Date: 2014-05-07
From: Hog Camp Gap

To: Maupin Field Shelter
Miles today: 28.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Another slow morning followed the (relatively) late night at Hog Camp Gap. I took my time making breakfast and watched a chess game between Moose and Safari. Gentle Spirit and West had gotten out earlier as well as Guy on a Buffalo. I finally hit the trail mid-morning, not very sure of where the day would eventually take me.I hiked alone during the morning, catching up with the front pack of the Brownie Troop for a little break. Smudge caught up to me just before the shelter we had planned on making it to the night before and I picked up my pace a bit to talk with him on the way there.We caught Gentle Spirit and West there just as they were leaving and over the next half an hour the rest of the group from Hog Camp Gap filtered in. What I had planned as a half hour snack break quickly turned into an hour and a half early lunch and it was, as usual, later than planned leaving there. I caught Moose, Smudge, and Boomer at Spy Rock where they were eating lunch. Really great views, although a little hot for me. Moose decided to save half of his lunch for later and headed out with me from there.We hiked together until The Priest and talked about the possibility of pulling an all nighter into Waynesboro. It was a mighty tempting idea as it meant I would be arriving in the morning in time for the pancake challenge at Weazie's Kitchen fresh off of a 50 mile hike, then I would have all day to digest that before hitting the Ming Garden acclaimed buffet for dinner. By the time we reached the shelter we were both pretty set on the idea.Upon reaching the shelter, who should we find but Trix! She had bounced around a little more and ended up ahead of us again. I stopped to use the facilities and write my confession in the register and by the time I had finished with the former Moose, Gentle Spirit and West had already taken off.I set off down the 3100 ft descent after them, trying to take it easy on my feet. I stopped for a few views along the way but all in all made pretty good time given that it was downhill. After a quick foot-massage rest at the bottom I headed right back up the other side of the gap determined to catch the group or else risk a 28 mile night hike alone.I reached the second shelter right around 8:00 to find West and Gentle Spirit making dinner. They informed me Moose had headed out forty minutes earlier. I was a little bummed he hadn't waited but also understood the need to take advantage of daylight hours. A light dinner was all I stopped for before continuing the climb.I hadn't read the guide correctly and thought it was only two miles to the summit, not four. Thinking I was making unusually bad time, along with the rapidly descending darkness and my failure to refill on water at the shelter, I was in a pretty worried state. I stopped a quarter of the way up to briefly enjoy the sunset before continuing onward, questioning the soundness of my decision.Things got worse as fog began to roll in. Having already night hiked through fog I was not excited for a second night. The distance between white blazes seemed to be growing as well and there were quite a few stretches where I was convinced I had headed off trail, reaching a blaze just before I was ready to turn around and retrace my steps.Out of nowhere a sign post appeared stating that the next shelter was only 2.3 miles away. That couldn't be - I knew I had at least four miles left and it certainly wouldn't be the first time one of the posted signs was way off the mark. Wanting to be sure, I double checked the guide to find that I had in fact been killing it up the mountain and indeed was just over two miles out from the shelter and water. Unfortunately my feet were also killing me and the downhill following the climb only exacerbated it.I hobbled down towards the shelter cursing the rocky terrain and slowing down more and more. During the climb I had resolved that if I caught Moose by the shelter I would continue with him, otherwise I was crashing there. Now I was rethinking even making it to the shelter. Were it not for the lack of water I would have camped at any number of stealth sites (my standards for what qualified as a "site" rapidly falling) along the last stretch.Finally a camp fire came into sight, and then a few headlamps, and then finally a "Yo. who's that?" Guy on a Buffalo! My hobble sped up to a shuffle and as my eyes adjusted to the light I pieced together the scene. Moose was spread out around the fire balancing cooking a meal with entertaining a group of post-finals college seniors with tales of the trail. I plopped down beside him and watched the story teller at work. Give him a lute and a time machine and he could easily have been a bard, traveling from town to town with his life on his back.My feet were in so much pain that I couldn't do a whole lot more than get water, cook my meal, and then pass out. Moose was set on continuing onward, but I would not be joining him. On the plus side, I was set for my first night of true cowboy camping lacking the energy to set up my tent. The skies looked questionable but I didn't care.