Date: 2021-04-28
From: Gravel Springs Hut

To: US Rte 522
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night was so warm I didn¢t know what to do with myself. To date, when I climb in for the night I¢m wearing two pairs of sox, merino wool bottom layer, a pair of shorts, a merino wool t-shirt, I fleece jacket, and my winter beanie. Then I have my quilt liner, my 40 degree top quilt and my 30 degree under quilt. Then I put my foam sit pad in the hammock that goes from my knees to my feet for extra insulation. Last night it only got down to 63 degrees. So I went with sox, shorts, t-shirt and quilt liner with the bottom quilt in place. About 11 I grabbed my top quilt as well to keep the chill off. What a difference two days makes. Before bed I was talking with a few of the hikers, one guy who hiked on late who¢s name I didn¢t catch said he planned on doing the Four State Challenge. This is where you start in Virginia, hike the short miles of West Virginia, then hike all of Maryland into Pennsylvania- roughly 44 miles. You do that all in one day. Out. I packed up early and was back on the trail a little after 6. Temps would approach 90 and I wanted to get some miles in before it got hot. About 45 minutes in a got passed like I was standing still (which, technically I was, because I stepped out of the way) by the hiker who was going to do the Four State Challenge. He looked like a Norwegian cross country Olympian as he strode past. I think he can do the mileage. Later on Easy came past me for the last time. We chatted for a few minutes about hammock vs tent and then he was on his way to where his car was parked. He was one of those guys who just exudes ¢good dude¢ vibes.  Sadly, there was only one major climb for the day and that was right at the start where we went up to 3400 feet then it was 9 miles down to Front Royal. I deftly managed to step down with my sore foot right onto a tree root - hachimama, that did sting. Came across my second trail magic as well: a cooler at a road crossing filled with juice, fruit, granola bars and water. Can you guess which one I had?By noon I had 12 miles in (a 12x12, the cool hikers tell me) and made the decision to only do a 13.5 mile day and not push on another 8. I called the Hostel and got a shuttle from the trail. The Stumble Inn is very, very nice and was just opened this year by two former thru hikers.  My replacement pack was waiting for me and I spent 45 minutes swapping over belt pouches, side pockets, clips, water bottle holder and other accoutrements. The problem area with the suspension appear to be redesigned and instead of a netted outside back pouch it has more of a stretch mesh. Seems to be ok?  Trail time will tell.Most hostels have a thing called a ¢hiker box¢ where unwanted items are left for other hikers to use. I scored six packets of tuna, half a roll of TP, some apple cinnamon oatmeal (which I promptly ate) and a sugar free drink mix. Bum Christmas!  I think I¢m going to do a short 8 miles tomorrow after icing my foot tonight and then stay at the hostel one more night and rest and ice some more. This will hopefully give time for my second pair of shoes to get to Harpers Ferry before I do. My Altra Lone Peak trail runners were great on my training hikes in Michigan, but these rocks and mountains are a wee bit different. So I¢ll try a heavier trail shoe and see how it goes.