Date: 2018-05-19
To: Rock Point 
Miles today: 14.2

Dave and his wife Claudia gave us a lift back to the VA 56 trailhead. The lovely couple has been married for over 50 years and have settled in Waynesboro as a retirement community. In route to the trail we dropped by Weasie's Kitchen for breakfast. We arrived at the trail head at 9:00. It was raining when Dave picked us up on Wednesday and it was raining when he dropped us back off. How fitting.We were both a little sluggish as we began hiking. The first 6 miles featured a 3,000¢ ascent to Three Ridges. The trail was considerably rocky in places, making the climb slow and tedious. All of the rain over the past few days created additional challenges. First, the rocks were wet and very slippery. Next, the trail had turned into a stream bed in several places and water gushed over and around the rocks. In some places you could hear the roar of underground streams racing under our feet. Finally, the mountain streams were swollen to the max, making it more difficult to cross. Early in the hike, as I had my head down grinding my way up a steep part of the trail, I looked up to see a deer standing directly in the path. The beautiful deer stood tall, with his ears perked up, and peered down at us through the fog. I snapped a picture as he posed for us, but when I took a step closer, he disappeared into the thick forest in a single effortless leap. A bit further we came to Harpe'rs Creek, which was flowing in a torrent just above and below the trail. The water was too high to attempt a rock hopping across the creek. Besides, one slip and we would be washed down the mountain in the violently gushing water. We considered going back to the Mau-har Trail, a scenic blue-blazed trail that bypasses Three Ridges. After a quick check on Guthook, it was apparent that it would contain plenty of challenging stream crossings of its own. The water in Harper¢s Creek was pooled up on one side of the trail, so we opted to take off our hiking shoes and wade through the frigid water. The only other NOBO we would see all day crossed just ahead of us. We also met a group of day hikers who were crossing from the opposite direction. Eventually everyone was safely across and we put our hiking shoes back on. We stopped for lunch at Chimney Rock, an intermittent peak about a mile from Three Ridges. Normally there would have been a view from here and several other places along the way, but not today. We were hiking in the clouds. I took a picture from Hanging Rock for demonstration purposes. About a mile after cresting the top, we came to the empty Maupin Field Shelter, where we stopped to filter drinking water. After a few more ups and downs we came to Reeds Gap. The trail once again crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway here, passing along an open meadow for a piece. The elevation profile was generally flat here, but that did not tell the whole story. The trail was cut along the side of a mountain and the going became considerably slow due to water and rocks on the trail. Once again we were aqua blazing (a term normally reserved for rafting part of an AT journey). To make matters worse, most of the rocks were of the ultra-smooth variety, making them nearly impossible to walk on without slipping. When we started the day, we had about a 30 mile hike to Rockfish Gap. We had hoped to get 16¢18 of those miles behind us today, making for a shorter hiking day tomorrow, when we need to get back to Waynesboro for resupply. We learned a long time ago to take what the trail gives us and today it gave us a lot of steep, wet, and slippery terrain. Around 6:00 p.m. we realized we would probably not even make it halfway to Rockfish Gap. But, we still needed to find a place to pitch our tent along this cut. Just as you take what the A.T. gives you, the A.T. also provides. We took a side trail to an overlook (Rock Point) and found a flat spot adjacent to the rock outcropping to pitch our tent. The trail also provided us with just enough clearing to get a view with our dinner. We were safe and dry in our tent by dark. Then the rain, lightning, and wind came. What a day!Peace and Blessings - Next StepElevation Data:Ascent - 4,460Descent - 2,600Grade - 9.4Weather:Day - 69 / Rain Night - 64 / Showers & WindOver the Horizon: Shenandoah National Park