Date: 2016-06-07
From: Skyland Lodge, SNP

To: Stealth Camp near Rattlesnake Point Overlook
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: scattered clouds

"Accept the pain, cherish the joys, resolve the regrets; then can come the best of benedictions--'If I had my life to live over, I'd do it all the same.'"   - Joan McIntosh"Sir Fob will make the hike because God made that his journey."   - Eian, 5th Grader, Foundation Christian Academy (FCA)Day 88I woke up and decided to re-read the letters that had been written to me by Mrs. Wilkinson's 5th grade class at Foundation Christian Academy. Allow me to share some highlights from the creative minds of these young people:"One day Fob was doing the AT. He heard something in the bush, so he went out to check it out. It was a bear!! The bear swallowed him whole. He stayed in there for five days. The bear threw him up. Fob came out and said, 'It was a good thing I had pepper.' And then he hiked the rest of the AT. And he lived a happy life til he got eaten by a bear again."   - Jessie, 5th Grader, FCA"Fob was walking through a soup trail. He was trying to get through the soup but a deer was eating the soup and licked his face. It was made of chocolate. The deer ate Fob's face off and skipped away."   - Karisa, 5th Grader, FCAI eventually left my comfortable cabin and headed out into the heat and humidity. Before leaving the Skyland Lodge area, I couldn't help but think about the 1996 murders of two female hikers just 1/2 mile from the lodge. I did a fair amount of research on AT murders and other crimes before starting my journey. While one is safer on the AT than in a city or on a highway, bad stuff can and does still happen. If you want to read more about the murder of these two ladies, check out this link... http://www.readthehook.com/85806/cover-murder-park-rice-release-revives-memoriesAt mile 942.6 I approached the Pass Mountain Hut to get water and use the privy. A fellow hiker standing by the hut looked at me and said, "Hey, you're Fob! Do you know Larry Alexander?" I answered, "Maybe. What did he do?" (One must always be careful in associating oneself with Larry in case any sort of crime has been committed.) The hiker replied, "We have something in common. Larry gave both of us our trail names. I'm now called Little Brother but on the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) I hiked with Larry (trail name Baro) for awhile and he named me Young Gun. And I know through your blog post on Larry's Facebook page that he named you Fob W. Pot." I said, "Wow! It's a small world (after all). Larry is a great dude. His two AT books helped inspire me to be out here. It's great to meet you, Little Brother.""Once upon a time, Fob was in the woods on the AT. He woke up and a bear got his bag! He got up and ran but the bear got away! He was lost with no tent and no food but there was a creek full of clean water. He saw his yellow tent but it was about 7 miles away. He got to his tent but it suddenly burned. I don't know why or even how. He found his food and picked it up and it burned. 'Wow, I can't even make a fire but I burn everything I touch,' he said. He prayed and prayed then God sent angels down. They picked him up and brought him to heaven. He was happy in heaven and he spent his time there worshipping God."   - Brock, 5th Grader, FCAAt mile 943.9, as I descended Pass Mountain, I looked up and saw...(dramatic pause)...(play Kentucky Derby bugle call)...(all rise as judge enters courtroom)...(drum roll)...A BEAR! A real life Shenandoah National Park black bear! Yes! Finally! I had joined the club of aspiring thru-hikers who've seen a bear in the wild! No longer would I be made fun of a shelters, campsites and lodge restaurants. Instinctively, I crouched to one knee and, for just the second time on my AT journey, raised both trekking poles in the air in the single troop phalanx formation. I bowed my head and whispered, "Spartan, prepare for glory." I'd seen The Revenant and now I was Hugh Glass, about to be charged and mauled by a bear in the wild. The bear, still a good 25 yards away, continued to calmly forage for berries and grubs along the trail. She (or maybe he, I didn't check for parts) just completely ignored me. Like the attitude of the girls at most middle school dances I ever attended, I didn't exist. There was not even a warning growl or threatening glance. I eventually stood up and returned my trekking poles to a non-defensive position.I guess this was not my day to die. But a problem remained...the bear was directly in my path, right on the AT, and was taking her sweet time foraging and enjoying the day. So I got a little closer for the obligatory photo and video, and then sat down on a rock to wait her out. I ate a granola bar, drank some water, wiped the sweat off my arms and face, and waited. And waited. I started to throw a warning rock or yell, "Excuse me, Winnie the Pooh, hate to bother you...but I'm hiking the AT...trying to survive out here in the wild by living off the land...and I need to get to the next SNP eatery for a blackberry milkshake before they close. Any chance you could move it along and forage elsewhere?" Eventually, on her own schedule, without regard to my feelings or agenda, she moved her black hairy behind along. I continued northward, but I was a different Fob now, a battle-hardened Fob who had survived a close encounter with a distant, non-threatening, berry-eating wild bear.Delayed by my near bear attack, I kicked it into high gear in order to make it to Elkwallow Wayside before they closed. I arrived just in time and ordered a pretzel, grilled cheese, and blackberry milkshake. Why? Because I could. This was Shenandoah National Park, the second happiest place on planet earth. And this is how we roll here...no apologies. I was joined at the Wayside picnic table by a trio of aspiring thru-hikers...Happy Feet (from Germany), Pharmacist (from Laurens, SC), and a guy from Idaho. I enjoyed talking to them, even after they told me they were hiking on Skyline Drive some of the time because it was "more scenic" than the actual AT. They are right about that, but as a white blaze loving purist, this was like hearing someone's nails scraped across a chalkboard. But hey, hike your own hike.It was starting to get dark, so I ended my 19.2 mile day stealth camping at mile 950.9, near Rattlesnake Point Overlook. I figured after surviving my near wrestling match with a giant black bear, surely I could survive tenting where rattlesnakes come to view the valley below.Sir Fob