Date: 2018-06-10
From: Paul C Wolfe Shelter

To: Sawmill Run Overlook
Miles today: 15.5

We started off the day in very high spirits. Today my husband and first born were driving down to meet us. The plan was that they would bring our huge eight man tent and set up a base camp at Loft Mountain Campsite in Shanandoah National Park. From there they would take us to the trail head in the morning and pick us up at the end of our hiking day. This way we could spend a few days with them but also get some miles in. We planned to meet them at the Sawmill Run Overlook. We were not in a hurry as we headed out. We had 16 miles to hike while they had a nine hour drive, plus pee stops and a boarder crossing. Just before reaching the road that leads to Waynesboro, I came upon a cooler sitting by the side of the trail. A note attached to it said ¢For thru hikers and section hikers.¢ I held my breath as I lifted the lid. Recently we had come across a cooler on the trail which contained nothing but garbage. This cooler did not disappoint. Inside was cold gatoraid  and clementines. I sat myself down in the grass beside the cooler and partook. Cole showed up shortly after and joined me.After our rest, we proceeded to the road where we found a bag with more clementines and bananas. We shared a banana.My trail app was showing a visitor centre that appeared to be right by the trail. Cole needed to go to the bathroom and decided that he wanted an actual toilet, not a hole. We set out to find the visitor centre. Initially we walked in the wrong direction and came to a group of bikers pulled over next to an information board.¢Are you going to hike all 100 miles?¢ One of them asked, referring to the length of the trail which runs through Shenandoah Nation Park.¢It¢s only 100 miles?¢ I asked jokingly. It took me 850 to get here.¢¢You hiked 850 miles?¢¢Well actually, I think it might be closer to 875.¢ I replied.¢You are my hero!¢ he stated, and I laughed. Then I asked about the visitor centre and he pointed the way.We walked about a half of a mile, half of that up a steep hill, to get to the visitor centre so that Cole didn¢t have to dig a hole. However, when we arrived, the door was locked.Back down the hill we went and retraced our steps back to the AT. I waited at the guard rail while Cole hiked up the trail, trowel in hand. When he returned he was downing another gatoraid. He had raided the cooler one more time.We followed the white blazes along the road for a short distance before they led us back up into the forest. Soon we were at a self serve entry station. We were now in Shenandoah National Park. We moved along fairly quickly until we stopped for a long lunch break. All the food we had left was a tortilla and a packet of tuna each and some cuscus. We ate the tortillas with tuna, rested and resumed hiking.As we hike along the trail each day there is quite often wildlife that hustles to get out of our way. Mostly it is chipmunks and squirrels. The chipmunks seem to have their escape route already preplanned as they make a beeline in one direction and disappear into some hidden safe haven. The squirrels, on the other hand, react in a disorganized panicked fashion. They will head in one direction but then change their mind and head in another. Sometimes they will leap for tiny branches that can¢t hold them, spill to the ground then dart up a tree. They might even stop and stare at us once they are within a safe distance. They are unpredictable and sometimes outrageously funny with their comical clumsiness.Bunnies will watch as I approach, twitching their noses, then silently bounding out of the way. Deer can be silent too, with only the quietest crack of a twig catching my attention causing me to turn and see them frozen there, waiting for me to pass by. But sometimes they aren¢t quiet and it is their graceful bounding that rustles the forest and turning I only catch the patch of their white tails as they leap away.Today I heard a disturbance in the trees as something panicked at my appearance and quickly tried to put distance between us. It was too big to be a squirrel or a chipmunk, and much too heavy and clumsy sounding to be a deer. A young deer perhaps, I thought, who had not yet grown into her gracefulness. I peered between the trees trying to catch a glimpse of what I had frightened. For a fleeting moment what caught my eye was the black behind of a bear. It was running in the right direction. Away.Our water was low so we stopped at a stream. As Cole was filtering the water it began to rain. And then it poured. We only had one bottle filled but packed up the filter and hurried on. It didn¢t take long before we were soaked from head to toe.¢I hope that Evan and Dad are at the road when we get there,¢ Cole said.The rain let up as we reached Sawmill Run Overlook. Nobody was there. We sat down on a stone wall that ran the length of the Overlook. Taking off our boots, we rung the dirty water out of our socks and laid them out on the stones. I pulled out my phone to check for a connection. Bingo! I messaged Mark. What is your ETA?8:30It was 5:00It began to rain again.Cole pulled out the dirt covered sheet of tyvec that we use for a footprint and we held it over our heads. Our bare feet stuck out the bottom resting on our sloppy wet boots. We must have been quite the spectacle. A few cars drove into the pull out to take in the view of the Overlook. They slowed down without stopping and steered clear of where we sat. Clothed in wet attire and no longer generating heat through movement, we began to shiver. ¢ We can¢t sit here for hours shivering.¢ I said. Briefly I contemplated trying to hitch back to Waynesboro, but quickly scratched the idea. ¢We need to set up the tent and get out of our wet clothes.¢Initially Cole didn¢t want to, but as it continued to pour and our shivering worsened, he changed his mind. He headed up the trail to scout out a spot for the tent and returned quickly having located a place not far from the road. Once the tent was up we used our wiping cloth to mop up the puddles and whatever else we could find to dry the inside. Then we stripped off our wet clothes, put on our dry sleeping clothes and crawled into our quilts. In the food bag we still had cuscus, but by then we had drunk the water that Cole had filtered so we had no way to cook it. ¢I just want to go to sleep.¢ Cole said, hunkering down in his bed. ¢I do too.¢ I replied.I sent Mark a text explaining our situation and asking him to get us in the morning. Then we fell asleep, warm but hungry and deflated.