Date: 2023-04-19
From: Rockfish Gap

To: Front Royal
Miles today: 116.0

After taking Wednesday, April 12, as an extra zero day so that I could visit the doctor for a Cortizone shot, we got back on the trail at Rockfish Gap to begin our journey through the Shenandoah National Park. That day, we hiked 21.9 miles to the Blackrock Summit parking lot where we were picked up by a shuttle driver from Stanimals Hostel. We are doing more slack packing now because it is easier on our bodies to not carry as much weight and we are enjoying staying in the hostels and meeting other hikers. We know this won¢t always be the case but as long as it lasts, we are going to try to take it advantage of it. Our first day in the park was a very pleasant day and we saw lots of deer. The weather was beautiful.On Friday, April 14 we were dropped back off by the shuttle at the same Blackrock Summit parking lot from which we had been picked up the day before. We were a bit frustrated with the hostel at that point because they would not agree to take us out before 8 o¢clock that morning and in addition they wanted to take another hiker to the airport before dropping us off. We had planned for a 22 mile hike that day and that was going to put us into our planned shelter pretty late that evening. We did not get hiking that morning until about 9:45. We had been staying at the Stanimals Hostel in Waynesboro. It was a nice enough hostel but it had a little too much of a party atmosphere in the evenings and seemed to place a higher priority in perpetuating their party lifestyle in the evenings than in accommodating serious hikers who are interested in getting a good night¢s rest and getting back to the trail as quickly as possible. We know we weren¢t the only hikers to feel that way, because we have spoken to numerous other hikers. That evening, we hiked into Hightop Hut, a 20.2 mile hike. We had become acquainted with a hiker who goes by the name of Bear Hang. We first met him at Stanimals and we knew we would be meeting up with him at Hightop Hut. We had also been crossing paths with another hiker who goes by the name of Atticus. There were several hikers at that shelter that evening but there was plenty of room. There was only three of us who actually stayed in the shelter and everyone else was in tents/hammocks. It stormed some that night but it was clear by the next morning.On Saturday, April 15, we enjoyed the 19.5 mile hike to Big Meadows Wayside. We had good weather. With it being a weekend and nice weather, there were a lot of day hikers on the trail. When we got to the wayside, we were able to get a soft drink and some ice cream. Then we were picked up by Alison from Open Arms Hostel in Luray, Virginia. Alison was one of the best hosts we have encountered so far. It seems the most pleasant hostels to stay at are the ones where the owner is involved first hand in running it. She was both the person who ran the hostel and also provided the shuttle service. On Sunday, April 16, Alison dropped us back off at Big Meadows Wayside and we hiked 18.3 miles to the Panorama Parking lot at Thornton Gap. That evening, Alison picked us up again and brought us back to her hostel.On Monday, April 17, we were dropped back off at the same location from which we had been picked up the day before. On this day, we hiked 16.3 miles and were picked up again by Alison. I simply cannot describe for you the beautiful views that we were seeing as we were making our way through Shenandoah National Park, and the photographs I took just can¢t do it justice. Our pick up point that evening was at mile point 960.5 of the Appalachian Trail along Skyline Drive. I don¢t think I have seen so many deer concentrated in one area in my entire life as I saw in Shenandoah National Park.On Tuesday, April 18, we were dropped off for the final time by Alison at the same location from which we had been picked up the previous evening. That day we hiked 12 miles to make it to Mountain Home Hostel in Front Royal, Virginia. After meeting the owners and getting situated, we decided to hike an additional 8 miles to the intersection of the trail and Interstate 66 where we had arranged for a shuttle driver to pick us up and bring us back to the hostel. So that day, we hiked a total of 20 miles. Since our last zero day, we had hiked 116 miles. As of this writing, it is Wednesday, April 19, and we are taking another zero day. My foot has been continuing to improve, although I am still experiencing some discomfort. The pain is not slowing me down though. I apologize for the lengthy journal entry this time. I know I need to try to do journal entries on a daily basis but truthfully, it is difficult to make that happen.