Day 73 - A "Nero" into New Market

Monday, June 15th - Up at 5:45, to a thin overcast and 57 degrees. Our tents dried overnight, and so were noticeably lighter. Gone by 6:15, continuing up a long but gradual slope. Again kicked out a few deer along the way, including one that allowed us to walk right up to it before moving just barely to one side. Made it to the Elkwallow Wayside at 8:25, where the manager was kind enough to open his restrooms for us, even though they didn't open til 9:00; we also got water there, and ate some of our snacks.

Moving on, we climbed Hogback Mountain, another long climb. Called Bill Rogers from the top (barely one bar even there), and he agreed to meet us at noon at Gravel Spring Gap Parking Lot. He was at a storage lot with the police, as someone had broken into his trailer (and several others also located there) the previous night, and stolen a number of valuable items, including his TV and stereo system. As you might expect, he was pretty aggravated, but insisted that he was OK with our plan to meet. We continued down the trail, stopping at Gravel Spring Hut at 11:15 or so for Mark to sign us in and get some water. Then a brief walk to the parking lot. Bill arrived at 12:05, just as the weather began to look threatening again (but no rain this time). Greetings all around, then we loaded up and headed off to Front Royal for lunch (McD's) and a stop at the Post Office (for Mark to pick up the next bunch of maps that he had mailed to himself). Then down I-81 to Bill's house in New Market (a pretty long drive).

We grabbed some showers, and also did our laundry. Bill and Mark watched a movie (Midway) while I made some phone calls and later typed up some blog reports. Around 6:00 we spent a few minutes drafting up our food lists, and then headed off to the Johnny Appleseed restaurant for dinner (a locally famous restaurant; excellent food and service). We spent a very enjoyable hour there, chatting with Bill about the trail. I grabbed my food supplies at a nearby Mini-Mart, then we headed up the road for Mark to get his food at a Food Lion. We headed back to the storage lot (site of the break-in), where Bill installed a couple of new locks on his trailers, and showed us the damage (sad). Back at the house, we sorted food and laundry, and I continued typing blog reports til 10:45 or so, while Bill and Mark watched TV. A good day - only 11 miles done, but a nice break. Back at it tomorrow.