Date: 2018-05-16
From: Deep Gap

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Scissors and I woke up to rain hitting our tent. It made me not want to get out in it. Luckily our bear bags were not harmed since we camped over a mile from the shelter. I put away my tent then ate oatmeal in the rain. Scissors packed up and we headed for Thomas Knob Shelter. It was a smooth climb to the shelter. When we arrived Pumpkin Spice, Bandito, Chill, and Poncho were there. They mentioned that a bear was trying to break into the bear locker all night long. It even tipped over the locker and tried to dig under it. There was also the remains of a bear bag with empty food packages all over the ground. The owner just left the mess there without packing it out. We made a plan to get back to Damascus by getting a ride from Troutdale.  It was only 19 miles down the trail. Chill had a friend who was going to drive us to Damascus.Scissors and I headed to Grayson highlands. When we got to the border we were greeted by ponies. There were adults and babies. They liked licking the salt from our legs and hands. I was happy that their tongues were warm since the rain was cold. I even hugged one but he didn't really like it. It seemed a lot of them were hiding because of the rain. We kept moving on. They were many large rocks and boulders on the trail. It was slow going since they were wet and slippery. The landscape was different from any other part of the trail so far. There were large fields of green grass dotted with bolders. Large rock faces jutted out of the ground. It was what I would imagine Ireland or Scotland to be like.Scissors was craving coffee and we heard that there was a general store in the state park. We saw a few hikers and asked them for a ride. Seawolf, Sticks, and Rock gave us a ride to the county store. They had thru hiked the previous year and were having a reunion for trail days. The country store was an excellent break from the rain. We had our fill it of Keurig coffee and ate lunch while it was dry. They waited for us to finish our food then gave us a ride back to the trailhead. I hope to see them at trail days.Scissors and I headed back out on the trail. We saw Remedy hobbling southbound. Apparently he had hurt his ankle and was going to get a ride into town to rest some more. He said that Kamikaze was a little bit up the trail. We were excited to see her and Theo. As we were walking the trail we saw Theo footprints in the mud and knew we were close. We came to a shelter and someone mentioned they saw Theo but not Kamikaze. We eventually caught up with them about a mile further. Theo was happy to see us and made sure to visit each one of us. We headed another mile and took a break when the rain stopped. We laid out or socks and tents to dry. It ended up looking like a yard sale in the middle of the woods. I took off my socks to let my feet dry. I cut off about a pound of skin from wet calises on my feet. Amazonian and Francis showed up. Francis had been bitten by a spider last night and his leg was swollen. They are going to go to the next town and seek a clinic. We moved on and came to another field with clouds lowly hanging in the sky. Kamikaze and Scissors stopped at a field to camp for the night. It was peaceful and had a real bathroom, I couldn't blame them. I was trying to catch up with Pumpkin Spice, Chill, Bandito, and Poncho to make to Damascus for trail days. I pushed forward to the next shelter. When I arrived a fire had already been going. They were all hanging out in the shelter. It was getting late and I needed to setup my tent.I camped in a secluded field in the forest with Amazonian and Francis. They told me their bear bag was attacked last night at the shelter. They had a ursack made of kevlar that they hung. The bear had smashed everything inside and had punctured the bag but couldn't tear it. He popped all the hot chocolate mix inside. He probably got a high every time one popped and kept trying to get into the bag. The bag had several holes and bear saliva all over it. To make sure no bears were getting their food, Amazonian threw a 30 foot high bear hang. She didn't have enough paracod to hang the bag. I ended up tying my paracod to hers and we shared the line. It was the highest hang I've done on the trail.  Tonight I'm laying in a green meadow in the middle of the forest listening to strange owl sounds. I feel safe that no bears are going to steal our food.