Date: 2005-06-12
From: mile 861.5

To: Pinefield Hut
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Up and gone this morning by 6:50. I set the pace and led the four of us this morning. Gozar eventually went his own pace however, we finished up at the same location at the end of the day. Cloth Monkey said he liked the way I hiked, a constant speed with no need for breaks going up hill. He said normally he was winded at the end of a up hill climb and would normally have to take a break now and then. My pace meant that he wasn't to tired to continue on once he got to the top of something. I took it as a compliment (thanks Aaron).    I knew that the three of them were about to leave the trail and it kind of bummed me out. I liked walking alone just as much as I liked hiking with certain people. These people were my friends and it was to be a sad day when we parted. Some thing told me it would be the last time I saw Blue Angel and Cloth Monkey. I was hoping we would catch up to each other in mid July after I spent the week at home that I planned on doing. They were invited to my 4th of July party and I gave them my address and all, too bad. That is the way it goes on the trail.    We stopped at Black rock Mountain and took a few photos of each other. The vistas there were so awesome. The rocks were big and we boulder' d our way to the top. A short time later we also saw another Black Bear (making it my eighth so far). This bear was only a few yards away from the road and it must have ran across it to get away from us. There were people everywhere and I could not believe how the bears did not fear humans. Oh they would get out of your way for the most part. This one was gone in an instant.    We stopped next at the Loft Mountain Campsite. There was a small store and we bought a few items there. Blue Angel worked here at one time for a summer a few years ago. She said that there was a way station not to far down the road that served a delicious blackberry shake. Cloth Monkey elected to stay and she and I walked to the station. Talk about your sticker shock, the prices were outrageous. We had no choice of course but, those with a car did. I could not believe how many people came in to the restaurant, looked at the prices and simply walked out. I bet for every person who ordered something, three people didn't. What a loss of business, we even commented about it on the comment cards we were given and put them in the suggestion box.       As luck would have it, TABA was there and offered us a ride back to the campsite in his panel van. Back at the camp we met the sweetest little girl, maybe ten years old, that wanted to know about our thru-hiking experiences thus far. Her grandfather was there and he thanked us for taking the time to talk to her. There was no need to thank us, I only know of a few hikers who wouldn't do the same thing in an instant (most of us like talking about ourselves anyway).    We ended up at the Pinefield Hut that night. In the park they called the shelters huts. There were nice camping areas there so we each settled in to our own spots. Gozar was there as well as a hiker called the Sundance Kid. Sundance had his father with him and the two of them were hiking a section together. Sundance was a recent graduate of the Virginia Military Institute if I am not mistaken. A nice person who I understand left the trail for the oddest reason. He was loosing to much body mass. He was a body builder and did not like the fact he was loosing all he worked on for so long. I use to lift a lot when I was in the service so I guess I can understand the reason behind his decision, the thing is you must have had to expect to loose weight on this trip.   This was the last night for Blue Angel and Cloth Monkey and to celebrate I carried a six pack of beer that I picked up at the Loft Mountain Campsite. It was hot that day, and everyone was surprised when I pulled out the beer. It was still cold because I kept it wrapped in my Fleece Jacket. We talked for a few hours and after a while went off to get some rest. The bugs weren't to bad (except for the ants) so I was able to get a little sleep. We did a 19.9 mile hike that day.