Date: 2017-05-21
From: Perisburg

To: Bailey Gap Shelter
Miles today: 24.3
Weather: overcast clouds

We were up at 4am, packed up our gear, and were on the road by 5am. Classy had places to be early afternoon which necessitated the early departure. Just as I finished packing up it started raining... very fortunate timing.On the way back to Perisburg we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and Walmart to pick up a few things. I grabbed a replacement pocket knife for the one I lost the day after Chestnut Knob, a new shirt to replace the long sleeve camp shirt I was sending home, a small/cheap watch to replace the one I was sending home, and some snacks for the trail.At the trailhead we said goodbye to Classy and then hit the trail by 8am, a respectable time even for a normal day, nevermind the drive we had made. My bag is now even smaller/lighter with the clothes I sent home... I'm able to roll my pack all the way down and not use any of the roll top, which is nice.The trail was a bit overgrown around Pearis Cemetary, the first time we've run into that on the trail. The skies were gloomy with the ridges which surround Perisburg topped with dark gray clouds that we'd no doubt be hiking into. We did a bit of road waking as we crossed a 4 lane bridge across a river and I noticed that the balls of my feet tend to hurt when I walk on hard surfaces, such as this road or the sidewalks of Damascus, but not on the trail (even the rocks).After crossing the road the trail ducked back into the woods and started ascending away from civilization. A train rumbled and then faded off into the distance as we hiked. We crossed a powerline, a gravel road, and then came across a steam, our signal that we had competed about 50% of the current hill and that we should tank up on water because there wouldn't be any for the next 7mi. Back up the hill we went and then we crossed a powerline... and a gravel road... and a stream... Dammit. Ok, now no more water and we're halfway done.We climbed up into the clouds as we neared the top of the ridge and we stopped for a break at a shelter along the trail. It was listed as having a view, but we couldn't see anything through the thick fog. Even the other hikers, a mere 100ft away, were faint sillouettes to us.The trail from here was pretty overgrown and my bottom half got soaked from the wet leaves. I crossed a crackling power line and could see small blueberries already forming on the plants in the clearing, though they had a ways to go before they're ready to eat.The trail wound through pleasant forests and meadows dotted with wildflowers. The clouds cleared throughout the afternoon and the fog dissapated leaving us with a beautiful afternoon. Coming down to the next shelter I hiked down a series of switchbacks that were basically flat... I'm sure they're appreciated by the SOBOs but the distance seemed to stretch on as the switchbacks continued.I had a snack at the shelter while I waited for Lookout. According to posters we had been seeing all day, the shelter was closed for overnight use because moths had killed a number of trees in the area and made it unsafe. Sitting there with a couple other hikers though, we could see a couple dead trees, but nothing endangering the shelter. In any case, Lookout and I were planning on going to head down to The Captains, it's claim to fame being the zipline used to cross the river to get there. We had heard it was closed because the owner was having health issues, but figured we'd check it out anyways.Unfortunately the rumors were true, the zipline was still in place but the rope needed to get it from our side of the river had been removed, giving us no way to cross. Oh well.We pressed on, heading for the next shelter. PUDS everywhere. The trail kinda followed the river for a bit but also pointlessly climbed a bunch of hills along the way. We crossed the river via a footbridge just as the rain started in earnest. So close to being dry for the day, yet so far away...The overgrown trail again got me more wet than the actual rain as we climbed a steep hill just before the shelter. We grabbed water from a spring 0.2 before the shelter and when we arrived found the shelter full. Well, not full... the hikers there said we could all fit, but realistically it wasn't going to be comfortable. Just as Lookout and I started to pitch our tents 2 guys who had finished their dinner decided that they were going to move on opening up room for us. We jumped on that and setup in the shelter. After dinner I closed out the night with some music and journaling.Classy's presence will be missed in our tramily :( Best of luck to her at her new job!