Date: 2011-06-27
From: High Top Hut

To: Big Meadows Lodge
Miles today: 20.4

Day 98 - I slept so-so during the night because I had drunk so much water during the day and prior to getting into my bag. I was having to get up and then around 9:45pm, 3 other hikers showed up. They had to cook and eat and then settle into the upper bunks. They were not very considerate of those of us that were already in our sleeping bags but that happens sometimes. Around 10:00pm, it started raining hard, so I was glad I did not have to pack up my wet tent in the morning. I got up at 6:35am and was the first to leave the hut at 7:15am. Early in the day, I started weighing my options as to where I was going to stay that evening. I had 3 viable options: the first was to camp at Lewis Campground (11.6 miles and a hot shower) or go on to Bearfence Hut (12.4 miles and no shower). Neither of these options really got the miles in that I wanted so the third option was to hightail it to Big Meadows and stay in the Lodge. I would not only have a hot shower, but a nice dinner and breakfast, the only problem was that it was 20.4 miles away. I decided I would make the decision once I reached Lewis Campground and determine how I felt. I had heard that Big Meadows were offering a special rate because of low occupancy. The Shenandoah National Park is in the middle of celebrating their 75th anniversary. They had an FDR look a like that gave a speech on Saturday during their celebration. From what I have read, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) pretty much built the park plus did a lot of work on the AT as well. The AT was already in place in 1936, so the CCC had to re-route some of the trail because the parkway runs pretty much where the original AT was routed. The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) maintains the trail in this area plus many miles of side trails. They do a very good job, in most cases the trail has been cleared 3-4 feet on both sides so it makes for a nice trail. The morning hike was wet, since I was the first one on the trail, every branch I hit I was rained on with water from the previous nights rain. I can manage that OK but the water on the grass and other vegetation quickly soaked my legs, socks and boots. So once again, I was hiking in wet socks and boots. The air was very muggy but I moved on and sometime around 9:30 crossed over the 900 mile mark for my journey.I arrived at Lewis Campground at 12:35 and visited their camp store to see what I could find to eat. After nearly $15.00, I walked away with 2 sandwiches, a bag of potato chips, a honey bun, 2 drinks and some Fig Newtons. After eating, I decided I felt good enough to continue to Big Meadows. There was one tough climb that afternoon up Hazel Top but it was manageable and I arrived at Big Meadows Lodge at 5:40pm. This is my longest mileage day so far. I checked in, showered, rinsed out my clothes and went to the lodge to enjoy a nice cut of prime rib, a baked potato, a wedge of lettuce with tomatoes and blue cheese dressing and plenty of water. After dinner I went into their sitting area and saw a newspaper so I thought I would sit down, relax and catch up on the world events. As I was looking over it and reading a couple of articles it dawned on me that this was not current news. It was a May 22 edition but I still took it and stuffed it in my boots to facilitate them drying. I had hung my clothes up to dry but it was so muggy outside and no air movement in my room I knew that they would not dry out. So, I took the plastic bag out of the trash can, loaded it up and walked down to the campground where there was a washer and dryer. I did not bother to wash them but threw them in the dryer for 10 minutes. After returning to my room, I hung up my clothes on doors or wherever I could so that they would continue to dry. For whatever reason, I picked all my gear up off the floor and put them in chairs and went to bed. I slept well until 2:00am when I heard it (them). There is no other sound like mice scratching in the middle of the night. I knew I had done the right thing in picking up my gear off the floor, particularly my pack with my food bag in it. OK, now what. I turned on the bed side lamp but I saw nothing scurrying around. I turned it off and almost immediately it started again. I got up, turned on the bathroom light, thinking that they may be in there. It sounded like they were in the inside wall so I knew there was not much I could do. I did bang on the dresser of drawers once but that did not scare them either. This went on 2-3 more times and I knew I was in for a long night. After listening to the scratching noise again, it sounded so close and it dawned on me to look inside the trash can. When I had used the plastic bag for laundry, I had just laid it back in there; I did not secure it like a liner. And there was the mouse; because I had not lined the can, it could not climb out so it was scratching on the side of the trash can. I unlocked and opened the door, took the can and gave that mouse about a 40 foot toss by holding the can and flinging it. There is never just one mouse but I really could not detect any more noise so I was able to go back to sleep OK. With the 20.4 miles today, I am now at 915.8 miles total, closing in on the one thousand mile mark.