Date: 2009-06-10
From: Rockfish Gap, Waynesboro, VA

To: Calf Mountain
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Friendliest Trail Town on the ATWaynesboro, VA is definitely the most hiker friendly trail town we have come across on the AT, by far. The YMCA offers AT hikers free camping and free use of their facilities, including the pool and showers. The Grace United Methodist Church has a free hostel and provides free breakfast, laundry and showers. The people working at the Post Office and Library are some of the friendliest we have encountered, and aren't offended by smelly hikers. And to top it off, there is a list of more than a dozen "Trail Angels" that give free shuttles to and from various parts of the trail. We hated to leave Waynesboro but we had been off the trail for too long. Tom Brown, a local Trail Angel, gave Dizzy, Einstein and I a ride to the Rockfish Gap information center, along with Dances With Wolfie (Wolfie is her dog that hiked part of the trail last year), a fellow hiker and St. Louisian who went to High School in my hometown of Belleville, IL. The couple managing the information center at Rockfish Gap were extremely friendly and helpful, giving us lots of maps and advice on what to see in Shenandoah National Park. Except for the information center, Rockfish Gap is completely abandoned, with boarded up or falling down buildings that used to be a gas station, restaurant, motel and a Howard Johnson's. All closed and sitting empty with busted out windows or collapsed roofs. Apparently there is one man who owns all the land and buildings there and refuses do do anything with it or sell it. Its really too bad because Rockfish Gap is at the intersections of I-64, Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Its a huge blight on an otherwise beautiful entry to the southern end of the park. After being off the trail again for a few days it was rough getting going again. It appeared that Shenandoah was not as easy as we were led to believe. We filled out our back country permit at the entry kiosk, followed by a steep and rocky climb up the first mountain to get onto the ridge. We saw our first deer almost immediately and continued to spot them through out the day, including many fawns. it was hot and muggy and we were drenched with sweat. We soon came across a guy who was out for a day hike to prepare for hiking the trail southbound later this year. He had just graduated from law school and had a job lined up in October, so he planned to start in Maine the following month. He had a lot of questions and hiked with us quite a ways, picking our brains on the best ways to prepare and what to expect on the trail. Later that day, we ran into Patches and Crazy Lady, a guy and his mother-in-law who had been hiking since mid-March. Most people would find that an odd combination, but they made a great pair and were very enjoyable to talk with. Patches wife, Crazy Lady's daughter, had been hiking with them up until Bland but decided to get off the trail. They were all from Dahlonega, GA, which is right at the southern terminus of the AT. The final climb up Calf Mountain was rough. It was very rocky and slippery from a few days of rain. We thought we might have missed the shelter because we had crossed the summit and were a good way down the mountain toward the gap. Finally we spotted the blue blaze trail to the shelter. We passed a nice, clean, piped spring and filled up our water before walking the final 2/10ths of a mile to the shelter. It wasn't the nicest shelter, but wasn't the worst either. The privy was pretty nasty and the tent platforms were too small for our circus tent, but we were happy to be there. Unfortunately the terrain didn't present any flat spots to pitch our tent, so we had to make do on the small tent platforms there. Instead of a bear cable, the shelter (and apparently all shelters in Shenandoah) had a bear pole. Its a long pole with hooks on top to hang food bags. There is another long pole hanging on the first which you use to hook your bag and reach up to drop on the hook of the taller pole. It took us a while to figure it out, but no one else there had used one either so they all benefited from watching me hanging ours - not to mention the comic relief I presented for their benefit. In what was becoming a dull refrain, and looked like one that would repeat daily in the Shenandoah Park, after dinner it rained. So we turned in early, stinking with sweat from the long hot day and exhausted from the rocky hike up Calf Mountain.