Front Royal, VA – mile 969 – 44.3% of the trail complete

June 23rd to June 27th

What an excellent respite off the trail. Kristen and I drove to Nashville for my good buddy from Kenyon College Mike ‘s wedding through crazy nighttime thunderstorms consisting of lightning streaks seemingly out of this world.

I painted the town on Friday night with other Kenyon alums and then closed down the honkytonk bars with Kristen and her brother and sister-in-law who also happened to be in town.

The ceremony and the reception took place at a converted warehouse. A freight train rolled by the window about twenty minutes before the wedding party began walking down the aisle. After the beautiful ceremony, we gathered in a side lounge while the room was converted for the reception. We listened to a bluegrass band play while we sipped iced caramel lattes. Then an amazing ten piece band called Skyline Drive played two sets. In between their sets Mike played three songs for his newlywed wife Annamarie.

We made the ten-hour drive back to Charlottesville on Sunday, and we met my friend Michael Robb in Charlottesville whose trail name is Cool Ranch. Mike and I met in Nepal in November.

June 28th – Rockfish Gap to Blackrock Hut

Total miles on AT – 20.7
Elevation gain – 3000ft
Elevation loss – 2154ft
Start time: 8:05am
Finish time: 6:00pm
Total time hiking : 7:00
Weather: partly sunny, hot, humid, afternoon thunderstorm

Kristen drove Mike “Cool Ranch” and I this morning to Rockfish Gap at the southern end of Shenandoah National Park. (I’d already walked the entire AT in the park during my years living and working at Blue Ridge School.) When I met Mike in Nepal on the Three Passes Route in the Everest region last November he was hiking with a park ranger named Ashley and another Mike whose trail name is “Clutch.” Clutch is a triple crowner, meaning that he has done all three long distance trails in the US – the AT, the PCT, and the Continental Divide Trail. The four of us hiked for over a week together.

Cool Ranch stayed in Nepal for a few more months to volunteer. He has the possible intention of hiking to Maine then flip flopping back down here to hike south and finish in Georgia. But he also has a job possibility in Alaska. Cool Ranch has a terrific ability to live in the moment and has faith that things will work out. One of his most common phrases is “Enjoy today, good buddy!” He’s an optimist and he also has a way of being able to approach anybody and anyone as if he’s known them forever and immediately put a smile on their face. He is also a very strong hiker. Originally, he wanted to try to hike the AT and the Continental Divide in one hiking season. He thru-hiked the PCT in 2012. We did almost 21 miles on his first day. The Shenandoah terrain is easy and the miles come quick.

I enjoyed hiking with Cool Ranch today (who now is going as just Mike). He starts conversations with everyone and therefore I had a lot more conversations with people whom I normally would not have. We also saw a mother bear and a cub. I got a little nervous as it was at pretty close range. They retreated but then it looked like the mother was getting up on her hind legs. In reality, she had her front paws on a tree and was about to climb it. I backtracked towards Mike and asked what we should do. We decided to walk past and the mother did not pursue us.

At the end of the day we were racing to get to the shelter as a thunderstorm rolled in. The rain started to come down at a steady pace and I fell behind. The trail crosses Skyline Drive many times and we had just crossed it for the 8th time today. I was a 100 feet up the trail past the road when I heard an odd sound, that of a car skidding to a halt, then I heard nothing, then I heard a crash, then nothing again. Then the sound of a man crying out. I knew it was a motorcycle accident and I rushed back down to the road afraid of what I might see but also knowing that with my first aid wilderness certification, I might be the most qualified to help. There was a jeep stopped in the road and a motorcycle against the stone wall but no sign of the motorcyclist. The motorcycle had gone into the oncoming lane and crashed head on into the jeep. The motorcyclist went flying over the stone wall and thirty feet down the embankment.

A man and a woman were in the jeep unharmed. Thankfully, the woman was a nurse and she attended to the man. His leg was broken and his right arm was lacerated to the bone and also probably broken. He was conscious and responding. We passed down what we could to her to stop the bleeding which included my ace bandage and my shirt, and also towels and blankets. It was hard to get reception to call an ambulance and they had a long way to get there. The ambulance came about 30 to 40 minutes later.

The man and the women in the jeep had been doing some hiking today in training for an October hike of all the Shenandoah and hoped to do a thru-hike next year. The man offered me some water, which was good because we hadn’t had any water in 11 miles and it was hot and humid, and he gave me a new shirt.

Once the first responders arrived, I filled out a witness report and the cop said I could leave. We could hear the helicopter airlift him out a few hours later from the shelter. He was 260 pounds and it was a chore for them to get him up the embankment.

A lot of people who are not familiar with the outdoors worry for hikers’ safety. But today is a good example of how being on the roads is and always will be a lot more treacherous than being on the trail.

