Date: 2015-05-20
From: Manser Gap Road

To: US 30
Miles today: 15.1

Today we skipped ahead one section of trail so that we could stop at the Scottish Inn and pick up a drop we had sent there. Earlier we planned to stay at the Scottish Inn, but the Burgundy Lane B&B is so nice that we rearranged our schedule to stay here 3 nights. So tomorrow we'll need to hike the section we missed from Wolfsville Road to Menser Gap. Burgundy Lane has been a real treat for us. Margaret and David have a beautiful setup for their B&B and I can't think of anything we need that they haven't provided. They've been operating the B&B since 2004 and seem to do it very well. The room rate includes breakfast of course, and laundry and shuttle service to the trail. Our room has a TV, a strip of outlets around the baseboard for all our electrical gadgets, private rest room & shower, plenty of bright lights, and other comfort features. There is a refrigerator and microwave in a common area down the hall and they have internet access. It's the only B&B we've found that's willing to make an early breakfast at 5:30 am and then take us to the trail. And David is familiar with the local access points along this section of the AT. We've also been impressed with Waynesboro. David says the town was just recently approved as an official "trail town". There is a Dollar General, a Post Office, and several banks/ATMs within a couple of blocks. There are also plenty of eateries close-by, not too fancy - but clean and acceptable. And we found a sports bar (Dawg House) about a half mile away. The town isn't as picturesque as the old southern towns, but it's clean and it appears they've been investing in city facilities. And they have pictures of home town heroes, KIA or MIA, on every streetlight. Today was another really nice day, much cooler than yesterday and mostly overcast, but no rain and the trail was dry. In fact the breeze along the ridge tops was downright chilly. We're not complaining, it's much better than hot & humid and great for hiking. We saw several other NoBo hikers and it seems the shelters and campgrounds are well used. Tumbling Run Shelters (there are actually 2 shelter buildings at many of the shelters in this area) was quite busy as we passed by. Then almost immediately we started a long, steep climb with a lot of steps up to Chimney Rock. Two ladies out hiking with their dogs passed us and disappeared up the hill, so I guess we weren't going very fast. Bright Side also passed us at the top of the hill and she had a full backpack. Later we stopped briefly at the blue blaze to the Rocky Mountain Shelters to eat a snack and hydrate. Bright Side and several other hikers were taking a lunch break. Beyond that point the trail ran parallel to the top of the ridge for a distance, then abruptly turned straight uphill to a rock outcropping and across the rocks for a distance. It did this several times and we passed several other hikers trying to navigate through the large rocks and ledges. Finally after passing across a particularly nasty section of boulders, the trail dropped precipitously down a rock field for maybe 50 feet (sort of a preview for New Hampshire). After that the remainder was pretty smooth sailing and we finished around 11:30, before we expected. As we sat down at the edge of (a very busy) US 30 to wait on our shuttle, the half dozen hikers just behind us caught up and headed on across the road. After David picked us up (no more than 10 or 15 min later), he drove us a couple of miles to the Scottish Inn so we could pick up a mail drop we had sent there. The brief stop convinced us that Burgundy Lane was a better choice for us. I mentioned yesterday that we're both dealing with outbreaks of poison ivy and/or poison oak. Princess is convinced that it's much more prevalent along the trail this year than last. So we've been searching the Internet and asking people about how to combat it. From what we've learned, prevention is the best defense if you actually come in contact with it. Apparently the toxin is oily and you really have to scrub to get it off - but that's the best way to avoid a nasty reaction. Opinions vary regarding what to scrub with, ranging from vinegar & baking soda to a Clorox solution. We started scrubbing with an OTC solution called Tecnu that we found in a pharmacy. Then Princess' brother (a retired forest ranger) said that the rangers scrub with a solution of 1 part Clorox in 10 parts water, and they scrub hard with a washcloth several times. So we've done that for a couple of days. We've also used a hydrocortisone (1%) anti-itch cream a couple of times. And today we learned that Dawn is effective for some people, so tonight we scrubbed several times with Dawn. So far, the Clorox seems to have the most effect and we've only found a couple of new spots today. But none of the outbreaks have completely disappeared and it's been nearly a week since we first saw it. Another big question for us is how we got it in the first place. We scrupulously avoid touching the plants along the trail. At this point we think we got it via our poles. We probably just weren't handling our poles carefully enough. We could have transferred it from our poles to our hands or our slack-packs. So now we're washing our poles in alcohol and Dawn. I hope we get this figured out soon.