Date: 2016-04-22
From: Dick's Dome Shelter near Sky Meadow State Park

To: Sam Moore Shelter; Northern VA
Miles today: 15.3

15.3 miles in 9.5 hoursDick¢s Dome Shelter (984.6) to Sam Moore Shelter (999.9)Showers until noon, clearing, partly cloudy all afternoonDinner: Beef veggie stewWildlife: Turkey, scary bunny, deer, loons (?)Hikers: Several sectional and weekenders, Victoria (now Nera) from the Turbo TroopLast night I was flying. I was able to move across the sky grabbing onto building peaks like one does. When they are dreaming. Maybe it's my subconscious thinking I should be moving faster and doesn't know what to do with these elongated days spent concentrating on just walking. Light showers started just as I left camp this morning. Put on the pack cover and took out the umbrella. I¢m swearing by umbrella use. I stayed dry and was a normal hot from hiking not from wearing a rain jacket. The trees are now greening for real and trilliums, moonflowers and may apples (?) carpet the forest floor. Hiking through Big Meadows State Park was pleasant and it was there where I startled two deer and later was startled by a bolting bunny. The signage indicating trail directions and distances to places like the Bear Den Hostel, my destination for Saturday, in this park rocked. Stopped for lunch after 9 miles at the Rod Hollow Shelter to get out of the rain, change into dry socks and write. During the hour I spent there, the rain stopped. Next up: The roller coaster. Even though I ¢only¢ had 6.9 miles to go in order to reach the next shelter, those miles are part of 13.5 miles of continuous ascents and descents, hence the ¢roller coaster.¢ I left Rod Hollow Shelter at 2:30 and it took me 4.5 hours to get ¢home¢ tonight. Today¢s hike had me cross a four-lane divided highway and past the smoldering ashes of a small forest fire. So yeah, yesterday's alert was correct in one sense¢¦there was a fire, but it wasn't where I expected to find it and it was small. I met two weekenders at the top of the second roller coaster hill where the fire had been and apparently had just missed the firefighters. The guys also told me that storms were expected around 10 p.m., so I was really hoping to get in the shelter tonight. The first hill of the roller coaster was pretty. The morning rain was evaporating. Sun-dappled trees and filtered light. Trilliums. Birds singing. The pine-needle strewn trail meandered for a bit at the top of the hill amidst a jungle of lichen-encrusted boulders. Then it went down to a babbling brook, where the next hill started heading right back up again. The second hill held the novelty of that little fire. After that, I just wanted to get to my camp destination. Yes there were pretty little streams in the gaps between each hill, but then there was another freaking hill. II stopped noticing much of anything, well except for a few big yellow and black striped centipede-like critters I attempted not to crush. The Sam Moore shelter is in a lovely location.. I like it better than the Rod Hollow and happy I pushed on. It's a three sided log-cabin facing a spring. The water is flowing enough for me to be able to take a bottle bath adjacent to the stream and out of sight from everyone. Even the outhouse is nicer than the one at Dick¢s Dome. And best of all, fellow Appalachian Trials Turbo Trooper, Victoria, is here. My first night with both another solo female and a Facebook Group friend. She started five days after I did, but had to leave the trail because her dog was having problems with her saddlebags. ¢Mountain Man¢ has a German shepherd ¢Pepper¢ with him and Victoria got some dog love. The guys had a cheery fire grouping as I arrived and had set up tents in the adjacent sites. We all hung out around the campfire until the rain started falling. Glad there was room at this Inn tonight. Musings: I¢m not having too many problems going uphill although I do take quite a few stops from time to time. I find myself thinking of it as reversed skiing (when I¢m not trying to avoid stepping on colorful centipedes. Or salamanders. Sometimes I plant both trekking poles like I¢m going for more speed (still propulsion, just not in the same gravitational pull)   and other times I¢m alternating them like I¢m cross-country skiing.