June 29th – Blackrock Hut to Simmons Gap
Total miles on AT – 15.3
Elevation gain – 2027ft
Elevation loss – 2520ft
Start time: 8:20am
Finish time: 4:50pm
Total time hiking : 5:15
Weather: sunny, hot, not as humid

A leisurely day. We stopped at Loft Mountain Wayside along Skyline Drive, then carried on to Simmons Gap where we met my good friend and former colleague, Jo. She and her husband Bill were terrific hosts and we had a wonderful dinner with pork chops, potatoes, corn on the cob, local beers, and and our favorite ice creams with brownies! Another former colleague and friend Jon also came for dinner. It was a terrific Blue Ridge reunion. It was nice to get a hot shower and to sleep in a comfy bed tonight in a cozy room in Jo and Bill’s beautiful country home. I am very happy right now.

June 30th – Simmons Gap to Bearfence Mountain Hut
Total miles on AT – 18.5
Elevation gain – 3245ft
Elevation loss – 2057ft
Start time: 10:50am
Finish time: 7:10pm
Total time hiking : 6:25
Weather: partly sunny, very warm, humid

We had a phenomenal visit with Jo and Bill. Bill made breakfast this morning, which included his award winning biscuits. And they sent us away with his brownies! I slept so well. Jo and Bill were superb hosts once again. (Kristen and I stayed with them at their cabin in West Virginia a few years ago.) It was hard to leave and sad to say goodbye. Jo drove us back to the trail and we saw a bear on the side of the road before the entrance to the park.

Mike and I got a late start but were still able to do 18.5 miles without too much effort. We passed over High Top, a mountain I hiked with my dad a few years ago. I enjoyed a good combination of hiking with Mike and chatting, and hiking by myself and getting lost in my thoughts.

July 1st – Bearfence Mountain Hut to Byrds Nest #3 Hut
Total miles on AT – 22.4
Elevation gain – 3255ft
Elevation loss – 2729ft
Start time: 8:10am
Finish time: 8:20pm
Total time hiking : 8:20
Weather: hazy, very warm, humid, afternoon rain storm

My longest mileage day yet. The terrain proved to be pretty easy. Mike hiked ahead of me most of the day. We somehow missed the turnoff to the Big Meadows Wayside but we stopped at the Skyland Resort Restaurant for a mid-afternoon meal. They were playing Euro Cup soccer in the bar area. Looks like Wales was going to beat Belgium.

We waited out a rainstorm then did another six and a half miles to finish the day and ate our dinner in the dark. Mike is a machine! – 77 miles in his first four days!

July 2nd – Byrds Nest #3 Hut to Gravel Springs Hut
Total miles on AT – 17.5
Elevation gain – 2460ft
Elevation loss – 2880ft
Start time: 8:15am
Finish time: 6:20pm
Total time hiking : 6:10
Weather: sunny, pleasant

We enjoyed our final national park wayside stop in the Shenandoah at Elkwallow. The weather was great today, not too hot. Mike and I ate and lounged at the wayside during the hottest hours between 1:30 and 4pm but it still got cool lying in the grass there and I had to put my fleece on.

Mike has been running into someone he knows every day. It’s almost like hiking with a celebrity, despite his pleas that he’s just a normal guy. Today we ran into a couple he met early in his PCT thru-hike. They do a lot of hiking and started the AT on May 6th. They’re flying! They did the Arizona Trail right before this. Mike called them “professional hikers.” We had a good time laughing together. Mike says that on the PCT hikers were always bunching up and laughing together. When Mike hiked the PCT four years ago there were only 500 hikers, this year the PCT has 3000 hikers. The extra numbers make a difference. Supposedly there were 5000 starters on the AT this year. I worry and hope that Mike is not let down so far by the AT experience. He was talking about missing boats today; he’s worked on a lot of them in the past.

There was a ridge runner and a ranger checking up on us at the shelter tonight; apparently last weekend there were a lot of thru-hikers who smoked up. I think people forget that they are in a national park. Tonight there was only one 20 year-old who lit up after the ranger left and the ridge runner went to bed.

In to Front Royal tomorrow. We have a lot of rain headed our way. The weather has so far been pretty spectacular throughout Shenandoah. We plan to take a zero day in Front Royal and maybe go to the movies since it is supposed to rain. It will be my first 4th of July that I have spent in the States since 2009.

July 3rd – Gravel Springs Hut to Front Royal, VA
Total miles on AT – 13.4
Elevation gain – 1459ft
Elevation loss – 3148ft
Start time: 8:05am
Finish time: 2:20pm
Total time hiking : 5:15
Weather: sunny, pleasant

Into Front Royal, a slow and sluggish 13.4 miles. I didn’t catch up with Mike until I got into town. We passed over the last 3000 foot peak until Mt. Greylock in Massachusetts about 600 miles from here. I met a couple today who started their thru hike in late February, but got off the trail for a month to get married before coming back to continue.

A glorious milkshake and a nice hotel room, pizza, and beer. Tomorrow is July 4th. It is supposed to rain all day and the fireworks were last night. Happy 4th, everyone!

Week 9 Totals
Miles: 113.0 (16.1)
Elevation gain: 19,231 (2747)
Elevation loss: 17,516 (2502)
Hiker points: 132.2 (18.9)
Avg start time: 10:46am
Avg finish time: 6:51pm
Total time hiking: 42:35 (6:05)
Mph: 2.65