Date: 2016-06-06
From: Loft Mt campground 896.3

To: Waynesboro, VA Quality Inn
Miles today: 31.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Fitbit:Steps-65,366Miles-28Stairs-456Woke up in the middle of the night. The wind was blowing so hard our tent sounded like a kite flying on a beach. It was flapping away but stayed anchored. Nice and breezy sleep. I was surprised that the storm had literally blown over us. The night sky truly reflected the Native American name of Shenandoah which means "sister of the skies". The stars and planets are so brilliant and plentiful you can see the arc of the Milky Way. You just can't imagine how much we've lost with all our light pollution in the city. I would have liked to sleep out there in the open but it was nippy. We got up early to see bunnies and a mama deer with a tiny baby in tow run right by our tent. We made a final trek to the camp store to donate to the hiker box. We'd optimistically bought a Jiffy Pop but with the wind and sprinkles we couldn't get a big enough fire going. Some hiker will do it. If you don't know, the hiker boxes are where hikers dump unwanted stuff but also where hikers take stuff they need. We partook of the shampoo and body wash with deep gratitude. We threw in some extra quarters so maybe some hiker can get a shower on us. It's a heart warming shared experience that's a key part of the hiker culture...one that we sorely miss. We hiked out of camp to blue skies, a lower humidity and a nice breeze. As the day went on the heat rose and we were drenched in sweat. We aren't even sweater inclined. We never have rolling, dripping sweat in hot ol' Florida but working it out here produces new bodily reactions with sweat being only one of them! We met a bunch of NOBO hikers. They were mostly in good spirits and happy to be on the trail most answered "How's it going?" with an enthusiastic "Having the time of my life". We had a magical hour talking to a young woman from the Czech Republic who has been living in NY. She was Whoops doppelg¤nger. Cubby couldn't stop looking at the photo we took of her for hours afterward. Today she was called "O'Connor" for the female Supreme Court justice. She was photographing this reddish dust coming out of the base of a tree. As we walked by she stopped us to look at it. We then got into this deep, profound conversation. It filled Cubby and I with such joy and shot us full of adrenaline. She was one of those truly beautiful souls who you recognize immediately. I can't explain in any way that would give it justice. Cubby and I reflected later that this is exactly the kind of immediate intimacy you miss when you get off the trail. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of potheads and party animals on the AT but you also meet some people that rock your soul. Thanks O'Connor, the world is better just knowing you are out there. As we walked away O'Connor exclaimed, "I love y'all". Beautiful. As we hiked on we kept meeting numerous hikers who were looking for camp sites. The Calf Mountain shelter was overflowing: We have hit the bubble. We heard a Ridgerunner named Blissful was there redirecting hikers. We'd wanted to see her the whole time as we met her on out thru hike three years ago. When we got to the shelter it was dark and quiet so we walked on. Not finding any tent sites we hiked on and decided to just walk into Waynesboro. We figured Paul's boots would get a bit of every experience this way. We'd been in rain, storms, heat, sun, bugs, tents, a lodge and shelter so why not a night hike?! We pulled out our headlamps and set out. As the hours wore on and the night got late we started getting such noodle-like legs. It was hard not to trip over the rock strewn pathway. Suddenly Cubby says, "I see eyes and they're staring at us". Trying to calm herself she surmised that it was probably just an owl. As we got closer we could see ears sticking up. So, trying to keep Cubby composed, I calmly state that it's a fox. Cubby then says I hope this "fox" doesn't have a mama close by. About that time, as Cub is passes within feet of it and with me right behind her, Cubby says "It's bigger! like a bobcat or a bear cub." Exactly then this big crunching mama whatever sound blasts out of the bushes right next to me. I turn to face my demise and promptly trip and slam forcefully into the ground. Flashes of Mutual of Omaha spring into my mind...the old wildebeest being pulled down by the hungry lion and my mom saying, "Well kids, that's just the way of nature. Lions need to eat too". In pain and bleeding from my knee this old "wildebeest" took to flight and was able to live yet another day. Whew! I was off the meal plan for whatever that was. Later we crossed a field with weeds up to our waists when cubby again stopped and exclaimed, "There are hundreds of eyes staring at us". With relief we realized they were deer silently watching us - the strange lit up creatures. We got used to eyes on us after a bit. Sure we scared away a bear at one point, we just continued on at a steady pace. We saw lots of rabbits and foxes and small sized snakes. Spider and caterpillar silken webs draped incessantly across our sweaty faces. Spent from a full day of hiking and depleted of any adrenaline we started dragging. The uphill climbs became arduous and painful, Cubby finally breaking down in tears of frustration. The map had shown an easy downhill into town but there were still plenty of torturous uphill climbs or as Cubby started saying,"Stupid, friggin', stupid, up, up, ups...ups that just upset...frickin' stupid..." You get it right, an hour and half of teenage angst brought on by absolute exhaustion. Poor kiddo. She's a trooper and my hero with so few meltdowns that when one happens you know it's because of something huge. This was it. Tired and hungry we finally made it into town at 12:30am. Almost crawling to our car parked outside the park we managed to get to the hotel we stayed at on the way out to the trail. I'm thinking that we will be showered and sleeping in minutes. But again our plans were foiled. Like some absurd nightmare comedy the lobby was full of late night checker-inners. "How can this be happening?" my mind screamed!!! I was hoping my stink would speed them along. The sleep deprived clerk moved like he was in a vat of maple syrup but that wasn't even the worst part. Two ladies checking in separately decided to chat up the mumbling clerk. Then when my mind was exploding, my feet throbbing and my legs giving out the clueless woman decides to pay cash. With torturous slowness she counts and recounts and "oh wait...I need to start again" and counts and recounts the curled and wrinkled single dollar bills. Then the lethargic clerk counts the stack of bills and then they discuss the money and look at the bills and linger over them pondering WHO KNOWS?! Cubby thought I'd fallen asleep in the lobby and forgotten her. Finally he slowly, painfully checks us in. Good night?...noooo. He assigns us the wrong room and we wander around for another 30 minutes. I return and now in tears demand that he walk us to the correct room. Whew! We just collapsed. We'd walked over 30 miles with fully loaded packs, camera equipment for the documentary and water still at the ready. Sleep never felt so rewarding. Good night all and to all a good night. Paul, I hope you're proud of us and we do feel like you were watching over us as we survived all the wild beasties and sustained no serious injuries.