Strider decided to head off on a night hike past night after stopping in at Rock Springs. People at the shelter were predicting thunderstorms within the hour and rain all day today, but he insisted on getting in some miles after dark. It was supposed to be 10 miles to the next shelter for him, but after I hit the trail at 7 am sharp I came along Strider’s tent about four miles in. You’re not supposed to camp within a certain distance of the trail, any buildings, and any roads within SNP – it looked like somehow Strider had hit all three at once, he was about 20 yards off the AT and right near the road to the main lodge and within a stone’s throw of the lodge water tank. Lucky for him I was there before a ranger!
We headed about 0.2 miles from his campsite to the lodge for an awesome breakfast buffet. It had been a while since I had a solid breakfast with bacon and eggs and stuff. I had all that, and then I made an awesome bowl of oatmeal topped with scoops of brown sugar, bunches of strawberries, blueberries, yogurt, and maple syrup. Gonna have to get out of SNP to get away from all these restaurants every day. From the lodge it was about 10 miles down to the road into Luray, all under another day of gray skies and cool air. Pretty much the third July day in a row of comfortable hiking under sun free and rain free skies – a marvelous thing. Had a small bit of trail magic, and an offer for more in a couple of weeks. First a guy hiking the trail SoBo shared a couple doughnuts and then I met an older couple from Port Clinton, PA who help maintain the AT. It didn’t take long for him to mention their local Cabela’s and he was eager to give me his number so he could take me there for a buffalo burger when I got to town.
Jupiter’s leg has been hurting, it sounds like the tendonitis I had early on, and he’s going to be heading home from here in Luray. He lives near Harper’s Ferry, the next AT town and was getting off there anyway, so this will cut it just a few days shorter. Strider and I met him at the road and got a ride into town where we are all staying at a Best Western. We got lunch at a locally owned pizza place right next door. Quite a find, amazing pizza, so far only bested by the wood fired pie back in Roan Mountain. So good we went back again for dinner! This time I had a veal parmagiana sub to top off a huge day of calories.
Also picked up a sweet mail drop with some good meals, my next pair of shoes, some new socks, a platypus water filter (becoming necessary in the lower elevations and proximity to big population centers ahead) and an ipod full of fresh tunes. Enjoy how my pack evolves a bit every couple of weeks, by Maine it is going to be perfectly refined!
OH LOOK ANOTHER HOTEL COMPUTER WITH AN SDHC CARD SLOT – ENJOY!