Date: 2015-05-04
From: Hightop Hut

To: Big Meadows Wayside
Miles today: 19.5

5/4, 19.5, Big Meadows Wayside, day 72It all ended with a fried chicken dinner, but it began somewhat disappointing. After a decent nights sleep, in spite of the constant night light of a full moon, i awoke and was on trail by 7 am. I was excited to be out early, feeling good, and headed for a rendezvous with Kathy and Beth, aka Beef. In spite of all that, or because of the distraction, I headed south this morning rather than north. 1.4 miles later I realized my mistake and after a few choice words about my lack of attention, I headed back up the hill I climbed yesterday, and descended this morning. Stuff happens, so I endeavored to make the best of it. I figured I would need to modify my meeting point, since I wasted an hour going south and north again to end up where I started. But time would tell, so I began making progress at 8 am, instead of 7. The good news was that I had hiked 2.8 miles, and half of it uphill, in 1 hour. That little detail did not go unnoticed by me. The weather today was perfect, but warm. It was clear by 9 am that it would be the warmest hiking day yet, with forecasts into the low 80's. I found myself hiking strong and quickly, reaching waypoints on the trail sooner than expected. I reached the Lewis Mountain campground camp store for lunch and added a bag of chips, a soda, string cheese and an ice cream desert to my lunch. I left the campground reasonably full at 1:30 and had enough cell signal to know Kathy would not arrive at Big Meadows wayside until 4:45. Given my relative speed to that point, I felt it was reasonable for me to make it there before them. I hiked on and monitored my progress, and realized that I would arrive at the wayside before them. Sure enough, I arrived at the Big Meadows Wayside at 4:30 after hiking 19.5 miles in 8.5 hours, making my overall speed today 2.3 miles per hour. I went into the wayside grill and ordered a chicken dinner with fries and cole slaw, and grabbed a Gatorade. I took my food outside to the picnic tables because my personal stench needed to be outside, and enjoyed my first dinner. Just as I finished, around 5:00, Kathy and Beef pulled in. We quickly loaded my pack and headed for Front Royal where we had reservations for the night. Beef was not feeling well so I was pleased, but surprised to see her. Turns out, she decided to come and be our shuttle driver, but does not feel up to hiking. We decided to find a hostel to settle her into, and the Front Royal Terrapin Station Hostel looks to be a perfect fit. Beef will shuttle us to the trailhead tomorrow, rest in the hostel for three days, and then pick us up Friday, at the end of our hike. I think she will enjoy the flow of hikers through the hostel, and still get a decent amount of rest. On Friday we will be guests of Beau's patents, of Beau and Dude fame. They live in Front Royal so we will enjoy their hospitality before Kathy and Beef head home. The rest of our evening was spent planning logistics, food and such, for Kathy and I. Laundry will be at 7ish in the morning when the laundromat opens, and after first breakfast. My weight has dropped near 180 so I plan two breakfasts and two dinners when I can. It is alarming how much I can eat and I know now the most difficult adjustment upon my return to the real world will be maintaining some level of activity, while controlling caloric consumption. Its a nice problem for now, but will take great focus come this fall. May be I will have to rethink the triple batch of Christmas cookies I usually have Kathy make for me. Silverback