Date: 2004-05-30
From: Campsite at Piney Ridge Trail 

To: Tom Floyd Wayside 
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Sam, Pat's long time hiking buddy, picked up a small hip belt for the Osprey at Hudson Trail Outfitters, so Pat should be carrying the weight a little better, or at least keeping more of it on his hips and not his shoulders. Sharon and I, Darrell, rode out with Sam to drop off Amy(Flora and Fauna's friend) and him for the hike to Harper's Ferry. We received a phone call from Flora and Fauna en route, suggesting that we all have lunch together, and heeeeyyy, why don't we drive back to Elkwallow for food there? Sneaky girls.When we made it to Gravel Springs Gap trailhead, we first passed by the parking lot and a hiker. Amy could not identify with certainty whether the hiker we saw in the lot was Flora or Fauna. We swung back around and it was indeed one of her pals from Kansas, Fauna in pink shorts and the infamous sandals. We pulled into the lot and waited for Pat, Dragonslayer and Flora to arrive. Pat had gotten a late start on the day, which is sooo atypical of him.After introductions all around, Sam began the task of shuttling the hikers to Elkwallow. First down were the Kansas Crew, which left Sharon and me chatting with Dragonslayer and Pat while we waited. Pat swapped out his manly medium waistbelt for a petite and ladylike small. At this time Dragonslayer regaled us with tales of Pat's somnolence, about waking him up, and waking him up, and...waking him up. And his afternoon naps... It was at this point that we stumbled across what could become Patrick's true trail name: "Sleeping Beauty". Judging by the other hikers' reactions, I'd say that's a name that might stick.Dragonslayer decided against lunch, as she was trying to make time to her next destination so that she could meet up with the Wicked Lobster. We tried to phone Sam to have him bring her back a burger and some Gatorade, but the reception just wouldn't hold on the mobile phones and we could never get a connection going. Signal strength was a matter of inches, as half a step could drop you from 5-bar digital to 2-bar analog. So, while the attempt was appreciated, it was still a failure.Sam eventually made it back to shuttle us down, we said bye to Dragonslayer and drove to Elkwallow for bland, overpriced hotdogs and burgers. Hotdogs and burgers that were relished as if they were gourmet foods by the hikers.p>The park rangers were apparently making their presence known, and checking back country passes. Pat had already met up with a helpful ranger in the couple of previous days, and that one had been a pal of the Elkwallow ranger, so everything was copasetic. It was Memorial Day weekend, and the park was fairly packed; there were scads of people in Shenandoah. The line in had been long, and we'd passed lots of bikers and motorcyclists along Skyline Drive. Sharon and I would witness the aftermath of a tragedy on our way out of the park that afternoon.After lunch and the ride back to the trailhead, we all made our goodbyes and took lots of photos as the AT thru-hiking crew set off with two new travel companions. At least for a week or so. The weather flirted with the idea of bring rain off and on throughout the day, but all was blue skies and bright sun as they set down the Browntown Trail single-file for the next leg of their AT journey.- DMGuest writer Sam taking over now¢¦Upon arrival at Shenandoah I was shocked, SHOCKED, to learn that Pat had gotten a late start. But we did finally get everyone together, as Darrell described above. It was now time to depart.Note the photo of the group as we prepare to depart. Sleeping Beauty is smiling because he has an old friend to hike with whom he assumes will be able to keep up. Amy is smiling because although she¢s never been backpacking before, she secretly knows she can out-hike the old fat guy to her left. Flora and Fauna are smiling because they have yet to hear me snore. Or perhaps they are already gleefully planning my homicide attempt¢but more on that later. Oh, and Sam is smiling because he is an ignoramus.We set out from Gravel Springs at about 2-ish, with a goal of 10 miles to Tom Floyd shelter. Ha ha, those kidders! Ten miles in the afternoon. Hoo boy, what a zany bunch these thru-hikers are. They crack me up. Then, just to take their little joke to the extreme limit, they actually DID go 10 miles.Hike was pleasant, with cool temps and light drizzle on and off, but I felt good, stopping briefly at mile 8 to do some pre-emptive treatment of a hotspot on my heel. Nosiree, those blisters weren¢t gonna get to me. Enjoyed hiking with Sleeping Beauty again and was able to catch up on the latest with assorted other thru-hikers I¢ve come across. Leki-less, sorry you didn¢t catch up with us. GrassPicker, glad to hear you¢re back on the trail. Uncle Ben, stay low and the cops will never find you.   Arrived at shelter to find Flora, Fauna, Amy and Selma. Sleeping Beauty immediately put on every piece of clothing he had and crawled into his sleeping bag to fix dinner, because the temperature had dropped to a frigid 70 degrees, and we had had little sun during the day to recharge his solar cells.Ate dinner, went to sleep.