Date: 2018-05-09
From: High top hut

To: Rock Springs Hut
Miles today: 23.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Waking up in my tent was beautiful this morning. I slept amazingly and was happy I had made that choice. I packed up and ate then made my way up the trail. As most days have been, the birds were chirping and the weather was beautiful. I love getting up early these days to beat the crowds and enjoy the woods at what I would argue is their finest.The "big" climbs were in the morning and by the time we hit the first campground we had finished the majority of the climbs. Two clicks and I had met up and had some lunch at the campground store. We may not love the fact that society is so close all the time but these waysides and stores with food are amazing. I've only cut down my food bag weight a little bit but I don't regret taking advantage of the food! We had coffee (what seems to be our daily coffee date-- upgraded to iced Starbucks coffee while in the national park) and sandwiches as we watched the commotion of the campers from the safety of our benches while our phones charged. After hiking out, Two Clicks and I chatted. Being in that store was wicked stressful and I think mainly because we aren't in society on a regular basis. As we climbed a mountain and looked around, we were again reminded of the simplicity of our current status of living and simply watching the bees land on flowers while the sun rays beamed down on us restored us back to our serenity.Soon after, I took a blue-blazed trail to a rock scramble for a decent view and overlook. It was a really nice decision and I'm glad I did it but i regretted it after catching back up to Two Clicks. Shortly after he had bypassed the scramble, he saw two bear cubs and a mama bear. Pretty cool! The Shenandoah National Park is well known for it's bears, even moreso than the Smokey's so I am determined to see one.Further along the trail we blue blazed to Skyline Drive for another wayside. More food! I got a burger, soda and a banana. I wolfed down my food as I charged my phone more and again watched the tourists. It's pretty amusing watching them and I'm sure they feel the same about us. After calling home and using the restroom I had four more miles to camp. It was only 3!I pushed hard continuously looking for bears. I saw a turkey and some deer but no bears. I should be happy with that though! They were pretty cool! Passing Big Meadows Campground we had all heard of trail magic at site D143 or something like that. I wandered in aimlessly looking for something that resembled trail magic. I had no luck but I was full anyway and hiked the last two miles to camp.Tonight I set up in the shelter. I ate only ramen with a bunch of appetizers (fruity snacks, dried pineapple, kit Kats-- you know) then had my dessert of a honey bun and Hershey bar mainly in hopes of lessening the weight of my bag. Tomorrow I'm pushing hard and hoping to get 28 miles to a shelter with a dinner time stop at another wayside before saying bye to Two Clicks. He's getting off tomorrow and I'll be pushing on then getting off next week. Not sure we'll see each other again but we both agreed our midday coffee will continue! Time for early bed and listening to Lord of the Rings!P.S: Hi Jacqui! Thanks so much for following! I'd say the prayers are working as I've outrun a wildfire unknowingly and been blessed this entire trip! You're right, day to day this experience is one crazy adventure but I'm happy to be doing it and can't wait to be able to look back and reference the lessons I learned out here for the rest of my life! Plus, there's just a bunch of things I never would have seen or experienced that are awesome! And, I'm writing it down! So my memory won't have to work so hard!