Day 75 - Our Longest Day & Into the Rollercoaster

Wednesday, June 17th - Moderate rain started up around 3:00 am. Up at 5:30; still raining, so we decided to eat breakfast at the shelter as opposed to on the side of the trail in an hour (which is what we normally do). Left around 6:15, in the rain. The weather today was odd in that we had a lot of wind from the east and northeast, which I associate with nor'easters, not with cold fronts approaching from the west (which is what we had expected from the Weather Channel forecast). Regardless, it blew pretty hard, basically all day long, making the more exposed sections of the hike pretty chilly.

The trails were a mixed bag today, reasonable to start but difficult (later) as we headed into the Rollercoaster. We passed several shelters along the route today - Manassas Gap, Dick's Dome, and Rod Hollow. At 4:00, rather than sit at Rod Hollow (20 miles in), we decided to push on another 7 miles to the next shelter. The rain kept up nearly all day, with a few peaks of sun mid-day and then late afternoon. We saw only one other hiker all day, a southbound day-hiker. So not the best hiking day; the trails were pretty much a slick mud-pit (always a joy), and each gap had a pretty good flow of water pouring through it. We passed Rt. 55, then I-66, then Rt. 50, then Sky Meadows State Park, all familiar territory for both Mark and I. Eventually we passed a sign for the Rollercoaster (basically an "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter" sort of thing), and pounded up and down the first five peaks (lot of rocky trail), arriving at the Sam Moore Shelter at 7:30. Drizzle was still falling as we arrived, and we were both pretty much a wet mess. "Doc" McCorkle was there; that was it (he was, however, happy to see us, and was also astonished at our mileage (27 miles for the day)). A bit later "Fantasy Feet" arrived, and that was it for the night.

The rain picked up steadily after we arrived, and so it was pretty noisy (but dry) under the tin roof of the shelter. Later overnight we had a major thunderstorm roll through, and still later a second very heavy batch of rain (but no thunder and lightning for this second batch), both with torrential downpours and lots of wind. So it was not the most "restful" night. We're both whipped, but also elated at having done 27 miles through some tough terrain and tough conditions - good to know we can handle high mileage days when we put ourselves to the test. And we're now within striking distance of Harper's Ferry!