It stopped raining once One Life and I got on our way. It was very very foggy though. We were gorillas in the mist. We came up on a parking lot at a gap and there was a family near a mini van. The little 3 year old boy saw us and said something like "dooah deeeed thope." I said, "oh, that's funny. He says we need soap" trying to translate and make a joke at the same time. Then the little boy continues, "dooah deeeed thope to wash yo hayah." Ohhhhhh! He actually DID say that we needed soap. Haha!! The mother looked embarrassed, but that boy was completely right. I was 5 days deep at this point, and I assume One Life was about the same. Gross. Kids just say the darndest things...
So, we hiked on to get to the wayside by about 10ish. It continued to be foggy, and on one long uphill, I lost sight of One Life who was ahead. Then a bit later, I came to an intersection. I wasn't sure which way he'd gone. So I whistled. Nothing. Then I thought about it and went with by best option. I knew we'd both end up at the wayside one way or another. It was just a matter of how far would it be to get back on the trail. Basically, this part of the story will be lost on most everyone, but the gist (jist?) of it is that we got seperated and, about an hour (and an extra MILE of walking for each of us) later, we were both at the wayside ordering a burger and a blackberry milkshake, charging our phones in the wall of the diner.
Delicious meal. Hoof It and Tattoo caught up and joined us. (small world side note: One Life's grandfather coached Tattoo in football up in New Hampshire - wow, right?) Once the drizzling stopped and the sun came out, we went back outside and thought about how we'd get back up to the lodge. Just then, Kit Kat drove by and said she'd be glad to take us back up the hill! Excellent.
Back to hiking, but my entry point was a bit behind One Life's, so I'd be playing catch up. I didn't catch him until the next shelter, where Roadrunner and Taterchip were gonna stay for the night (their recent schedule was centering around where they'd be eating next... Ha!). One Life took off hiking, and I got water and applied sunscreen since the day was quite hot and sunny. I took off about 15-20 minutes after him.
There was an eery calm. I could hear thunder, but it seemed far away. When I got a glimpse of the clouds out west, they seemed to be running north, like me - parallel to the Shenandoahs. Then a wind picked up. Big gusts. I stopped to put on my rain gear, and about 5 minutes after I did, GAHWOOOOSH!! The storm rolled right in. Buckets. Lightning. Thunder. It was great. Well, the gortex in my boots has failed, but it was quite refreshing to walk in the storm. Then there was a lightning strike with a thunder crack a second away... At that pount I got extra serious then and pushed on with a bit more umph.
I came across a field of fenced on horses on the left and saw there was a barn with stables. Guess who popped his head out as I got close. One Life had juuust about made it in there before the skies opened up, so he hadn't been walking in it! Lucky guy. Stick Walker, Belle and Serenetina were in there, too. I guess I was the unlucky one today.
No worries! The Skyland Lodge/Restaurant was just ahead. We stopped (me, to wring out my socks), and we set all our gear in the setting sun. Went in for a sandwich and saw Toboggan. Toboggan is a section hiker doing a big chunk of the Shennys, and he and One Life had met in the rain. The guy had gotten a room for the night that had two double beds and offered to share the room with me and One Life! What an unexpectedly wonderful surprise!! One Life and I were happy to take him up on his offer, and we only owed him breakfast in the morning. What a deal! This room was most anticipated because of all our wet stuff. Couldn't wait to begin the drying process... and to take a SHOWER!
The three of us hung out for a while in the room as we cleaned up and organized and watched the sun go down. I had planned on going a longer distance today, but this trail magic perk was simply un-missable. Thanks so much, Toboggan!! We giggled the night away and hoped all our wet things would dry up by the morning...
Ps: Mike has recovered at home and is doing just fine. And Erin wanted me to find the rock wall she helped to build on a volunteer ATC trip out here. I fear I may have passed it in the rain, but I got a shot of a nice one later. Perhaps this is her wall...?
(16.1)
-- Posted from the trail...
Location:Skyland Lodge
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