Date: 2017-06-30
From: Paul Wolfe Shelter

To: Rockfish Gap/Shenandoah National Park
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: moderate rain

Day 59Friday, June 30, 2017 Paul Wolfe Shelter (856.6) to Rockfish Gap/Shenanadoah National Park (862.6)Miles:  6 miles in 2.75 hours2017 AT trip miles: 862.6Total AT miles to date: 2149.6Weather: Its gonna be a hot one Celebratory Lunch: Burger at Seven Arrows Brewery, WaynesboroCelebratory Dinner: Crabcakes at the Greenleaf Caf©, WaynesboroHikers: Tinker and Bell, Mama Bear and the three children, Space GhostWildlife: Scampering DeerI slept well. The clothes I had swam in yesterday are dry. My sleeping bag was warm, but not sticky. The gurgling waterfall, soothing.This morning was the last time I deflated and rolled up my pillow, stuffed my sleeping bag into the compressible waterproof stuff sack, fold the Thermorest into thirds, roll it up squishing out the remaining air. It was the last time I changed back into five-day old clothes, a damp bra, yesterdays socks. I stuck the phone and headphones into my right side skirt pocket and today's map page into my left. I tucked my head lamp and battery recharger into their own yellow bag, threw my sleeping clothes into its stuff sack.I slid on the elastic ankle brace, worn since day three, when I sprained my left ankle during a tumble on Blood Mountain. Next come the socks, now dry from yesterday's use. I slip on the gaiters. The aired-out insoles are replaced back into the shoes. Shoes go on, laces tied, gaiters hooked. Everything inside the tent was wrapped up.Next¢the tent: I untie a guyline that doubles as my clothes line, twisting the paracord into a butterfly skein. The Tyvek floor cloth was removed, the trekking poles pulled out one side side, then the other. Stakes are removed and then the tent is rolled up into a tight package for the stuff sack. I retrieved the food bag from the bear cable, screwed the stove onto the fuel canister, lit the stove, boiled water, made coffee¢two packets of Tasters Choice instant coffee and a shot of a new shelf-stable creamer I discovered last year. Breakfast consisted of split pea and ham soup, one of two dinners I still had left¢so much more preferable to the ever-present oatmeal.  I brush my teeth using the coffee cup water rinse water, then turn the toothbrush as a pot scrubber, using it to clean off any last coffee residue from the cup.The sleeping bag and Thermorest are the first to be packed into the bottom of my pack. They fit side by side within a heavy duty white trash-compactor bag intended to keep the all-important dry things dry. The clothes bag is next and the compactor bag top rolled down. There's no rain in the forecast until later this afternoon, well after the time I will be done. The rain jacket is stuffed into the bag¢s depth, filling open spaces left by the rigid oval-shaped stuff sacks. If rain is possible, I keep the jacket strapped on top. The folded piece of Tyvek goes on top of this. It acts as a further water barrier when things get packed wet. My small foam sit-upon slides in against the back panel and the bubble wrap envelop contains a Z-Pak waterproof pouch holding the iPad Mini and loose leaf pages of guidebook sections slides into front, further cushioned by the outside net pocket.The food bag, now bearing only a quart-sized ziplock bag of garbage, two uneaten packets of instant oatmeal and one dinner, is loaded next. The most I carried is seven days worth of food¢heading into Great Smokey Mountain National Park¢which turned out to be three days too much. In retrospect that climb out of Fontana Dam could have been much lighter, the food bag far less bulging, but I couldn't have predicted that at the time.Three units of gear top off my final preparations. The small yellow bag containing the chargers, headlamp, personal items (although not a comb or brush), emergency items and mostly unused first aid items. The second is the GSI Haluite cookpot holding the fuel canister, stove, and my spoon when I don't need it for lunch. This is tucked into a DIY Reflectix cozy. Finally there is a net bag holding my main luxury item, a titanium coffee cup, the bear bag paracord rope, a small microfiber towel for pot drying and a small bottle of Dr. Browner¢s lavender soap, soap that I used for my sponge baths more than dish washing. The top of the pack is rolled down and buckled.Two water bottles, one containing the last water I'll need to drink for a while with tiny unidentifiable floating bits of organic stream debris, with my Steripen water purifier, go into the right outside pocket and the tent and umbrella are shoved deep into the left one.A variety of protein, power, candy and/or granola bars has been placed into the left hip belt pocket, along with a pint sized Ziplok baggie of lentils, chickpeas or pesto, left to rehydrate during the morning and eaten with tortillas or as a salad for lunch. Most days I carry five or more bars. Today, there are only two. The last two.My right hip belt pocket holds sunscreen, lip balm, toilet paper, hand sanitizer and until two days ago, insect repellent. I never used it and gave it away to Bell whom the bugs found more desirable than I. I did keep the Benadryl anti-itch stick¢a few ankle biters still got me.Finally, I checked to see that the trowel, rain kilt, pack cover and two-quart collapsible platypus water bottle are still there. My camp shoe Crocs are attached to the velcro straps, the pee rag tucked into the bungee cords¢and I'm off.Sunlight reaches this gap, dapples the rocks and leaf litter. Hickory nuts occasionally fall. A deer wanders nearby. The sounds of the waterfall from my stream-side campsite fade and are replaced by the cacophony of Pilated woodpeckers and cicadas. The air is heating up. It's going to be a hot day.Space Ghost, another Wisconsinite with whom I had enjoyed a 10:45 a.m. beer at the Catawba Grocery, catches up to me. He arrived at the shelter last night after dark. We talk for a while and he falls into step with me. It was nice to catch up and be able to say goodbye, but I sent him on. I wanted to finish hiking the same way I started¢alone.While Podcasts have kept me sane through some of the more challenging days, I let my iPhone playlist shuffle, looping through a forever soundtrack tied to this singular moment. I think about musicians and songwriters whose chords and lyrics resonate, friends whose spirits carry me, strangers who share the same footsteps and follow the same trail but are on a completely different journey.I text Sam letting him know I'm about 45 minutes away. He reports that he's just reached the Waynesboro, Virginia city limit. I reach the US 250 guardrail on the Blue Ridge Parkway, just before 11 a.m. and pause to consult my map. Still about a half mile more to reach that National Park sign, my final terminus. I look up and notice a parking lot across the road wondering if Sam might be waiting there. Then I look right, then left before crossing¢and there is our car. After fifty-nine days and thousands of miles, we've literally found each other within minutes. Except I'm not quite done. He pulls over and embraces my sweaty body, my stinking pack. We take a few photos and I send him ahead where I again meet him at a big brown ¢Entering Shenandoah National Park¢ sign where two other families are also parked, posing for family photos. They get to see me cry¢but only for a little bit. There's too much to talk about. Too much to celebrate.- April 11, 2016, Rockfish Gap/Shenandoah National Park, Virginia to August 23, 2016, Mt. Katahdin, Maine - May 2, 2017 Springer Mountain, Georgia to June 30, 2017, Rockfish Gap/Shenandoah National Park, VirginiaAnd just like that, it's over.