you get caught trying to pawn if off, you have to hang on to it for another 24 hours. If you find it in your pack, you need to hold it for 24 more hours before giving it to someone else. It's dumb, but fun nonetheless, especially since nobody knows whose got it. And on that note, I think I need to go check my pack because the can of catfood was last seen 3 days ago when Saint had it. I feel like he'd target me and I haven't looked in some of my pack pockets lately.I'll have 1,000 miles under my belt by my next entry! YEAH BABY!Happy Trails,Wags