Date: 2018-05-30
From: Docs Knob Shelter

To: Rice field shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: light rain

Last night several twigs kept falling on my tent. It woke me up a few times and I thought a tree was falling on me. The air stayed wet all night long. I packed up and made breakfast on the shelter's deck. It was the usual oatmeal and coffee. Lost and found was waiting for Halfway. He had slept 5 miles back. I hung out for awhile and waited with Lost and found. Eventually Halfway showed up and we hiked together into Parisburg.It continued to be cloudy and wet on our hike. All the leaves were shiny from the constant moisture in the air. We followed each other like lemmings all the way into town. The last 2 miles was another patch of slick mud. I fell at least 3 times while trying to keep my balance. Luckily I caught myself before I fell in the mud. Lost and found called the Angels rest hostel and found out they could also give me a shuttle to town. When we arrived at the parking lot, Bob's parents were there giving out trail magic! I grabbed some pop tarts and other snacks. When the shuttle arrived Pumpkin Spice, Kamikaze, Chill, Bandito, Two Crows, and Poncho were already in the car! I had caught up to the group again. Scissors was still 20 miles ahead. I was excited to see everyone again. They were heading to the first shelter. I was going into town for food and a quick resupply. On the way to Angel's rest the shuttle driver mentioned that they had a day pass for $7 where I could use the full facilities. I took him up on the offer.  Angel's rest was one of the nicer hostels. It had newer facilities and clean bathrooms. I hung up my tent and pack cover to dry out. I took a shower and used a pumice stone to scrape off all the dead skin on my feet. The sink came in handy to wash my hiking clothes since I didn't have time to use the laundry. I wanted to get back on the trail to catch up to everyone tonight. After we were clean, Lost and found, Halfway, two other hikers, and I went to the all you can eat Chinese restaurant. We ate several plates of food. I tried eating as much as I could but my stomach couldn't stretch big enough and only made it through 3 plates. Lost and found was the smallest person there but managed to put 6 plates down of food. Another hiker was vegetarian and didn't have many choices but ate 8 little prepackaged packs of ice cream. After Chinese we went to the food Lion to resupply. I just needed a few snacks and a dinner for the 70 mile stretch of nothing after Parisburg. Halfway bought popcicles and shared them with everyone. The sun came out jusr barely while we were eating them.  We headed back over to the hostel. They had setup a large slip n slide outside. I wanted to join but didn't want to get all soapy again before I headed out. Another hiker showed up with a trash bag filled with snacks. He had raided the local Dollar General's dumpster. There were little Debbie cakes and trail mixed up for grab. The expiration dates on the food was 5/31 but most food will last well beyond that date. I packed my pack with the new resupplies and said goodbye to Halfway and Lost and found. They mentioned they were slack packing tomorrow and that will see them going southbound. I'm not sure how long it will be before I see them again after that. I took the hostel shuttle back to the trail and started a 7 mile hike to the next shelter at 6:30 pm.The first part of the trail followed the highway for a mile. Semi trucks zoomed by as I walked on the sidewalk. I could feel the bridge flex as they drove over. In the distance there was a line cut through the mountains where the new gas pipeline was going. The shuttle driver mentioned there were protests today over its construction. After the highway, I was back the woods. I came to Paris cemetery nestled along the trail. There was a sign stating that 205 people were buried there but half of the people were unknown. Most of the gravestone faces had been washed away. I hiked up the mountain and came to a gravel road with a forest ranger in a truck. He said I looked tired and asked me where I came from. Then he told me where the trail led off from the road. I believe that road was the access road to the pipeline construction. About 100 yards from from the road there was a homemade sign about the protest and it said to follow the pink ribbons on a side trail to it. It was already late in the day and I didn't want to get sidetracked. Night fell and I got out my headlamp to night hike. About 10 minutes in I saw a glowing pair of eyes staring back at me in the distance. They quickly disappeared but that sent chills through my body. I was determined to get to the shelter soon. In another mile l saw a group of eyes next to me which turned out to be a group of deer. I came to a clearing and knew I was close to the shelter. At the top of the bald was a group of tents. I heard "Uncle Ya" and I knew I made it back to my group. It was around 9:30 and some had gone to sleep already. I was still full from Chinese and didn't eat dinner. I put up my tent and hung my bear bag in the dark. In the distance I could see the twinkling of lights from homes. They were suddenly skewed as a cloud rolled over the mountain. It was time for bed.Tonight I'm listening to the wind push into my tent as daddy long legs climb up the sides. I caught up to most of my crew.