Date: 2005-06-21
From: Dutch Haus B&B, Fish Hatchery Road

To: Maupin Field Shelter
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: scattered clouds

A first and a last today. Today, after many near misses (sightings just before or after I got there), I saw my first bear on the trail! It was SOBO and I was going north. We both stopped dead when we saw each other, and the bear then backed up and ran up the ridge before I could get a picture. It was sort of medium sized and very healthy looking. It is so surprising to see such a large wild animal after seeing nothing but chipmunks and deer for weeks.The last was the last mountain over 4000 ft. until New Hampshire, The Priest. It was also the day I did the last of the 3000 ft climbs before Waynesboro. I'm now tenting at a shelter about 21 miles from Rockfish Gap, the road intersection for Waynesboro, so if I can get up and going in the morning I should be there tomorrow night! Fast work, if I do say so myself!I'm the only person here at the shelter tonight who actually walked the AT all the way to get here. The other three people and two people who left to go to a nearby hostel all blue blazed on various trails, which they assured me were harder than the AT (less elevation and 3 miles shorter, but harder none the less). They are all thru-hikers, but with a very different attitude towards it than I have. They seem to be having a good time and valuing the experience just as much, so I say, it's not my business how they do it. It's hard not to get annoyed though, when you've worked hard to get somewhere, only to find a bunch of people hanging out and relaxing for the past hour or so because they took a different trail. It's sort of like climbing Mt Washington, and finding the top of the mountain full of tourists who drove up (but not as bad).As you can tell I'm getting a little cranky about the people I'm sharing the trail with. I think the problem is that there are just too many of them for my tastes! They are almost all nice friendly people, so I think I must just need a little time alone. Being on the trail is funny, because you can be alone almost all day, but, because it is all public space you never really have privacy, except in your tent at night, and even then you can usually hear other people. One of the things I like about being in town is having some private space.On a more cheerful note, Rain and Dance have been leaving me nice little encouraging notes in th shelter registers. I am just about exactly a day behind them. When I stop for lunch or a break at a shelter and check the register, there they are doing the same thing the day before. I still sort of hike with them in my mind, especially when I come to water, or other sections of the trail that I know the dog would like. Then I will think, I'll bet they stopped here so Brandy could swim, or I'll bet Brandy liked this, so its nice to see their entries at the shelter and know where they were. One of the other people here saw a bobcat at the spring, which is cool, and at the moment I am listening to an owl concert. Aah, aah, ahah, ooooo, back and forth. Spooky. I really like sleeping outside now. I actually like it better than being in a house. Last night in that very nice B&B I got claustophobic and had trouble sleeping, because the air seemed so bad. What will I do when I get home? Sleep on the porch?