Trail Day 27 - The Rollercoaster - Prof

I was lazy and didn't set up my hammock last night and I regretted it this morning. I woke up sore and cold from laying in the shelter. The day quickly got better though. The privy at the shelter had toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and didn't smell too bad! I have definitely learned to appreciate the little things in life since coming out here. 

The morning was sunny and beautiful, nicely lending itself to give a beautiful scene at the one and only view of the day. The weather was perfect temperature for hiking today. I think the high was low 70s. 

 
 

I wasn't the only one who enjoyed the weather. I stopped for lunch at the Manassas shelter and after 10 minutes of eating alone a couple girls showed up. They were on a week long section hike and headed south toward the national park. After a few minutes of talking one of the girls all of a sudden grew silent and very wide eyed. The horrified look on her face made me look toward where her gaze landed. Directly above me in the rafters of the shelter was a rat snake. He looked to be about 5.5 ft long and was pressed up against the tin roof enjoying the heat from the sun. 

 

I used this moment to let the girls know about how I had heard of the large amount of snakes, namely copperheads that were supposed to be near this shelter. I don't think their eyes stopped fidgeting about scanning the area for more slithering serpents. Much to my disappointment though I didn't see a copperhead. When I mentioned the snake to Doc this evening he said he had seen a snake in the rafters of this shelter last year as well. 

After catching up on the NBA finals I missed last night   I went on down the trail. The miles flew today. I did just shy of 22 miles and definitely felt I could have went on. The last three miles of what we did today was apart of the Rollercoaster. This 13 mile stretch has a bunch of very steep up and downs. The ascents don't last for very long but most of the trail seems to be stone steps or similarly steep slopes. It's one of the portions of trail makes you remember you have glutes. 

I think tomorrow we are going to camp a few miles short of Harpers Ferry. At this point I don't think we will do the Maryland portion. Who knows though, we certainly don't plan ahead enough to know for certain. 

-Prof

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