Date: 2003-05-24
From: Waynesboro - Quality Inn

To: Waynesboro - Quality Inn
Miles today: 0.0

A good nights sleep last night, I needed that (maybe the beer helped). But finally we were up and off to the Post Office to send winter gear home and bounce my box to the ATC in Harpers Ferry. I sent EVERYTHING home! I hope I don¢t regret it (sigh¢¦. I regretted it within a day¢¦ We were in for rainy, clammy, cold weather, all the way to Harpers Ferry¢¦). I sent home my boots (they were worn, but I should have kept them¢¦ Wet trail runners are a blister factory), all warm clothes (except my Marmot Dri Clime wind jacket), my rain pants, gaiters, +15 degree down bag¢¦ Now I will see how the weather shapes up (Argh!!), since I only have Summer gear now. I have a 55 degree rated Marmot Dri Clime sleeping bag, a silk liner, an emergency space blanket, zip off leg pants, my Marmot wind jacket, thin short sleeve and long sleeve shirts. Hmmm¢¦ If the weather holds I¢ll be OK, either way I won¢t freeze (You know? Sometimes you just wish you could take words back¢¦.). It cost me $30 to send my Winter Gear home (insured), but my pack will be much lighter for it. Did I mention that I sent my boots home and am walking in New Balance 806 Trail Runners? I¢m S.O.L. if they don¢t work out. Note: I never had more blister, than I got between Waynesboro & Harpers Ferry. The shoes were terrible when wet, and they were wet 34 of the time. On a positive note, I did like the lighter weight on my feet, and when dry, they were fine. Anyway, after the Post Office, we went to Weasies Country Kitchen for breakfast. What a nice town, we stopped on the side of the road to figure out where Weasies was, and a car pulled over right away & helped us. Awesome people here! Weasies is were the hikers Pancake challenge is, they have all you can eat pancakes for $3.99 (I had them). A class of 2003 thruhiker (Chaos), had just broken the female pancake eating record by eating 19. Let me tell you¢¦. The first 3 are normal size, but after that they looked like manhole covers¢¦. Wow, I couls only eat 4 12¢¦ What a loser, how dare I call my self a thruhiker (LOL!!). After skulking out of the restaurant (not really), we headed to the local outfitter to get a few items (but we thanked Carol, our waitress first, she is awesome). We got a quick hitch to the outfitter, bought our gear & got a ride back with 2 ladies that were shopping there (a mother & daughter). It turns out that the mothers nephew is on the trail ahead of us (Dude and his friend). So far, Waynesboro is the friendliest town on the trail¢¦ Now more journaling, tent sealing and off to the grocery to re-supply. Have I mentioned all my aches and pains lately? Achey groin muscles, ankles, shoulders (I have a bad lower back. I carry all my weight on my shoulders, because I can¢t tighten my hip belt), knees (WOW! Swollen and sore), the bottoms of my feet, my arches, my toes¢¦ But amazingly, so far, not my back¢¦ Go figure, that¢s what I worried about most. Anysway, here we are in Waynesboro, taking a 0 day, Watching Rocky IV and sorting through our food for the next 3 days. It looks like there is a campground store or wayside every 2-3 days in Shenandoah National Park (SNP), and the trails are graded better. Yawn¢¦. I¢m relaxing, drinking a Bass Ale, getting sleepy. Another day, another beer. The beer is relaxing my whole body so I sleep better. More tomorrow. Zzzzzzzzzz¢¦¢¦¢¦..