Day 72 - Lots of Wildlife, & a Good Deed Done

Sunday, June 14th - Up at 5:30, to clear skies and considerably cooler, 46 degrees, with a steady breeze blowing. It seemed that a cold front must have come through overnight, as the air was noticeably drier. Despite the wind and lower humidity, our tents remained wet overnight, and so it was (as expected) a wet packup and heavier than usual packs.

Left at 6:10, accessing the A.T. about a hundred feet from our site. Just as we reached the trail we kicked up a skunk - an unusual skunk in that it was nearly all black with just a tuft of white on it (I've never seen one like that before). It hustled away without giving us a spraydown, for which we were certainly thankful. Reaching Rock Spring Hut, Mark dropped his pack and hustled down to sign us in (Bon-Bon was there, but she was the only one of about 8 people there that he recognized). We kicked up a lot of deer along the trail today - at least 15, including a nice 6 point buck still in velvet (near Pass Mountain), and also a doe with a small fawn near Big Meadows. In general, all the deer in the Park are nearly heedless of humans, and barely will get out of your way as you walk up on them. Later we also kicked out a small bear cub, maybe 25 pounds, but fortunately it moved away quickly and mama (wherever she was) didn't make an appearance.

Then we came across Doc McCorkle (sp?), a fellow through-hiker, who was searching for his glasses (he had knocked them off his head while hurriedly setting up his tent just before the rain the previous night). He had been searching for them for hours, and asked if we would help him look. Of course we agreed, and as luck had it I found them about 2 minutes later. One lense had popped out, but Mark repaired that with an eyeglass kit we had in our first aid supplies. "Doc" was extremely grateful. I told him to be sure to keep his second pair with him from now on, and he agreed.

By mid-day it had turned into a beautiful day, with clear blue skies and low humidity, one of the better days on the trek. We eventually reached Skyland, and we hit the Lodge for some OJ Mark) and a Coke (me), while Bob-Bon (who had passed us a few minutes before) had a blackberry ice cream pie. We all chatted for about half an hour before pushing on. We ate lunch at the Pinnacles, under the pavillion there. At least 20 other people were there, even though it was now past noon on Sunday (obviously the nice weather was causing people to delay their returns home). Then on to Mary's Rock, passing by numerous overlooks of the valley and the Massanutten range along the way. Since we had both been to Mary's Rock numerous times, we decided to pass on it (it's off a side trail), and headed down to Thornton Gap. The trail down to the gap is considered to be the worst in the Park, and it lived up to its reputation, rocky and nasty. So we were pretty beat up by the time we made it down. The Panorama Restaurant is no more, having been completely eradicated, but the Park Service had erected a nice bathroom in its place, which was also a good water source.

We passed over Rt. 211, and continued on to Pass Mountain, on MUCH nicer trail. We reached the hut around 5:00, and decided to continue on (Mark again went down to get water and sign us in). So we kept hiking 'til about 6:45, finding a reasonable but not a great site about 25 yards off the trail. It was also noticeably slanted, but we've slept on worse, many times. Our tents were still wet from last night, but we were able to mop the floors dry enough to avoid any problems. Biggest issue with the site (in fact all day) were the large number of little black flies and gnats, which made our lives miserable every time we stopped (and guaranteed we would not stay in a shelter). Mark actually ate wearing his rain gear; I just killed a hundred of the things and called it even. Anyway, it was again a quick dinner and into the tents by 8:00. So about 21 miles in, another good day.