Dates ........ Saturday April 29, 2000
Miles ........ 13.6 miles
From ........ VA - Tom Floyd Shelter
To ............. Firefly - Brett - to meet his ride at Linden, VA trailhead
parking lot....... FreeSpirit - Al - to Manassas Gap Shelter
Weather ... Cool but clear blue sky in morning, warming to mid 60's.
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| An old AT blaze meets new on a branch near US government breeding farm. |
It was with mixed emotions that Firefly was finishing his hike today and leaving the trail. He was sorry to see the hike end but was anxious to get back home. I was sorry to see him go, anxious to get home myself, and at the same tome looking forward to continuing my hike on to the PA border. It was a decent day for a change with sunshine the better part of the day. I debated whether to stay with the original plan, stay at the Jim and Molly Denton shelter (backtrack) or push ahead to Manassas Gap shelter after Brett's departure. I decided on the latter.
We hiked past a huge US Government breeding farm and through lush green woods, and up over a knob. I found another tick and removed it; this one a deer tick in my right inner elbow joint despite my long sleeved shirt. I have not been wearing insect repellant, though, because the bugs have not been bad with the cold wet weather.
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| The Jim and Molly Denton shelter - aka the Hiker's Hilton. |
We took a break at the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter - also called the Hiker's Hilton. It was nice shelter set amid a field of flowering dogwoods with a big porch, windows, SHOWER, flowers, brick walkways, and an Adirondack bench on the porch. I was tempted to stay , but wanted to get a few miles ahead of plan. We met Billy Goat and a couple of southbound women there. The air was rich with the heavenly scents of wildflowers, dogwoods in bloom, and a profusion of honeysuckle. We saw a lot of day hikers today. It is hard to believe this wilderness beauty is only 65 miles from Washington DC.
While waiting for Brett's ride, I shaved and cleaned up a bit. Brett's ride came, took me into a convenience store in Linden where I called home, had two delicious hot dogs, two ice cream sandwiches, and a bottle of Pepsi. Brett's ride had brought my re-supply package and a spare pare of boots in case I needed them. I took their insoles because my boots and feet had been no problem other than the insoles working out of the boot. Re-supplied, my pack weighed a ton - because now I was carrying a tent in addition to a full week of food and gear. Nonetheless I stuffed a bag of corn chips into a side pocket, said goodbye to Brett and his buddy and headed up the hill to Manassas gap shelter. Boy, could I feel those 11 additional pounds (8.5 food, 2.5 tent.) on my back. I was dragging up that 1000-foot climb.
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| Boy Scouts at Manassas Gap shelter (they stayed in tents, leaving the shelter for hikers.) |
When I finally dragged myself into the shelter, there was a troop of boy scouts and a couple of weekenders tenting nearby. Shortly after I got there ElWolfe arrived. Then Old Spice and Southern Comfort showed up. They had brought BEER up from Linden and that went so well with my Fritos corn ships. The scouts were extremely well behaved, polite, quiet, and even took our trash out for us. It was nice having them there. I had my usual supper in addition to my huge off-trail lunch, beer and chips. I either had to eat it or carry it.
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| 4/19/00 | 4/21/00 | 4/22/00 | ||||
| 4/30/00 | 5/01/00 | 5/02/00 | 5/03/00 | 5/04/00 | 5/05/00 |