Date: 2008-04-23
From: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter

To: Maupin Field Shelter
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up in the middle of the night several times because I had a re-occuring nightmare which thoroughly disturbed me. The dream was sooo real, I felt sick when I woke up. Enough emoting, we hit the trail by 7:45a and were very happy that the 3 days of rain had subsided! Within no time, we reached Spy Rock. The detour wasn't very big but well worth the time. We dropped our packs and then began to climb up. The view was great...because of the clearity, we were able to see for many, many miles. The view was phenomenal!!! After some pics and time to "absorb," we pressed on towards the Priest. We crossed VA 826 and ran into several couples. The funniest encounter I had with one of them was when I looked up and saw a middle aged gentleman and this shorter individual behind him. Upon seeing this, I thought, "it's good to see that father and son are enjoying 'the great outdoors' together." As they got closer, I looked up, said hello, and was taken back when I realized that the shorter person was a woman!!! Oh! One of the men told us that Chris and Lacey had left the Priest shelter at 7:30a and planned to camp between Maupin Fields and Paul C. Wolfe Shelters.After a decent climb to the shelter sign, Yeti pointed to a small rock formation and said, "Look, it's the little priest!" We laughed a little and then continued to the summit. When we got there, we couldn't find any thing which was extremely impressive and worth noting in the guidebooks. I'm not sure how, but we somehow "lost" The Priest Rock Formation!! So, we began descending the 36 switchbacks and Yeti decided to sum it up by saying, "Holy Switchbacks Batman!!" It seemed like it took forever, but we eventually got to the Tye River Parking lot and took a pack, shirt, and shoe off lunchbreak. After inhaling my 2 PB&J sandwiches and the Balance Bar Gold Briana sent me, I decided to take a quick nap. I think I was out for about 15-20 minutes, but I didn't get to enjoy it because I was still bothered by that dream! I woke up, much like I did this morning, and we began to cross the suspension bridge. Well, I don't know if anybody remembers this, but Yeti/Toddy Bear + Bad Hummus + Suspension Bridge = Rocking the bridge/scaring Bad Hummus!!! The climb up to the Mar-Har Trail was steep at some points, but not all that bad. We pressed on to the Harper's Creek Shelter, crossed the creek, and met a SOBO couple who was working on one of their sections. Having to "Lay Waste" to the privy, I dropped my pack and began to sprint to the privy for a "photo finish" 2-sie!!! We gathered water for our climb and then read the Appalachian Times and found out that Chris and Lacey plans to spend the weekend with Lacey in Waynesboro...I'm really happy that I will get to see the both of them again. As we left, the climb up to Chimney Rocks kicked my butt, but I kept moving and eventually we took a break on a rocky outcropping. 3/4 of the way up the rocky Three Ridges, Toddy Bear stopped and pointed out 2 deer on the trail. I was pretty winded so I let them take pics while I enjoyed being within 20 ft from deer who were not even bothered by our presence! I was so amazed at the fact that two different species could interact in their most primal roles!!! Similarly to the Priest, we couldn't find what was so phenomenal about the Three Ridges Formation. We did, however, stop at the Hanging Rock Vista and enjoyed a beautiful view of the Priest and Three Ridges along with the setting sun. We eventually made it to the shelter and found a canister of fuel and 1/8 jar of PB&J Mix. Being hungry, I scarfed down the PB&J without even thinking about getting sick...This is the last time I try and cut weight by reducing weight in my food bag. While we were eating, the skin from my blister was starting to fall off and Yeti took a picture of it just hanging on while I ripped it off! Being really tired, we all prepared for an early bed time because we could sleep in a bit because we have a small day tomorrow. As we were bedding down and chatting, a mouse ran by Toddy Bear's head. He turned on his headlamp and began "spotlighting" it as it was running up the wall. The mouse, not liking the light, kept trying to run away, but Toddy Bear kept the light on him and it tried its darndest to escape. It did, however, manage to slip away from us. As I was about to sleep, I noticed the mouse running around n the rafters above our heads trying to get to our food bags. Because my light is weak, Toddy Bear began "spotlighting" it again, but this time he said, "It's hiker TV, but make sure you watch with your mouth closed!" I don't know how/when this happened, but 3-4 more mice appeared and they were 'drafted' into our game. It's a good thing that the mice couldn't reach our food bags because of the way in which this shelter was built, and it was pretty fun[ny] to watch this new hiker tv. Oh Well...off to catch some Zzzz's!!