Date: 2018-06-09
From: Hughes River Gap stealth site

To: Stealth site south of Milam Gap
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: overcast clouds

It's a comfortable morning, but we sleep in til nearly 7, exhausted after a long day of driving, climbing, and hiking. Breakfast is a yogurt squeezer and poptarts. I'm not hungry but my daughter has her appetite. We pack up and leave our stealth site. We were lucky to find it, and we are soon to learn that they are few and far between in this central part of the park.For the first couple hours we climb up Stony Man, the second highest summit in the park at 4011 feet. On the way up from Little Stony Man Cliffs we suddenly see a bear in a tree about forty yards downhill from the trail. He slept in later than us! He's grown but not large. He's heard us and climbs down (what's called "treeing" a bear). We're a bit nervous as he's coming down but keep moving slowly and making noise. I manage to get a picture. He has no interest in us, though. He hangs out at the bottom of the tree tending to his business and ignoring us as we hike on. At the summit of Stony Man the view is spectacular. Layer upon layer of blue-hued mountains recedes to the hazy horizon to the north, south, and west. We can identify the entire northern third of the park, Hawksbill to the south, and more beyond. After a brief mistaken detour on a horse trail on the way down, we follow the AT to Skyland resort. Their restaurant is still serving breakfast and we are both hungry now. The waitress asks if we want to order off the menu or get the buffet. "Buffet please!" we say without thinking twice. There's pancakes, bacon, sausage, grits, eggs, potatoes, biscuits and gravy, and an omelet station. We're not the only hikers it has attracted. We leave well satisfied, if a little slow and groggy.Most of the day we follow the trail along the side of steep hills plummeting away from Skyline Drive. We are spared traffic noise and the trail is well-built and level with rock retention walls most of the way. It is mostly rocky, but the elevation changes are minimal. However the rising temperature and humidity take a toll and wear us down. We skip the one and a half mile round trip to the summit of Hawksbill, the park's highest peak, with it's 500 foot climb, to conserve our energy.We pass numerous northbound thruhikers, section hikers, and dayhikers. It's a busy June Saturday with good weather. But it never feels crowded. Just close to civilization.We make it to Big Meadows campground and lodge around 4 and hike around to the far side to reach the Wayside. Burgers, soda, and a blackberry milkshake, a park specialty, perk us up. I find AT passport stamps at the visitor center, and my daughter finds an AT/Shenandoah key ring to hang from her pack in the gift shop. We resolve to put a couple more miles behind us to keep tomorrow's mileage down. Thunderstorms are expected starting mid-afternoon into Monday. We pass the sprawling grassy meadows that give Big Meadows its name and follow the trail for an easy two miles towards Hazeltop mountain. Halfway to Milam Gap we see a buck grazing on shrubs in the middle of the trail. We watch for a couple of minutes. There's a doe off in the brush as well. The buck sees us but doesn't seem inclined to move. Finally we need to press on, and have to shoo him off the trail so we can pass. He reluctantly steps back, more like a stubborn cow than a skittish deer. We hike on through Milam Gap and start looking for a tentsite. We quickly find a flat, smooth stealth spot 30 yards off trail on a rare wide, flat ridge. After setting up and relaxing for awhile with the flaps open, we hear someone walking around outside. Must be another hiker looking to tent. But no, it's a doe! She looks curiously at our tent then slowly moves on.We are once again surrounded only by the sounds of birds and the occasional coyote as we drift off to sleep.