Date: 2016-05-21
From: James River

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 79.3

Monday (May 16th) was our second day of trail maintenance work and this time my group was putting in several big rock steps. After digging out places for the rocks we would get all hands on deck to use a rock net to carry the boulder to the hole. Then there would be lots of maneuvering to get it positioned just right before locking it in with gravel and dirt. We had run out of gravel the day before and had to make it by crushing rocks in to small pieces which took time and delayed the steps a bit. While there was a lot more teamwork involved that day and we had more breaks it was exhausting and by 4pm when we wrapped up everyone was ready to head back to camp to eat and rest. Dinner was salad, pasta and garlic bread with cookies and ice cream for dessert, we happily gobbled it down and went back for seconds and thirds haha. That night we watched Hook and Top Gun but I only made it to the volleyball scene (can't miss that ;p) before heading to bed. Tuesday I was given a ride back to the trail by Mad Hatter and Ma Buddha a couple who had drove down from Vermont to participate in Trail Days and Hardcore. He thru-hiked the AT in 2004 after their son did in 2003 and since then they've been very involved in long distance hiking. Before dropping me off they even stopped by the Shoney's in Daleville and paid for my breakfast buffet! I started hiking just before noon and while it was still drizzling the weather wasn't too bad. Two miles down the trail I ran in to Mishap and Blacksmith a couple I hadn't seen in at least 3 weeks so we hiked the rest of the way to Punchbowl Shelter together and caught up. My bubble was all still ahead but I met a bunch of new hikers including one named Bear Bag. Wednesday started and ended wet but at least most of the day was spent in a foggy, drizzle rather than a down pour. A side from a 2,500 foot climb the terrain was mainly small ups and downs so regardless of the crappy weather I ended up hiking 25.3 miles (new personal best!) to Seeley-Woodworth Shelter. I caught up to Trekkeroni who I hadn't seen since the Grayson Highlands and finally met Spongebob. The only bad part of the day was dropping my Sawyer (water filtration device) while trying to screw it back on to the water bottle and it falling straight on a rock and breaking in half (of course thus happens less than 3 weeks after getting a new one).Thursday marked my 2 month trail anniversary and man did I put my trail legs to work. After descending the Priest a mountain that goes from an elevation of 4063 to 970 feet I hiked to Harpers Creek Shelter for lunch. While eating two older men I'd blown past earlier showed up and as we talked I mentioned potentially going to the Devils Backbone Brewery I just had to get a ride. They said if I could get to Reeds Gap by 5pm they would give me a ride which meant I had 3 hours to hike 8 miles and go up and down Three Ridges Mountain. I accepted the challenge and took off and man was I exhausted when I finally reached the summit and then still had 4.3 miles to go. I arrived 5 minutes past (pretty great if I do say so myself haha) and as promised they took me to DB Brewery. I set up my tent and had dinner before heading to the pub where Spongebob joined me shortly after. It was so nice to have a beer to mark the occasion after all 842.5 miles in 2 months is a great achievement. Friday morning we lucked out and were able to hitch a ride quite easily from a hiker named Big Butt (thanks again for the ride and water). I was very motivated to get to Rockfish Gap and get a ride to the hostel as the sky looked quite ominous and the forecast was rain in the afternoon. I got to Paul C. Wolfe Shelter just before 1pm for lunch and met two Southbound thru-hikers named Snafu and Square Knot who were very nice. A girl named Trooper caught up to me and we ended up hiking the last 5 miles to the gap together and waiting for the shuttle. I felt so loved when I arrived to the hostel and Sea Biscuit, Spider Man and Sweeper all came out to say hello and give me hugs (Caboose was in the shower). I caught up to most of my little bubble! Our evening was even more special because Mr. & Mrs. Nail Gun, Moon Dog, Captain Ahab and Lieutenant Dan were all in town as well and we had a fun group dinner at a Chinese buffet. The hostel was packed at night and even though everyone was tired we stayed up and watched Vertical Limit a movie about climbing K2 that was very entertaining but super stressful. Today we decided to stay in town so we went to the movie theater to see the Jungle Book and it was wonderful to have popcorn, soda and take it easy. Hanging out the rest of the day at the hostel and will get in to Shenandoah National Park tomorrow, let's hope for good weather.