Date: 2014-05-22
From: Calf Mountain Shelter

To: Loft Mountain Camp Grounds
Miles today: 19.1

Up real early at 530 as I want to get a quick start to meet up with Gray Ghost. Mobius (sp?) another thru hiker is also up. We try to be as quiet as possible in the early morning light as we pack up and get a bite to eat before hitting the trail. I'm on the trail by 615 which isn't too bad. The trail continues to be well sloped and soft for the most part. My ankle is so so and I'm trying to go without Vitamin "I" for now. I will see how long that lasts. I meet up with Gray Ghost at 830 at Turks Gap and he has brought me a gift - a biscuit and ham sandwich from Hardee's. He is such a thoughtful person and it hits the spot. I can always use the extra fuel especially with the number of miles we will do today. The gnats are starting to come out with the rise in temperature so I get a quick couple of squirts of Deet to keep them at bay and then we were on our way. The miles fly by with the trail being in excellent hiking condition. When we hit the gaps we take a couple of ext rat breaks because we're making great time and Gray Ghost is not feeling too good today. Water is scarce and I'm running low as the day has become very hot and humid. Since I don't want to take any chances of heat exhaustion Gray Ghost heads up a steep climb to a nearby ridge to Black Mountain while I duck down a steep .3 mile trail to fetch some water at Black Rock Hut which has a great spring. I top off my water bag and off I go to catch up with Gray Ghost. As I move up the stony path to the ridge top you can feel the heat baking your feet and it feels like you are walking across a heating register. But as it always does, after you continually put one foot in front of the other, the path tops off on top of the mountain and I find Gray Ghost laying down resting in a bit of shade along the trail. We decide its a great spot for a lunch break and a short siesta as he still doesn't feel like he's got his "A" game going. I also get some nice pics of the rock slide on the side of the mountain and of the valley below. There doesn't seem to be as many photo opportunities here in the Shenendoahs like there has been on other parts of the trail. Most of the trail is keep back from the better views that the Sky Line Drive has to offer. We continue to move along at a pretty good pace with Gray Ghost setting the pace out front. Despite having 5 days supply of food, not feeling well and dealing with the heat he continues to push on and I have to bust my butt to keep him in sight! For those who didn't know there is no hunting in the Shenendoahs so its like a game preserve and with that in mind there is a very significant increase in bear activity and this was quite prevalent the closer we got to Loft Mountain Camp Grounds with HUGE piles of bear scat frequently right on the trail! As we continued to climb towards the camp ground the clouds darkened and it looked like there was going to be a large storm. Luckily it blew off and we benefitted from the breeze as it cooled our sweaty bodies and made the hike al little more BEARable. We finally got to the trail that led to the camp ground and after a very steep climb made it into the sites. The only problem was we didn't know where to check in. Now I'm hot, tire and very thirsty and running out of patience. Fortunately there was a near by camper who was nice enough to point me in the right direction which was another .3 miles down the road. Given that Gray Ghost was pretty whopped, I left him with my pack under a shade tree and limped on down the road to check in. While checking in a Ranger stopped in saying he had run into Gray Ghost and had already given him a site close by so we didn't have to do anymore walking around for the day. So after registering and hearing the Ranger tell a group of campers "If you see a bear eating a newly born fawn, do not bother the bear". Like really, you have to be tole this. It must be for the city slickers from D.C. Back at the site Gray Ghost continued to rest while I put up my tent and pounded down a cheese and bagel sandwich and some pretzels with cream cheese. All of the sites on the camp ground have these huge metal bear vaults (4' x 3' x3') to store everything and I mean everything short of your clothes, tent andbag to keep things from the bears. Gray Ghost then got his tent up and we both settled in for a nice nap before heading down to the camp store to see what delectable delights they might have. The store was another .5 miles away - it seems like we're always walking, and we bought some drinks and snacks to enjoy the evening with. I didn't realize how dehydrated I was until I quickly polished off a cold liter of water followed by a 16 oz. orange crush soda followed by a giant size mounds bar. With that done, I got back in my tent to catch up on some journalling. Around 730 I did some reading until I couldn't keep my eyes open and then called it a night. The ankle is holding up and given the climbs and the miles today is justified in being a little sore. Tomorrow is only an 18.6 mile day and Daniel will be picking me up for the weekend. I am so looking forward to seeing him and resting my ankle.