Date: 2015-07-03
From: Camp site 1418.1

To: Camp site 1438.6
Miles today: 20.5

We woke to a dry tent this morning; no rain, no dew, no condensation. We also slept well last night as the temperature had cooled a bit. What a great way to start the day.   We started our day of hiking with a nice uphill climb. The trail had a nice smooth incline. The forest was mature with no low shrubs. Count enjoyed this as he was in the lead. There were minimal cobwebs. In fact, only two or three. We had a half mile flat, level, rockless trail. This trail was used for horses to pull wagons of iron ore being mined. Oh, if only all the AT would be like this. We would fly over the trail. Sadly, this trail ended soon enough We crossed a road and a gentleman jumped out if his vehicle. We were hoping for trail magic. But, there was none. He only wanted to talk to us about our hiking. We chatted a bit before heading on to a steep uphill.   We had a rocky climb to reach the top. Outlier and Count were talking about how we think we are lab rats following the little 2 inch by 6 inch white blazes anywhere they go. The scientists are watching us from afar, watching to see how long we will follow these white blazes. Would we follow these blazes over a cliff if they lead us there? Hopefully, we won't find out as we don't want to go over a cliff. Yes, we have some bizarre conversations. But, it helps pass the time and before we knew it, we were going down to Fahnestock State Park. As we were hiking through the park, we came upon Grandma Bear. She asked if we were hiking north. We said yes. She said "I thought I was going the wrong way." She had started hiking this morning and had hiked south instead of north. We turned her around. She laughed at herself and we joined her. At least we haven't did that yet. We hiked up another climb to have a fantastic view of Canopus Lake. It was very beautiful. We decided to have our morning break. The weather was perfect for hiking today, cool, sunny and no humidity. We were commenting about the weather when Grandma Bear came upon us. We chatted with her and then we headed on.   Then we had another climb to Shenandoah Mountain. We hiked the ridgeline. Just before heading down, someone had painted a USA flag as a memorial to the 9/11 victims. It was fading and some of the rocks had eroded. But, it was still a nice gesture. We had a long gradual downhill to a shelter where we had lunch. We took a quick lunch break as we had 5.1 miles to road crossing where we could walk to a deli. There was trail magic just as we started a climb out of the shelter area.    We had a 500 foot climb that wasn't too hard. There were switchbacks, limited rocks and a wide trail. Of course, when we climb up, we climb back down. Then, we climb back up again. This second climb was hard. It was 400 feet. But, it was rocky and there were three summits. After each summit, we hiked down a bit to only have to reclimb that elevation again. It was frustrating. But, we finished the climb which put us on the road crossing near the deli.   We walked .4 miles to the deli. We ordered a sub and had something ice cold to drink. We sat in the back under the shade of a tree on a picnic table. It was nice to relax. We saved half our subs for dinner. So, we indulged in cupcakes and a popsicle. Outlier's daughter was coming to visit her. As we were getting ready to leave, she arrived. She was our trail angel and drove us the .4 miles to the trail. We were thankful for this. As the song by Willy Nelson goes "on the road again", in our case "on the trail again". The trail for the next several miles was very similar to trail we had a few days back, steep rock scrambles followed by steep descents. This has to be our least favorite trail conditions. But on we hiked until we reached the next shelter. We stopped for a short break and retrieved water. Then we started looking for a place to call home for the night.    About a mile later we found a nice flat spot close to an old stone wall. It was off the trail a bit and nicely secluded. Perfect for a stealth camp site.   Camp was quickly set up and now it is time to relax.