Date: 2018-04-10
From: Skyline Drive AT Mile 907.3

To: Stealth campsite at mile 931.2
Miles today: 23.9

The day started out chilly with snow on the ground this AM, but it ultimately turned out to be a nice day. Clear skies with lots of sunshine (the sun felt so good), and by mid-afternoon the snow was pretty much gone. Early this morning, shortly after sunrise, I experienced clear skies above and clouds below me. Hiking above the clouds is always a special phenomenon that never ceases to amaze. The trail itself was spectacular, generally easy hiking with lots of overlooks with great views. SNP is a special place for sure. Nature¢s beauty is the best beauty as far as I¢m concerned, far surpassing anything that man has built. I took several pictures of course, but they don¢t do it justice. I took advantage of the sunshine and tied my wet socks of yesterday (and which I¢ve worn for several days) to my pack to dry them out. It worked, by the end of the day they were totally dry. At one point I did notice quite a stench and wondered what that could be, until I realized it was my socks. Phewee!  The trail today passed near one camp store (Lewis Mt. Campground, the store was open) and one wayside (Big Meadows). I stopped at both, as they involved relatively short side trails of less than half a mile each. At the camp store I had a hot chocolate, breakfast sandwich (biscuit, egg and sausage), sticky bun and moon pie. At first I wasn¢t going to stop at the wayside, but gall darn it I told myself I couldn¢t go thru the entire SNP without having one of their famous blackberry milkshakes. Of course I couldn¢t just order a milkshake. I also ordered a bowl of soup. And a cheeseburger. And french fries. I guess I got my calories in today. I saw only a few dayhikers out today, one trail maintainer and met Alex at the wayside who is doing a 9 day section hike. Pretty quiet day on the trail. The trail also passed by a couple of car camping sites. At one of these there¢s a man standing there who yells to me ¢Hey Opa¢. I did not recognize this person at all, so I asked him if I knew him. He said no, but said he knew I¢d be coming down the trail as he spoke with Alex. HaHa, that was strange. The man¢s trail name from previous hikes is Movin On, and he says he¢s been following my daily trailjournal posts. Small world. I was saddened to learn today that Ghost would be getting off the trail at Harper¢s Ferry. I talked to him briefly today, and he has his reasons. I enjoyed being around him whenever we were on the trail together. He is polite, has a good sense of humor, and interacted well with the group. He is also a very strong hiker. He will be missed.The 5 young guns are staying at a shelter a couple miles back, but I elected to push on a couple more miles and stealth camp. The owner of the hostel that I¢m staying at tomorrow is a substitute teacher, and is only able to shuttle me from the trailhead at either 11:30 or 4. I want to catch the 11:30 shuttle, which means I need to pound out 12 miles in the AM. I¢ll get my usual early morning start somewhere around 5:15, so it shouldn¢t be a problem. The forecast calls for another chilly nite (28 deg) here at elevation, with warmer temps during the day. Laying here in my sleeping bag typing this out, I can feel the temps dropping quicklyI am safe, warm and dry in my tent tonite. Goodnite.