Date: 2015-07-27
From: Thornton Gap

To: Gravel Springs Hut
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: light rain

I took a zero day in Luray on Sunday. That gave me the time to shop for resupplies, launder my trail clothes, see something of the town, eat real meals, and generally rest my weary body.After that zero day on Sunday, I was blessed with a trail angel on Monday morning! The president of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, Dick Hostelley, agreed to give me a ride from my motel in Luray to the AT trailhead at Thornton Gap. Many towns along the AT have lists of volunteers willing to give hikers a ride to or from the trailhead near their town.   The local Outfitter in Luray had given me this list when shopping there on Sunday. And I lucked out on the first call! Donations to the trail angels were optional, and I did take advantage of that option. Hey, he agreed to drive me 8 miles to the trailhead.Dick wanted to get an early start in the morning to which I agreed. I was at the trailhead setting the length of my trekking poles just before 8:00 am.My destination on the AT that Monday was Gravel Springs Hut, a little over 14 miles ahead. There would be no stream or other reliable water for the first 8 miles of the journey. That meant carrying a full supply of water with me, along with new food supplies from Luray. Water is one of the heaviest components of a backpack - a full load of food being first on that list. Bottom line: a heavier pack for this first leg of the trip. And that first leg would be uphill, but only for a couple of miles.Of course the first few miles of the trail were a steep uphill. It was a humid day and the temperature rose quickly. Sweat poured forth as result. Those nicely laundered hiking clothes were quickly sodden with perspiration.I did have an interim objective, however. The Elkwallow Wayside was about 9 miles ahead. It was a camp store and grill. This meant a hot lunch, plus the last chance for a blackberry milkshake! My short-term motivation was high.I should tell you that I subscribe to the "take 5" rule every 60 to 90 minutes. That is, stop, take the pack off and sit down for 5 min every hour. Of course, the availability of a suitable rock or clearing on the trail determined exactly when I would stop for said break. Those brief breaks help immensely with muscle fatigue. Gives the body a chance to rejuvenate. Quaffing down an energy bar every 2nd or 3rd break also brings my performance level up noticeably. One burns a tremendous amount of calories slogging up and down mountains with a heavy pack.It was just after a "take 5" break that day that I saw them. I hadn't gone more than a city block after the break when a mama bear and two cubs popped out onto the trail not 50 feet in front of me. Stopped me cold in my tracks. Mama saw me immediately and looked worried. The two cubs were as cute as any store-bought teddies. I chose not to scream to try and frighten them. Instead I spoke firmly and asked mama to move off the trail with her babies. They all turned tail and quickly waddled away from me up the trail. Again, very cute. And boy was I relieved!I got to Elkwallow Wayside about 1:00 pm. Two miles per hour is about average for me on mountain terrain. I got a hot sandwich, my Blackberry milkshake and some other incidentals in the camp store. Thunder was rumbling in the distance. Elkwallow wayside has the disadvantage of not having any cover over any picnic tables - all are exposed. I chose a spot near the johns that provided some cover, ate my lunch and watched the brief rainfall.After lunch I headed out onto the trail north towards Gravel Springs Hut (shelters are called "huts" in the national park). There was a 1,000 ft climb over two miles immediately ahead of me. Not huge by the standards of thru-hikers, but a challenge for this section hiker. I'd need the energy provided by that nice lunch and rest to tackle it.Just as I hit the AT from the "blue blaze" side trail to Elkwallow I ran into Lil' Bean again (thru-hiker). What a nice surprise! She was headed in the same direction. It would be nice to have some company on the trail - provided I could keep up with her. Chatting with Lil' Bean on that uphill would take my mind off the pain (somewhat). I tactfully suggested she take the lead to set the pace.So we hiked and chatted - or should I say Lil' Bean chatted and I mostly listened. Since getting separated from her hiking companion, Gadget Girl, Lil' Bean had been hiking alone. She likes to talk and I'm sure she appreciated the company as much as I did. As we hiked uphill, Lil' Bean continued to talk as I struggled to keep up. On occasion I was able to get a word in edgewise. Then it happened. She was hiking almost effortlessly in front of me when she started to twirl both trekking poles like batons. Like batons! I was digging in my poles and pulling for all I was worth to help propel me uphill as my tired legs pushed. And she was twirling her hiking poles!I reached a new speed in my uphill hiking that day. I only hoped she didn't slow herself down too much for my sake. Lil' Bean had also stopped in Luray for supplies and was carrying a heavier pack than normal (remember, it was still about the same weight as my backpack). That may have been to my advantage and allowed me to keep up.We caught a nice downhill to Gravel Springs Hut and arrived a couple of hours later. There we met Tarzan, another thru-hiker. After a brief rest, Lil' Bean and Tarzan decided to hit the trail again and hike another 8-9 miles to the next shelter. Lil' Bean was anxious to try and catch up to her traveling companion, Gadget Girl, who'd left a message for Lil' Bean in the Gravel Springs Hut log. So, off they went at about 4:00 pm.Every shelter or hut has a log book. Campers or those just passing thru (like Gadget Girl) typically put entries into the log. Sometime it's a note for another hiker. More often it's information about their personal hike and/or their stay at the shelter or surrounding campsites (there are typically many level campsites near each shelter for those who wish to tent camp). This log book warned of a copperhead snake that lived under or near the hut. Just a few days earlier, an overnight hiker found the snake wrapped around his shoes at the hut. I decided to keep my shoes in the hut on the floor that night rather than on the dirt in front of the hut. Worked.I thought I was going to be all alone that night in the hut area. After eating my dinner (freeze-dried something rehydrated and eaten from a glorified zip-lock bag), three other young hikers blew into camp. From their equipment and supplies it looked like they were pretty inexperienced. They brought a big black pot and a huge bag of bloody steaks for their first night on the trail. We spoke briefly about bears. Fortunately, they chose to cook their steaks far away from the picnic table that sits in front of each shelter. They were kind enough to offer me some, but I declined having eaten my gourmet dish. Besides, I didn't want that smell on my body. Bears have an olfactory capability 7 times greater than a bloodhound.The 3 young hikers elected to tent camp that evening, so I had the hut to myself. I had already spread out my bivy sack (pictured)on the deck of the shelter, inflated my air mattress (put inside the bivy) and put my sleeping bag in the bivy. It is a very light bivy weighing only 7 ounces, and it has a bug net over the face area. An elastic string can be tied to a nail or other support above the bivy and keeps the bug net off my face. The whole idea for using the bivy is to keep the ever present mice from running over me during sleep, along with keeping spiders and other insects at bay during the night. It basically acts as a small tent inside the shelter.So, at hiker midnight (9:00 pm), I turned off my headlamp crawled into the bivy and got another great night's rest. That Neo-Air mattress made all the difference. Oh - and I kept my shoes inside the shelter too.....