Date: 2014-05-21
From: U.S 250/Waynesboro, VA

To: Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: broken clouds

We were up early and after a quick run thru Starbucks headed back to the trail. By far Stanimals has been the number one place for me to stay so far despite being off the beaten path. You definitely leave there with a great feeling and Stanimal really gets what it is that hikers need while in town. With the customary picture taking with Stanimal out of the way, Peaches and I left the Blue Ridge Parkway and started up into the Shenendoahs. Here you have to sign in and register like the Smokie Mountains but also have to attach a tag with some information on it to your back pack and have it displayed at all times. Its funny to see different people hiking with these pieces of paper fluttering like kites off of their packs. Peaches was off and running and soon out of sight. I was taking my time on a very short day as I wanted to test out my ankle post cortisone shot and didn't want to aggravate it. Gray Ghost is taking an extra day and slack packing back to Waynesboro. I moved out slowly at first and found the path very comfortable with a nice grade and little rock. Up on Bears Den Mountain there were several huge tele communication towers and since I had service I thought I would give Gray Ghost a call to see where he was at. Just as I place the call who comes bebopping around the corner but Gray Ghost himself! What a delightful surprise. I continue to enjoy his company on the trail and we decided to meet up at Turk's Gap the next day and continue our journey north together. The views from Little Calf Mountain were nice but the day was so hazy pictures didn't do it justice. Weather reports continued to call for rain and or thunderstorms at some time today and was glad I would be positioning myself in the shelter. I got to the shelter around noon with 2 high school boys from CT there and 2 tents inside the shelter. Now most people know this is strictly taboo and only done in extreme conditions. They went onto explain that one of their friends had gotten sick the night before and had left with another friend to go to the hospital. They had put the tents in the shelter because they left with the tent flys and since no one was in the shelter put them there to avoid getting wet. I gave them a little slack based on their lack of experience but suggested they move the tents and pick up their things spread across the picnic table. They finally got their stuff out of the way so I could get set up and was able to get a bite to eat before doing some reading and taking a quick nap. By the end of the night their two other friends got back no worse for the wear except having to hike 10 miles to get back. Section and thru hikers continued to filter in throughout the day filling up the shelter and tenting sites around the shelter. Pyro and Fritz were back from Trail Days at Damascus with stories of $500 fines for open containers. They way they explained it you could pour a beer in a cup and drink it or you could put the can/bottle in a non see through bag and drink it but you could not drink straight from the bottle or can. They said there were around 6000 people there with a very strong police presence. As I look around and see that there has been a strong increase in the number of Section Hikers, I feel like I am becoming more possessive of the trail. For over 2 months we Thru Hikers have had the trail pretty much to ourselves and have not had to worry about room in a shelter or getting a tent site. Now with the Shenendoahs being as popular as they are, close to larger metropolitan areas, college being out and the Memorial Day holidays here we are having to share the trail and while I don't have any more exclusive right to the trail than anyone else, its going to take some getting use to. Pulling up short and having a lot of the day left and not hiking has also thrown me off. I am very restless just laying up in camp and no rain in sight. I continued to try and read or nap to pass the time but it doesn't help much. I will have to definitely rethink pulling up short in the future and try to schedule any restart so I end up at the shelter later in the day or better yet early in the evening. I talk to the boys and they say they are participating in a 6 week program where they are doing a documentary of their trip in lieu of going to class. Part of me understands the value as I see they are learning about themselves and camping but wonder what it is that is truly being taught. Oh well at the very least they will learn whether they like to hike and camp. By the end of the night we are full in the shelter and one couple pulls in at 930 and tries to get situated in the loft which is the only space left. The boys continue to buzz about talking around the camp fire and the rest of us are hunkered down for the night. Still no sign of rain which makes me think that in the future I will probably be more likely to hike on even if rain is predicted. I rather being moving forward in the rain than hole up some where, especially now that it is warmer.