Date: 2009-06-12
From: Loft Mountain

To: Big Meadow
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: light rain

Empty Bear BoxIt rained again overnight, but we awoke on our own private vista to a beautiful sunrise. having learned of several nice waterfalls in Shenandoah we decided to hike the AT back south to a side trail that led to Doyle Falls. It was hot and muggy again, but the trail was mostly downhill coming off Loft Mountain and the hiking was fairly easy gong down. We only partially packed up that morning and left our bags in our tent in case it rained again - and so we wouldn't have to carry them to the falls. We threw our food bags in a bear box at a nearby campsite at the Loft Mountain Campgrounds so no critters would tear op our tent trying to get our food. It was a 5 mile hike down the mountain to the falls, which were beautiful. The upper Doyle Falls were a split level waterfall that fell about 45 feet. Einstein had fun playing in the water and we climbed up the the second level to stand under the falls. It was very refreshing - and slippery. After eating some lunch we hiked down to the lower Doyle Falls, which was a little more treacherous getting to, but very worth it. It was a 70 foot water fall over polished rock and some very unique rock formations. After playing around there and taking some more pictures we headed back up. The downside to hiking 5 miles down a mountain is that you have to hike 5 miles back up, and it was a pretty steep and rocky climb. The sun was hot and it was still quite muggy from the rain, so we were completely soaked with sweat. But we kept pushing on back up the Doyle river Trail, then back to the AT and eventually back to our campsite on the vista. By the time we got there we could see another ominous black cloud rolling in, so we took our tent down quickly, packed our bags and headed back to the nearest campsite to retrieve our food bags and Einsteins Pack. when we left it we had noticed an old supply of condiments had been left in there. We had put them together to make room for our food bags and planned to throw them away at the campgrounds upon our return. But when we got there to retrieve it all the box was completely empty, save for a note taped to the bottom that said our belongings were at the ranger office. Our hearts sank. Not so much at the prospect of losing our food bags, which would be costly and aggravating enough, but we couldn't afford to lose Einstein's pack which was pretty expensive and would be hard to replace. We headed to the campground office where a Ranger greeted us and we told him we thought he had our food bags. His face dropped, then he told us he did. He went to get them and came back saying that everything was there, but apologetically informed us he had given away all of Einstein's food and treats. Apparently someone had told him there was old food that had been sitting there for days, referring to the condiments we were going to throw away, but he thought that everything in there had been abandon. When he discovered we were AT thru-hikers, he was especially apologetic and offered us money, but we were just happy to get our bags and Einstein's pack back. He told us if we saw any rangers driving around to flag them down because they always carried dog food in their trucks to entice stray or lost dogs. As it turned out the ranger was a former thru-hiker and gave us his card and told us to call him if we needed anything while in the park. We headed down to the camp store, hoping they would have some dog food. They did. While there we met a couple from Chicago who were thru-hiking the trail and stopped to talk with them for a bit. They were doing laundry and had extra detergent they gave us so we could do our laundry later. It must have appeared we needed it. As we left the camp store it starting raining - again, so we had to walk down from Loft Mountain in another downpour. We hurried back to the wayside as fast we could and took shelter under an overhang by the wayside gas station. We stayed there about a half hour until it began to let up. We were cold and hungry and still disappointed we didn't get a good meal the day before. There was a restaurant and lodge at Big Meadows so we decided to hitch up there for dinner and camping. It took a half hour but eventually a van stopped and invited us in. The driver's name was Davin, who worked for GE installing heart monitors and was making his way back from North Carolina to Maryland by way of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive. he likes dogs so he took pity on us and pulled over to give us a ride. The fog had rolled back in so the road was mostly obscured, especially around the curves. He had to stop a few times for deer crossing the drive and had a few close calls with a couple of them. We finally made it to the Big Meadows lodge and saw two deer with a fawn as we pulled in. David pulled out his laptop so he could check weather for us and point out some civil war sites we might want to check out as we took the trail north through Maryland and Pennsylvania. He also told us of a few good eating spots in Harpers Ferry and further north on the trail. We wasted no time getting into the lodge and getting a nice hot meal in the restaurant. It was pricey, but very good and very filling, It was dark when we finished eating so we walked to the campground, pitched our tent and went right to sleep.