Date: 2011-06-12
From: 5.6 miles after the 501 Shelter

To: Eagles Nest Shelter
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: overcast clouds

(In which I discover fluffernutterdillas)We pack up and leave at 10:30am, late by thru-hiker standards. I had been a little worried that we would arrive at the shelter too early in the afternoon and be tempted to hike further, likely a bad idea for new hikers, so I'm glad that we don't leave earlier. My friends have embraced their weekender status, and every time they catch themselves doing something foolish (like when they realize just how much extra food they've brought), they shake their heads and say "weekenders" in mock exasperation. We see Glad Gal and Clutch early in the morning, my first time since the Shenandoahs, and I present ourselves as Portrait and the Weekenders.While we hike we talk about computational thinking and debate which fundamental thinking skills should be taught in the high school and undergrad curricula. Michael makes the case that Algebra II should be replaced by the more practical statistics, and since none of us can remember what was in Algebra II, we decide that this would probably be a good idea. Rain Dance, who just completed her freshman year of college, catches up and we quiz her on her opinion of her general education requirements. She did, she says, just complete a required math course -- discrete something or other -- but can't for the life of her recall what kind of problems they solved for the whole semester, which we take to be a vote against required courses in general.We take our time hiking across the rocky terrain, and with the help of a leisurely lunch break we don't show up at the shelter until 4pm. This timing works out nicely, I think, since the Weekenders are not yet tired, but we still feel that we have hiked a full day. The shelter is already mostly filled with the tents and bug netting of GipCGirl, Sandy from PA, Glad Gal and Clutch. "No boys allowed, there's only room for girls" they say only half jokingly, since there is little room left in the shelter meant for 8, but luckily the weather looks clearer than last night and we all prefer tenting anyway.We do hang out by the shelter for the camp fire though, and I pull out the marshmallows I've been carrying since Pine Grove Furnace to roast and share. Iris wonders whether peanut butter would go well with roasted marshmallows, and I immediately set out to investigate this question. The answer, I determine after combining two melted marshmallows in a tortilla with two scoops of peanut butter, is an emphatic 'yes'. The combination works so well together that I eat three of the fluffernutterdillas in a row, and decide that marshmallows are more versatile than I had previously thought, mentally upgrading them to a high priority resupply food.Mehap shows up while I'm eating the fluffernutterdillas. It's the first time that I've seen him since Pearisburg, and I'm glad to be reunited again. After dinner he, Bean, the Weekenders and I all walk out to a nearby overlook and sit for an hour talking and watching the lights of the distant wind farm appear on the horizon. Here the Weekenders get to listen to and participate in idle trail talk. After Mehap observes that wind turbines occasionally kill bats, we try to decide what bats' other more natural predators are. "Bigger bats?" someone suggests. "Owls?" We try to decide what eats owls, and when we can't come up with anything we deduce that they must be apex predators, though Erik thinks that they are somewhat unimpressive ones to be on top of their food chain. (Milo, the enthusiastic owl fan I met way back on Albert Mountain, would disagree I'm sure.)Mehap tells us of the epic poem that he composed about a washing machine while hiking through the Cumberland Valley. It was a love triangle involving a washing machine, a dryer and himself, but, alas, he no longer remembers the poem itself, so we are left to imagine what might have transpired. When it is dark and we finally walk back up to our tents, I'm glad that the Weekenders have gotten the chance to experience some of the social aspects and fun of the trail, and glad that the trail was able to experience their own particular brand of off kilter humor as well.