Date: 2007-05-03
From: Maupin Field Shelter

To: Paul Wolfe Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: light rain

Day #9 Thur May 3rd6:30am it rained all nite...& it contiunes this morning...Everyone is up for another day of hiking.NO RAIN-NO PAIN-NO MAINE!, right???????"Matt & U-dog" are first outta the shelter in the rain...(they tented last night)theyre heading to the next shelter too."Jigsaw" leaves out about 7:30a.m. & i shortly after 8am...& the Trio (from Harrisonburg,VA) Lisa, Sarah & Mark are gonna tent a few miles short of the shelter.I hike alone..."Jigsaw" is cranking today...in HIGH gear.he says:.."you hike faster in the rain!"i try it for a few miles....hike! hike! hike! squish! squish! squish!thru Reeds Gap by the Blue Ridge parkway...twice in a mile...it continues to rain, mist & drizzle & then the fog rolls in...now its just about the miles...no scenery today...i speed up my pace.nothing to see @ the overlooks...so...i just hike on...Rain-Rain-Rain..i have my REI rain jacket on & pack cover is working...i stop @ Cedar Cliff...nothing to see..Fog is socked in....i take a photo anyway (as a joke!)...its just my nature...hehehehehehehe!hike past Dripping Rock crossing Blue Ridge Parkway again & then back into the woods....passing about 20-25 girls (Girl Scouts, maybe?) & i hear one of them say to another..."hey, there goes a hiker!"...made me feel like a REAL hiker...part of the hiker community!i hike on...Hike-hike-hike...pass the Humpback Rocks side trail...meeting a SoBo couple who's doing a "flip-flop" hike (didnt get their names)...they warn me of some rock scrambling ahead & they also tell me my partner, "Jigsaw" is about an hour ahead of me....WOW! he IS cranking today!!!About a 1/4 mile later...i DO have to scramble up some rocks...still no views atop the rocks...oh well....hike, hike, hike...i get to a rocky part of the trail..the rain continues...as i'm speeding along (relative term to my hike pace) i hit a large wet rock & my hike pole goes one way & i go the other way....i go down....HARD!i feared that i'd broken something for a few seconds (felt like 5 minutes)...wiggled limbs to make sure everything is working properly...most of the fall's force was taken by my butt, my elbow & my backpack...luckily.my elbow is hurt...but, nothing is broken...Thank Goodness..I slow my pace...its still raining...i pass a srping & re-water...i pass another overlook..i keep going...slowly pass Humpback Visitors Center trail....Then i begin to hear the sounds of a creek...the shelter cant be that far...of course water sound carries a far distance...so, who knows...i stop on the side of the mountain to call "D-bird"...ahhhhhh. Service here...Nice to hear her voice...!We're just a few miles South of Waynesboro, VA/Rockfish Gap.hike on for a few more miles& arrive @ the Mill Creek/Paul C. Wolfe Shelter @ 5pm...i'm very tired.Jigsaw says he's been here about 2 hours...WOW!looks like a full shelter tonight...gonna be cool tonight with lows in the 40s...60s expected tomorrow. Probably lots of snoring tonight.hehehehehehethis was our longest day...tomorrow we hike by RockFish Gap/Waynesboro,VA & into Shenandoah National Park...Wooooooooooo-Hooooooooooooo!16.1 miles today