Date: 2013-07-16
From: Random Camp Spot Near Big Meadows

To: Pass Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: clear sky

Day 60 - Pass Mountain Shelter I'm definitely feeling better today. Maybe it was the shower - for some reason a shower can be a big moral boost. I also woke up earlier than usual and got out of camp in record time, so that helped as well. Within the first mile I saw a mama bear and two cubs - and I also fell down for the third time on the trail. This time, when I stumbled upon the bears, I began backing up like usual but failed to notice the large rock I had just stepped over. I caught my heel on that bad boy and, being top and back heavy, bit it pretty good. The mama bear stood up on her hind legs and looked at me before they all darted away up the hill. Shortly thereafter I came upon the Big Meadows Campground and its glorious $1 five minute shower. I had snagged a bar of soap from the Quality Inn in Waynesboro for just such an occasion. It was amazing, and then as icing on the cake I bought a soda from the vending machine and sipped on it while watching the passersby. While I was sitting there, Sir Stooge walked up off the trail. It's funny how that kind of thing happens. You don't see people for days and have no idea what became of them, and then they randomly walk up while you're sitting on the bathhouse stairs. He was in search of breakfast at the Big Meadows Lodge, so we talked about meeting up for lunch at the Skyway Restaurant about 7.5 miles up the trail. While still sitting there a guy from Chicago came up and asked if I had been out on the trails at all (he must not have been able to tell that I was a thru hiker because I was so fresh and so clean), to which I replied that I was actually thru hiking. He thought it was super cool and was asking me all about the trail and about all the bears I had seen. He was shocked that I had seen so many, and asked my advice about what to do if he and his wife saw one. I told him the story about getting within 5-10 feet of the mama bear and that he would probably fine as long as he didn't try to fight it. As we were talking, a teenage boy came up and asked if I was thru hiking. His response was "Wow!", like it was the coolest thing he had ever heard of. After asking a bunch of questions about the trail, they both shook my hand like I was someBODY and wished me luck. It was cool, because I haven't had the rock star status feeling in a while! The trail was super easy on the way to the restaurant. There was the occasional view to the valley out west, which was cool, and I saw yet another bear as he crashed through the woods away from me.   I'm up to 15 bear sightings already! This sighting came after i had just talked to a couple of section hikers named Chipmunk and Jan Gogh who were bummed that they had only seen a couple bears on their whole hike. I told them to hike with me if they wanted to see one - they should have listened, because they were shocked when at the restaurant I told them I had seen another one!I ate lunch at the restaurant and drank tons of coffee while overlooking the valley from the dining room. Eventually, Sir Stooge came in (he didn't sit with me because I was on the phone with Haley at the time), and we eventually caught each other up on the events of the past few days. He hadn't seen a single bear and was amazed by my stories of the close encounters. He headed out after a bit with the intent to go into the next town and take a zero day. I had only 11 or so miles to go, so I sat on my fat butt in the air conditioning for like 3 hours. It was totally great and relaxing, and I felt like a million bucks when I hit the trail again. The rest of the day was easy, as I had a lot of energy saved up from the food and rest. It was super hot and humid, but there were some amazing stretches of trail along the way. At certain points it clung to the side of the hill, flowers and tall grass all around, and there were wide open views of the valley below. There were a couple of these stretches, and they lasted for maybe a quarter mile each. There hasn't been hiking like that in the whole park so it was a nice change from all the dense woods. I got to the shelter around 8 and hung out with an older biker dude named Dean who is hiking south from Duncannon, PA. He told stories of doing land surveys up in Alaska and driving truck down in Arizona. Cool dude. Another south bounder came in and hung out too (I didn't catch his name), and told a story of how a black snake (Farm Snake?) curled up in his lap one night as he was sleeping in his hammock. Crazy! It was a good day, and I'm glad my spirits were back up. Harpers Ferry here I come!