Baldface Mountain to Big Meadows Lodge

Thursday, 6/4

AT Miles = 11.8 / 914.1
Other Miles = 0.5 / 34.2
Total Miles = 12.3 / 947.3

I did indeed get hit with a thunderstorm yesterday afternoon. I was sitting at the picnic area after eating dinner reading the New York Times on my cell phone (I just love technology!), and finally I looked up and noticed the sky was getting darker. I quickly put my pack back together and scrambled up the trail towards the top of Baldface Mountain. It felt good to be able to put the hammer down even after already hiking 19+ miles. I made it a couple of miles up the trail, constantly searching for a place to set up for the night and listening to the boom of thunder get closer and closer. Finally there was an area off to the side of the trail that had a more or less open understory and I searched out a spot that was in no way perfect but would serve. I got the tarp up just before the rain started, then set up the hammock under the tarp and got everything sittuated for the night.

I pitched the tarp low and tight to protect the hammock from the wind-driven rain of the storm. While it was storming this was comfortable, as the wind drove fresh air in under the tarp and into the hammock. Later on when I woke up in the middle of the night, and the storm had finished and the air was calm, it was a humid hell inside the hammock. I got up and adjusted the tarp wider to let in more air and then went back to sleep.

When I got up this morning it was quite foggy and the sky was pissing rain. As the morning went on the rain picked up a bit. I hiked the 12 miles to Big Meadow Lodge by 11:45 and by the time I got here it was raining quite steadily.

I couldn't check in until 3:00 so I stunk up the restaurant while I ate lunch, then I hung around in the common room reading the paper until I could check into my room. This is supposedly a "Superior Room With View", but the only view is of the inside of a cloud.

A couple of days ago Tom asked if I am now hiking with all new people or if I know some of the other hikers. Since I was off the trail for 10 days I don't know most of the people that are currently in this section of trail. On Monday night I did meet two hbikers that I met earlier in the trip; Spirit and Tiger. I think I met Spirit in the Smokies, and I remember meeting Tiger the night before arriving in Erwin, TN. Of course the reason I met them again is because they are hiking more slowly than I am, so I am ahead of them again. Of course I've met a bunch of other hikers, and they are all pleasant enough to share aqn evening with, but nobody that I've made any particular connection with. That's fine with me, as I like hiking alone and doing what I like, when I like.

Shenandoah National Park is well known for its deer, and they are everywhere. Since there is no hunting innational parks, they are quite tame. Most of them will bound away when I get within 10 or 15 yards, but some of them don't bother to move until I nearly could touch them. On Tuesday afternoon I was hiking up a hill and came up on a deer walking up the trail ahead of me. I was moving faster than she was and as I got closer and closer I started to wonder if she was going to move at all Finally she moved to the side of the trail and I walked by within a couple of feet.

I haven't seen any bears, though I have talked to three other hikers who have.

A bit of logistics: I am currently about 45 trail miles from Front Royal, my next town stop. If I leave here bright and early tomorrow and puit in a couple oflong days I could be in Front Royal Saturday evening. But I have mail in Front Royal, and the post office won't be open until Monday morning. Ideally, I would like to get to Front Royal on Monday morning, retrieve my bounce box from the post office, and have all afternoon and evening of Monday to process my photos and shop and stuff. So what to do?

Well, the weather forecast says tomorrow is supposed to be quite wet. I have to check out of this room by noon, so I will hang out here until then, then I will have a leisurely lunch and hang out in the common areas of the Lodge until either the rain stops or it is late enough that I have to leave to make it to the next shelter/camping area which is about 3 1/2 miles from here. Then I will do two easy days to get me positioned close to Front Royal, then a final short day into town on Monday morning.

Hey, did you notice I passed the 900 mile mark yesterday? Harpers Ferry is about a week away. Harpers Ferry is the spiritual, though not the actual, half-way point. Harpers Ferry is just a bit past the 1000 mile point, and is also the home of the Appalachianm Trail Conservancy. Man, 1000 miles. Who would ever have thought I could hike 1000 miles?!

Monkeywrench
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com