Date: 2005-06-12
From: Waynesboro Lutheran Church Hostel

To: Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: light rain

8:53pm - The Longest TimeLast Friday I finally cooked up my final two oatmeal packets which I've been carrying for around 200 miles. I've become a fan of not cooking in the morning but I could never bring myself to just throw away the packets. At long last, though, I had a morning in which I didn't mind dallying. Hopefully it was the last breakfast I'll cook for a long, long time.I arrived at Rockfish Gap with Apple Pie. A nice lady in the visitor center called the trail angel list for us but couldn't find us a ride to town. I then tried Hot Crotch's number and scored. Twenty minutes later the Crotch Rocket pulls in - containing, much to my surprise, Crazy Legs and the Professor. Crazy Legs bailed out the night before at Humpback Rocks due to rain and called Phoenix. Professor had gone to Rusty's and got drenched on the walk over. I was ahead of them yet they beat me to Waynesboro. Hot Crotch dropped Phoenix and Crazy Legs off at Humpback Rock to slack in and the rest of us went to Waynesboro for showers. Afterwards we hit the best Chinese buffet I've ever gone to. It delighted Apple Pie because we found Stilts, Bassline, and Gypsies at the restaurant. She was reunited with her friends.The afternoon was spent checking email and reading. A bit after five an expected face finally arrived - Matt Winters. He came over from Richmond to visit for the evening. I hadn't seen him since my senior year in high school. My parents arrived shortly thereafter, too. We joined the main hiker pack at the local Mexican restaurant then spent the remainder of the evening by the motel pool reminiscing. Matt eventually had to leave, but, man, was it fantastic catching up with him. Hopefully he and Chris Dean can meet up with me later for some hiking.The night itself was unpleasant. I had a nightmare in which I was bitten by a copperhead. I awoke with a start and washed my face in the sink to clear my mind. On the way back to bed I ran face first into a wall hard enough to give me a nose bleed. Just once, I'd like to get a normal trail injury.Saturday morning was occupied with the normal town chores. I'll spare you the details. When finished, it dawned on my folks and me that we were really close to Charlottesville. I called up Ben Darling, my old college roomate, and got directions to his place. We visited with him for a bit and then wandered around UVA campus for a bit. It was strange to see how much has changed since I graduated four years ago. There's a new building next to the library, a pond has been built, and a myriad of new buildings (including a new basketball stadium) are under construction. But the biggest surprise (brace yourselves, Wahoos) was learning that Bodo's Bagels is set to open next week. Yes, that's right, The bagel shop on the corner that first put up a "coming soon" sign a decade ago is actually coming soon. Charlottesville will be deprived of one of its longest running jokes.We went to dinner at the South Street Brewery with Ben and Ned Brush, another college friend and ATU (Appalachian Trail University) class of '03. It was a lot of fun to swap trail stories with Ned. It's amazing how different journeys can be along the same path.I relocated that evening from the Quality Inn to the Lutheran Church's hostel in order to save a few bucks. I joined Low Bridge, Vapors, Turbo Joe, Jaybird, and Cowboy in the extremely hospitable church basement. Unfortunately, it will likely be the last time I see Cowboy. I had just started getting to know him and he has decided to leave the trail. He came over from Jordan searching for peace and solitude. He said he found what he was looking for, so there is no need to continue further. I wish him the best but he will be missed by many.We had to leave the hostel this morning by nine. I was surprised to find my parents waiting outside but it worked out. They shuttled Cowboy and me to Kroger and Low Bridge to the motel. After buying a Father's Day card, I swung by the motel to say a temporary goodbye to the Dream Team. I'll be slowing down through Shenandoah and may not catch back up for several weeks.It was then off to the YMCA to rendezvous with several more familiar faces - Ben again, Mike Diehl, and Rob Smith. We went to Weasie's Kitchen and had breakfast in the proximity of my family (there weren't any 6 person booths). My parents took off and the remaining four headed to the trail. We dropped off Rob's car fifteen miles down the road, Mike's eight, and returned in Ben's to the Rockfish Gap visitor center. Rob and I shouldered full packs while Ben and Mike wore daypacks. We hiked together to Calf Mountain Shelter, where Rob and I dropped our packs. We continued another mile to Sarmen Gap, catching up and discussing the new Star Wars movie at great length before arriving at Diehl's car. It's been a great weekend for reunions. I was very happy to have had the opportunity to do so with Mike before he moves to Denver in two weeks.Rob and I hiked back to the shelter where we met a new group of residents for the night. Spruce and Moose (the Bruces with which Gozar had enjoyed hiking) were there, along with Piker and Miss Mileage. Free Radical showed up before too long and I thanked him for reminding me in the Smokies that PV=nRT through a register entry. Moose, Piker, Miss Mileage and I enjoyed some quality hacky-sack, but the highlight of this evening was clearly the bear pole.In Georgia and the Smokies, bear cables were provided. From there until now, we've had to rig up our own bear bags. In Shenandoah, we've been provided with a fifteen foot pronged pole and another pole to use for hooking food onto the pole. The whole system smacks of providing a game of tetherball for the bears using our food bags for balls. The goal is to hook your food bag onto one of the four prongs atop the fifteen foot pole where it will theoretically hang out of a bear's reach. A long metal rod is provided for lifting your food bag up into the air. The problem is that the prongs are really wide, making it impossible to actually hook a food bag loop over one. It wasn't until somebody hit upon the idea of using a spreader stick in the food bag strings that we were able to meet with any success. Personally, I feel that this is all just for the amusement of the bears.