Date: 2003-08-03
From: Gravel Springs Hut

To: Front Royal, VA
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: broken clouds

Erin says:Hello and greetings from Front Royal, VA! Craig and I have completed the stretch of trail in Shenandoah National Park. We really enjoyed the Shenandoahs. However, we are psyched to be in Front Royal.We had a leisurely morning at Gravel Springs Hut. We were the only ones in the hut last night, and we tented inside. It was still very foggy out when we awoke this morning. The hut was down a steep side trail and it seemed like a rude awakening climbing back up to the A.T. We hiked Marshall Mountain today, and it would have been a fun climb if we could have seen any of the views from the lookout points. However, the fog persisted. Craig and I were about to take a break after the first 4 miles, but it started to rain. We hiked on as the rain intensified and soon it was a horrific downpour. Drenching. And we had nowhere to go. We kept moving in order to stay warm. The trail was super flooded and our shoes were soaked. After a while I stopped trying to walk on the sides of the trail to avoid the deluge of water. We stomped around in the puddles and flooded trail and our shoes made squishy noises. I can't believe how hard it was raining. Sometimes it was very difficult to see. A few times we encountered deer right beside us on the trail -- we were concentrating so hard on maneuvering on the trail that we came right upon the deer. We did see a buck with a decent rack.We felt bad trying to get a hitch into Front Royal because we were so sopping wet. However, a really nice guy from Maryland picked us up and let us sit in the back of his minivan with our sopping packs and wet clothes. He was coming back from spending a week at a guitar camp in Asheville, NC. His only request to us was that we try not to get his guitar case wet that was in the backseat.So, we are now dry and cozy at the Center City Motel in Front Royal. We had coupons from the Quality Inn for free value meals at McDonald's that we used for dinner. Pretty sweet! We were starving! We called our families and found out that The Nashua Telegraph ran an article about our hike today. Thanks to anyone who read the article and is taking a look at our journals. The large photograph of Craig and I standing together is on McAfee Knob in Virginia. And the muddy shoes photograph are my feet actually, not Craig's. Those were my bomb-proof running shoes that lasted me 620 miles til Pearisburg, VA. I'm the one that hikes with poles. Craig has such powerful legs that he doesn't need them.I had hoped that the article would mention that if you are interested in supporting our hiking efforts, you can make a donation to Bridges: Domestic & Sexual Violence Support Services, Inc. of Nashua and Milford on our behalf. Craig and I are strong supporters of the work that Bridges does to assist survivors of domestic and sexual violence in rebuilding their lives. You can send a donation to Bridges PO Box 217 Nashua, NH 03061 or call (603) 889-0858 for more information. We would love to help Bridges out.We will spend tomorrow in Front Royal doing laudry, resupply, going to the post office, and doing other errands. Then it is off to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia! We have only 55 more miles to hike in Virginia -- Virginia is 25% of the entire trail! Oh, by the way, Craig and I have listed a maildrop on the maildrops section for those who have inquired about how to send us things. We will continue to update our maildrops as we can.