The guys got up slowly, and Neutron found the pile of goodies left for him by Little Foot and Law Dawg. A Coke, a Snickers, and coffee. Not a bad start! I packed up and hung around a bit then got a head start as they broke down theirs tents.
A bit more uphill than I expected for the morning, but not a bad hike for the most part. At one point going downhill, I spotted Dr Rock below me on a switchback, so he was about a hundred yards or so in front of me. When the terrain flattened out, it rounded a few curves. All of a sudden, I heard him yell out, then sticks snapping. I thought he had fallen. Then he yelled out again and I got worried he had really hurt himself. I rushed around the corner to find him holding his hiking poles in an X in front of him. "There's a bear!" Oh!
The bear was about 15 yards or so off the trail, but when Dr Rock came around the bend, it was very close to the trail and startled him quite a bit (as it would). The trail continued around towards the bear, so he and I backed off a bit up the trail and thought about our options. The bear didn't seem too concerned with us. But we didn't want to try to rush by him and scare him. So I got my camera out and tried to take a photo (no good shots) and then we yelled at the bear and slammed our poles together until he got annoyed and walked off far enough away for us to hustle by. Unexpected excitement!
Finally made it to the shelter to get some water and have a snack before the final 5 miles to Rockfish Gap, where I would be meeting my brother, Dan. Little Foot was there and so were a bunch of other kids. Xan and Neutron showed up and then I took off in the heat. There was another community of people who used to live in this forest. The photo is of an old chimney/fire place.
Luckily my phone was working so I could let Dan know we were running late. About 5 minutes after I texted him that I was about a mile away, I popped up at Rockfish Gap! Quick 5 miles!! And there he was in his truck. Hello brother!
We chatted a bit while I drank one of the ice cold Cokes he brought until the rest of the crew showed up. We piled our stuff in the truck and headed to town. We picked up Mogley off the side of the road and stopped briefly at the outfitter. I got a new fleece sleeping sack that weighs just over a pound. I'll be sending the ole 20 degree down sleeping bag back home for the summer.
Next we stopped by the YMCA to pick up our packages and then it was on to food. We saw Shane hanging out in the shade, so we picked him up on the way to the Ming China Buffet for an early dinner feast. This place was crazy with selection and quantity. Pretty good food, too!
We all ate until we almost popped and then headed to the hotel. We were all gonna splurge for the bday day. Got our stuff in the rooms and hit the pool up before the sun was too low. Then it was finally time for a SHOWER! I think it had been one of the longer stretches without one... It felt great.
After we were clean, we ordered pizza and drank a few beers in the room. Paul Bunion, City Squirrel and Law Dawg came over to join in Neutron's bday festivities. Dan brought up the board game "Apples to Apples" and we played that till about 1am! Crazy late for hikers, but a very good time.
Waking up on a mountain, hiking, AYCE buffet, pool, hotel bed to sleep in, AND great friends....?! I think (hope!) Neutron had a great birthday.
[oh and ps, I just got my Spot locator back and it seems to be working! I guess I'm trackable again now...]
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-- Posted from the trail...
Location:Waybesboro, VA
1 comment:
Gosh, I never knew u like soda pop so much?!? By the sound of these posts I'd think it was the best thing since sliced bread. I guess we were too busy drinkin vodka soda to think about coke and pepsi ;)
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