Trail Day 21 - Prof

Last night there was a pair of Whiperwills that kept everyone up through the night. I used that and the cold this morning as an excuse to sleep in until 8. 

The trail today wasn't bad, but we are definitely in the park. People were everywhere and it will only be worse tomorrow. There were a bunch of trail maintenance volunteers out today weed whacking the trail. The first one I came upon was using a gas weed wacker and I grew very confused because I could smell the gas exhaust before I got to the guy who was using it. They were working on most of the trail I covered today, which made my allergies go a little crazy. 

Around lunchtime I came upon a campsite of trail angels that had made chilidogs for hikers. It was pure heaven. I had four chilidogs, chips, potato salad, a salad, a couple brownies, two beers, a coke, and then we went to the wayside and I got my first Shenandoah blackberry milkshake. I proceeded to place my sleeping bag on the ground and pass into a food coma for a couple of hours. 

The family that did it were the parents of a guy who had thru hiked previous and they have came out ever year for 5 years to work their Trail Magic. They had their daughter and son-in-law and their child with them. The guy who had hiked wasn't there because he was working in Colorado. It was the best trail magic I have experienced yet. It's amazing to know there are so many that come out to be apart of and support this community. Even some ladies from their church had baked cookies and sent them along for us.

 

We got back on the trail around 6 and hiked about an hour to a campsite we found near a rocky out cropping that we ate supper at and watched the sunset. We only hiked around 8 miles today but it was definitely an enjoyable day. 

Three weeks are done, around two more to go. 

-Prof