Date: 2015-05-08
From: Elkwallow Wayside

To: VA 602 (Front Royal)
Miles today: 17.7

We cleared out of our room at Skyland Lodge at 6:00 this morning, and loaded all of our gear into Ranger's car. Princess and Ranger hiked today, starting at Elkwallow where they stopped yesterday. But first we had to take the long detour around the closed tunnel on Skyline Drive. So it was after 8:00 before the hikers actually set out on the trail. For yet another day I was the designated driver, so after the hikers left Gay and I and their 2 dogs, Sadie and Tootsie, headed north on Skyline Drive. Today was the last day for all of us in the Shenandoah National Park, but I'm going to have to come back later this summer to hike a big portion of it. For now, we headed for the Quality Inn in Front Royal where we'll stay this evening. Meanwhile back on the trail Princess and Ranger were having a good hike. North of Elkwallow they passed a protected area set aside for peregrine falcons. They saw a box apparently set up for the birds, but they didn't actually see any. I believe this is associated with a long-term effort to reintroduce the falcons in Shenandoah. Interesting to us because some of the falcons have settled into the Norfolk, VA area. A little while later they met John Tucker, a maintenance worker for the Park Service. He was working along the trail and talked with them for a few minutes. Ranger has seen several people walking through the woods over the past several days carrying bags. He learned that they were probably hunting for mushrooms. Recently, someone found a mesh bag with a couple of mushrooms that a hunter probably lost. They said they saw a lot of southbounders just entering the park, and a few northbound section hikers who were finishing a hike of the park. They also met a fellow who was doing a key swap with a friend. Each of them drove a car to the opposite end of the day's section and then started hiking toward the other end. When they met in between they exchanged keys so that each could drive back to where they were staying. But they were actually carrying full packs, checking out their equipment, seeing what they liked, etc., for future hikes. There was also some interesting nature on the trail. Along one small section they encountered hordes of very small grasshoppers. I remember seeing this once or twice last year. Ranger said that initially he thought he heard raindrops hitting the leaves. But the sky was clear, and when he looked closely he saw thousands of tiny baby grasshoppers all over the trail. They said they felt bad because it was impossible not to step on them. And near the end of the trail, when Princess was leading, she suddenly stopped cold in the middle of the trail and Ranger nearly ran over her. A black snake had just started to cross in front of her. She did get a picture of it. Back in Front Royal, we checked into the motel, had coffee, moved our gear into our rooms and then had lunch at the Mill. Not long after, I drove the car about 15 minutes outside Front Royal to a gravel road that crosses the AT. The road is listed as VA 602 in AWOL's Guide, but the road sign says 604. Regardless, I picked them up about 2 in the afternoon after they hiked 17.7 miles. We all cleaned up back at the motel. Ranger and Gay are headed back to Georgia tomorrow, and I plan to return to hiking the AT, starting where they stopped today. Princess and I plan to do a shorter section and then get a ride to the Terrapin Station Hostel just outside Front Royal. We want to slack-pack, so before dinner, Ranger drove us out to the hostel and we left our backpacks there. Tomorrow morning, before he leaves for GA, Ranger will take us to the trailhead and we'll say goodbye. We've had a great time with Ranger & Gay. They really helped us out a lot in dealing with the closed tunnel on Skyline Drive. And we had a lot of fun at Skyland. We're still optimistic that Ranger may be able to rejoin us somewhere beyond Harpers Ferry, but he has finish some work at home before he can consider that. In the meantime, thanks from us to them.