Date: 2008-05-06
From: Nat'l zoological Pk

To: Bears Den Rocks
Miles today: 33.4

After speaking to Squire last night and offering him a ride home with Pam , I gave my situtation some thought and realized that I need a break. Spruce had made it to Harpers Ferry and left me a voice mail wondering why I had not signed in yet. (Apparently no one knew that I had taken the four down days to go home and everyone thought that I had just powered on and was somewhere in Pa). So, had a talk with Pam and decided that I would get myself to Harpers Ferry and then go home with her and Bull. I really want to at least get that far before I transition to section hiking the balance of the trail. That meant that I had to have a monster day today and then tomorrow do a 19+ day into Harpers Ferry. I need to be there by 5:00 to sign in before they close at 5:00 so I have my work cut out for me on Wednesday. Mentally Harpers Ferry is a point in the trail where a lot of hikers seem to reflect on how they will finish. It is the base for the AT club and they log everyone in with a number for the year. I knew that I wanted to make it to that point and be one of the low numbers. So I am going for it! Bull dropped me off in Front Royal this morning early and I set out to do the 33 miles to the Bears Den Hostel. We are still basing ourselves at Jerry and Carols so I was able to slack pack and bring my lunch along with me. I started out and hit some tall grass full of dew and immediately I was soaking wet. 33+ miles and soaking wet boots...what a way to start the day. Then I came upon these beautiful trillium fields and as far as I could see there were flowers absolutly spectacular! To get to the flowers I had to get past a group of senior citizens that were looking for the trillium. It took a lot of patience since I had this big day ahead of me. Gotta take the good with the bad out here. I am learning every day!I saw a lot of people today on the trail and most seemed surprised that I was not in Pa by now. I saw Little Debbie and Amanda at Mannassas Gap Shelter just kicking back and stopped to chat for a few minutes. I ate my sandwiches and my power bars and at about 15 miles hit a wall again. I had to push myself to power through the day. Went by the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter today and it was one of the nicest that I have seen. It had solar showers and a big sitting area with adirondack chairs. For the most part the shelters in this area are pretty are much better than the ones earlier in the hike. Bull, Pam and Tug started the day at Bears Den and hiked south three miles to the shelter. It was not an easy hike. Along the way they met quite a few hikers heading north to the hostel for the night. Most of them had heard of Southside but none had seen him. The trail covered a lot of rocky ground and had several long downs with equally long ups and crossed several streams. They ate lunch at the shelter and actually hooked up with Squire there. They then reversed and went back north to the Bears Den to wait for me. Made it to the Bears Den at about 5:45 and the last 2-3 miles seemed to be slow but if you go by the watch (as Squire tells me), I made great time (3+/hour). Sitting at the hostel waiting for me were Tug, Pam, Bull and Squire with a cold diet coke. Can't beat that! I actually had pudding legs when I got there. Squire is going to spend the night and I will meet him there tomorrow. The plan is to slack pack the 19+ miles together to Harpers Ferry, sign in and then go have dinner for Jerry's birthday. lataSouthside