Date: 2015-05-03
From: Rock Spring Hut

To: Elkwallow Wayside
Miles today: 22.7

Last night the people around the fire did not go to sleep until nearly midnight. For perspective, everyone inside the shelter was ready to sleep before 9pm. I was very ready to sleep by 9pm. And 10pm. And 11pm. By midnight, I had lapsed into exhausted sleep a couple times, only to be woken up by the raucous laughter and shouting from around the fire. Eventually, they too went to sleep. But I was woken up suddenly when a small waterfall fell from the loft and onto my sleeping bag. Freeball, who was laying above, had managed to open her camelbak and it leaked through the planks. Beside me, Butter woke up as well, since it had landed on his face too. We were both very glad that it was not a cold night. Resulting from my poor nights sleep, I allowed myself a 30 minute lie-in in the morning, so didn't leave camp until 7.30. By that point, the sun had well and truly risen and was going to be blasting me for most of the day. At 9am, I reached Skyland resort and restaurant. I was immediately overwhelmed by the amount of people inside. To my great surprise, Mowgli greeted me. Mowgli, who I had left in Waynesboro and I thought was days behind. Mowgli, along with Laughtrack, Dopey, Stealth and another hiker (Miss Dash) had hiked all day and all night to reach Skyland. They hiked 49 miles in total. It is an incredible feat of endurance, but also completely insane. They all sat in the restaurant looking full, but like zombies. They plan to stay there tonight, and presumably catch up on a lot of sleep. There has been a lot of talk the past few days about the 4 state challenge, which is I think 48 miles in 24 hours. I have no desire to attempt that challenge. I have no desire to even attempt to do a 30 mile day. After even 25 miles, my feet and knees feel wrecked, and I usually stagger into camp, relieved to be able to remain motionless. It is amazing that other hikers are able to do that kind of mileage regularly, but I definitely could not. Skyland has a breakfast buffet, but it was very busy, so I opted for a cinnamon roll and chai latte. Whilst there, I made plans with Smasher and Secondguess. Tomorrow we will reconvene in Front Royal and go to the cinema to see the new Avengers film, and then spend the night in a hotel. It means that tomorrow I will have to get up early and hike 20 miles to Front Royal well before the 6pm film time. I hope there aren't too many climbs ahead! After that, I shot off into the trail. The Shenandoahs really are a great place to go on a family hike, as evidenced by the many, many families I encountered. I think I have seen more people today than I have in the entire past 2 months, excluding maybe the trip into Gatlinburg. A few people stopped me to ask if I was a thru hiker (I think the smell gives me away before anything else). As I get further north, it seems like my thru hiker status is something a bit special and some people are very interested- especially when they realise I'm from England. So all day I waded through what felt like crowds of day hikers, whilst constantly wiping off the sweat pouring down my face. Today was another boiling hot day. Unfortunately, this also meant waves of bugs flying into my face with every step and a full frontal attack if I stopped for even a moment. About 3.30, I had a bit of a surprise on the trail when I encountered Fresh Ground. But this time, he was hiking too! He has been hiking southbound whilst I have been heading northbound. It was great to see him out on the trail, but also bittersweet, as I will probably not see him again (he isn't setting up further north). I hope that this is not a forever goodbye though. If my dream of coming back to the trail with a motorbike is ever realised, then I am sure I will meet him again. After that, I raced on to get to the next wayside before it closed. I got there just in time to get an ice cream and a can of "Beaniee Weenee" (beans and sausages). I wouldn't normally carry a can of anything, but since I'm planning to stealth camp nearby the wayside, I will be able to throw out the can in the morning. Right now, I am cooking my dinner at a picnic table and being attacked by the bugs. I will absolutely need to get a bug head net soon, regardless of how silly I will look. After this, I will have to find somewhere to set up my tent that will hopefully not get me in trouble with any park rangers. For the first time I will have to hang my food bag by myself, since there have been a lot of reports of bears in this area the past few days. With only one day left (I think?) in the Shenandoahs, I would like to avoid encounters with either of these two park features. Fortunately, my tent blends in very well with the greenery. Unfortunately, another random old man has started to set up his very conspicuous red tent in the same area.