Date: 2007-08-01
From: Montebello, VA

To: VA 56 Tye River, Virginia
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: clear sky

Wow!! That's all I have to say when you've been off the trail for a month, and then hop back on for a quick slackpack to cover a short section in a day hike.I can now say that I am "officially" at Rockfish Gap (the beginning of the Shenendoah's) now that I completed the last 9.4 miles that took me up and over The Priest.There were days when I thought this section was the "uncompletable" section for me, but I am glad to say it's finished now and all of the dots have been connected all the way back to Georgia. I called the Dutch Haus (again...can't say enough about this wonderful place) the night before and asked if they could pick Karen and I up from VA 56, where she'd park her car, then they could shuttle us to the Fish Hatchery Road where we could start north. They enthusiastically said yes, and charged a very humble $10.00 for their help.So, at 8:00 a.m. we met Earl, the Dutch Haus owners' father (also a former Marine), @ the parking area of VA 56 and he dropped us off at the Fish Hatchery road. From there you have to hike about 1.5 miles up a forest service road to get to the AT, and of course...it's all up, but not too bad. A nice warm-up. I was just hiking with my pack with water, first aid, and other normal day hiking gear, so it felt so light. This was Karen's first AT day hike and for someone who hasn't hiked in years, I heard very little whining/complaining (hee hee). We started up to Spy Rock around 9:30 a.m., and the temp was 73 degrees; it felt GREAT!Spy Rock is this huge rock that you can climb up to the top and have a great view of the mountains. Fun rock climbing as well. It was just a perfect day to be out. The temps and humidity have been pretty high lately, but today was just wonderful.After spending some time enjoying the view, we climbed down and headed down Maine Top Mt. The only wildlife I saw all day were tons of beautiful butterflies, a few beetles, and some other bugs. This short section wasn¢t bad at all, and we stopped at The Priest Shelter for lunch. Of course we saw nobody all day, because all the NOBO¢s are way further up and the SOBO¢s haven¢t made it down this far yet. The trail was a lot of loose dirt with small rocks, you know, the kind that on a slight (or not so slight) downhill usually means a fall or two if you stop paying attention. The score by the end of the hike was 2 to 1, Karen fell twice, I fell once, but there were no major injuries, just lots of laughter and a few scrapes. The shelter was a pretty nice one, but the water source was but a trickle. I figure the lack of rain is really affecting water sources so I sure hope everyone out there isn¢t getting dehydrated. This section is much like the rest of Virginia, the green tunnel, but that actually never bothered me. The Priest wasn¢t as bad as I thought it would be (of course, I was only wearing a daypack too), but going down it was exhausting, especially since it was a drop in elevation from 4,063 feet all the way to 970 feet over 4.3 miles. Downhills, as I¢ve said before, are the places you get tired and the places injuries occur. It was great to see VA 56. After we got to the parking area, we walked across VA 56 and on to the AT headed north to the Tye River. Major feet soaking time!!! I was wading around flipping over stones looking for crawdads and this guy who was camping near by said, ¢Hey, look at that.¢ He pointed to this GIANT spider that was swimming in the river a few feet from me! YIKES!!! I got some pics, and speaking of pics people, I¢m getting them ALL up on my journal by Monday, everything up to yesterday¢s hike. YIPPY!!! Anyway, the Tye River was beautiful, it is shallow enough here to walk all around it and it¢s really wide. There were these grey-blue rocks in the river bed that just stood out if you looked and noticed them. Really wonderful colors. So what did it feel like to be back out (if even for a day hike) after all this time? A little weird actually. I was super excited to know I would be completing this short section, and after I got out there, it was a bit awkward. I¢ve lost my ¢flow¢, but that¢s to be expected. Oh, and I had mentioned I got new hiking poles due to breaking one of my other Leki¢s, and Karen picked up these cheapy Wal-Mart poles. Yup, before we even started hiking, I was adjusting one of her poles, heard a CLICK, and the stupid thing wouldn¢t tighten down! I broke it! Hilarious huh? So, I let her use my new poles and I used a single pole for the first time. I still prefer 2 is what I found out. Seriously people, buy good poles if you choose to use them for something as huge as a long distance or thru-hike. Psychologically, I¢ll admit, 1 month off the trail is long enough to start feeling comfortable in the real world again, but don¢t worry. My plan is to start from Rockfish Gap next week and Karen has agreed to slackpack me as far north as possible so that I can get to Harper¢s Ferry a bit quicker and really make a final decision about the remainder of my hike. I am leaning towards completing it this year, but will admit that my left foot was absolutely killing me only an hour into today¢s short hike. I am breaking in some new Superfeet insoles, so that may have something to do with it as well. I¢m just not comfortable with making an absolute decision until I get to Harper¢s Ferry. I think I¢ll know for sure what I need to do.There are parts of you that are torn in this situation. Part of me desperately wants to have the sense of completion and finish it this year. Another part of me wants to wait and have the last half to look forward to next year. I really love hiking the AT. I really love the community, the simplistic approach, and even the deprivation you put yourself through and the reward of a big meal and hot shower when you do finally reach a town. I¢m not ready mentally to let go of it, and I think that¢s a good thing. And of course, I¢ve missed my hammock HORRIBLY!!!!! J So that¢s that. I¢m back. I did find out that one of the boxes of cold weather gear that I mailed to Michigan was stolen from outside the front door of my apartment. Apparently other people¢s boxes had been stolen too. I know for sure my fleece pants and my ridiculously expensive ¢Toasty¢ gloves were in it. I¢ll need to inventory my gear before I head to Maine, because I¢ll need the cold weather stuff before entering the Whites in New Hampshire. Hey¢¦all part of my journey I suppose. I¢m getting less and less uptight about stupid crap, and that¢s always a good thing. I¢ve heard the trail teaches you that, and I think it¢s sticking. It¢s good to be back.~Certain