Date: 2003-06-10
From: Compton Gap Trail

To: Sam Moore Shelter
Miles today: 34.8
Weather: scattered clouds

I enjoyed my stay at the Terrapin Station Hostel. It is the best set up I've seen so far on the trail in that the sleeping area is separate from the kitchen and living areas so those who need to go to sleep early can do so while others watch TV or play games. Each bunk even had its own night light. Mike Evans was good about shuttling everyone around and meeting everyone's needs. It's a good location as an alternative to a motel in Front Royal.I left at 6:05 and got back on the trail at 6:17. It took me 12 minutes to hike down the hill to the hostel and 12 minutes to hike back up the hill to the AT. The hill looks steep, but doesn't seem to slow me down much. It was a sunny day finally, but the trail was extremely muddy, the worst mud so far on the trail. At one point along the National Zoological Park fence near Gate 7 along Hwy 522 the muddy trail was covered by water over a foot deep! I maneuvered around it through some trees. Then around 8 AM I started up a steep hill with dense vegetation on both sides. I was still concentrating on my footing as the trail was in the shade and still very muddy. As I rounded a sharp bend in the trail with my head down I almost bumped into a large black bear who was coming down the same trail. In another second we would have collided. He turned rapidly and showered me with mud as he dug his claws into the trail to gain traction and speed away. I noticed the fat rolling on his body as he ran. He was very quick and weighed about 250 pounds. I've seen bigger black bears, but he was pretty big up close.I took a snack break at the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter (very nice) at 9:30 then pushed on as I planned to do 28 miles today. At 11 AM I saw two girls at Manassas Gap where the trail passes under I-66. I recognized Tucson who introduced me to her sister from Ohio. They were slackpacking back towards Front Royal. Tucson was going to spend some time with her family for a few days. I took their photo with Tucson's camera.Just before I got to Rod Hollow Shelter I saw a fawn as I came around another corner of the trail. He took off fast like the bear and then dove off the trail to the right. As I approached the spot where he left the trail, there he was flat on the ground just off the side of the trail in plain sight with his ears and every other part of him as close to the ground as possible. I stood over him and took a photo. Then he jumped up and joined his mother in the woods.I got to Rod Hollow Shelter and decided to eat dinner, but planned to hike another 3 miles so I would have a shorter day into Harper's Ferry tomorrow. Skywalker came in and took a break. He said he was going on to the next shelter, 6.9 miles away. I said I'd go with him knowing we would arrive about 9 PM when it got dark. So tomorrow would be even a shorter day. I felt good and did the 6.9 miles arriving at 8:50, just before dark. Fourteen high school girls were at the shelter with two other thru-hikers. They filled the shelter which had only one level and also were tenting. I pitched my tent in the cooking pavillion and Skywalker slept on the picnic table beside me. My Therm-a-rest mattress has developed a "pooched" bubble-like area which is about 6" thick. It's hard to sleep on without sliding off the pad due to the lump. When I get to Harper's Ferry I hope to exchange it for a new one.