SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK – THE TREK

Day 1

This was a lower temperature day. We walk 8 easy miles and set camp. Fresco, Ranger, Chewy, Mash, and I walked.

We arrived at the shelter and holidays, Swamply and Dandelion arrived.

Bluebird, TBD, GraveDigger and some section hikers arrived, these were new faces for us.

Alien, whom we had not seen since Damascus also arrived.

The camp was full, and there were no more spaces for tents, and the shelter ended up packed. I was the lonely Hamocker and settled on a rocky and root slope without competition.

The bear’s post was full of bags, and the camp was noisy with laughter and stories while we met friends, new and old.

Day 2

We walk to the next refuge. It was very rocky and difficult for stores to find a place to go. The shelter ended up being packed.

Day 3

We went to the road and we took a hamburger, french fries, blackberries and a drink for $ 30. On the positive side I finally found a way to spend that arm and leg weighing through my backpack.

We also review Blackrock Summit and sat in the breeze that was in the first real opinions we had seen so far.

Later we met Caleb, a hiker we met in Association Shelter. We met on the road and later in a parking lot where we obtained some magic of trails in the form of drinks and oranges.

Day 4

I enjoyed this day.

I understand that we plan to cover about 16 miles. We walk at different speeds and separate.

We stopped for lunch at a designated point. I really didn’t pay attention, but we met 12 miles and I was surprised how fast we got there. I hadn’t checked my phone but detect water and I thought we had only gone 9.

It was very hot and we stayed there for a couple of hours waiting for him to cool a little. Mash appeared in the last place and explained that he saw a bear and had a magic of trails twice.

Finally, we continue to dinner in a picnic area before continuing with our camp. We chose to stay in a firmoad because the shelters were spaced to allow a day of 12 miles or one day of 20 miles, so we chose something in the middle.

Day 5

I woke up with my ankle with pain. This has been a recurring pain during most of the trip, but it was more notable in Bland. He had caused problems occasionally in the morning, but he would normally be fine with stretching and movement. This morning he demonstrated the same.

I proposed to plan to meet at the Big Meadow Wayside. My aunt and my uncle had come to the park to visit me and we decided to meet here too.

A couple of weeks before, my package of fish fish had a problem and the frame had leaning in the hip area. The metal bar was rubbing my back while walking. I contacted Osprey and would send me a new package.

It was a hot day again and finally needed to stop and refresh me. After a break, I got up and my ankle was killing me. I alleged the next gap and tried to send messages to my uncle to pick me up. But I had no service and decided to accelerate.

I was afraid that this was the end of my trip. I told myself that it would take a couple of days off if necessary.

Hstasing along the way, I saw a woman with a shirt that told the Adams family. Ironically, it was not Adam’s family, it turns out to be his last name. I hadn’t seen my aunt and uncle in 22 years, but I knew they were on the shirt.

I let my group know about my ankle and that it would probably spend the night with my family so that my ankle sandy and does not wait for me.

Joining my family at a nearby picnic table, we share greetings and discuss the plan. I let them know about my ankle and I decided to stay with them.

This really felt like the first time I met my aunt and my uncle. We had met when it was preteen, but I am not sure to meet someone at that age. We share stories and talk about my walk so far. They shared their adventures and experiences too.

We went to collect my package and screen protectors. I obtained the protectors, but the package was delayed.

We returned to the cabin and took a very necessary shower. I also rinsed my clothes in the shower. When I rinsed my socks, it seemed that a pot full of coffee was poured into the floor of the shower. When I finished, I took some ibuprofen and put an envelope on my ankle.

Then, we ran and took dinner and generously generated my refueling. We returned to the cabin and we were awake chat late.

Day 6

In the morning they took me back to the path and left me on the road. We take some photos before saying goodbye and separate. I do not do well with the farewells and it saddens me to do it. My uncle said they felt bad leaving me as my group had gone without me, and I was alone.

Time and place

«The path has where he needs me when he needs me there.»

Whitewolf’s words resonated in my mind throughout this situation.

My plan was to make a quick race to the city with my family to collect my backpack and the yogi a little lunch before they left me behind. Then the ankle hurt so much that I thought my walk would end if it would not improve. My ankle changed my plans.

Due to pain, I decided that I would not hurry this meeting. I decided to stay with them in the cabin who rent to come to visit me. I am grateful for the pain. It made me reduce the speed and take the time to learn about a part of my family that supports my trip a lot and wants to look at me.

My motivation to hurry did not come due to lack of gratitude or indifferent. I didn’t want to separate from my group and leave me behind. But things developed in such a way that I felt much more grateful and worried about what I would have done. It was a good reminder that this trip is more than walking from Georgia to Maine.

Return to the path

In any case, my ankle felt good with the ibuprofen in my system and the wrapping in my ankle.

I was sailing on the way and I felt good as new (for a person who has been walking for 3 months). A couple of hours later I saw someone in a point of view of the corner of the eye. I almost kept walking, but I looked back and recognized the salad, whom I had met a couple of times.

Walking back, I greeted her and she said she was happy to see me. He explained that his hiking companion unexpectedly decided to go home. I was sad about this, since they had walked together during most of the trip. We talked a little, and she began to walk with me for a while. Finally, she had a phone call and we separated.

Later I took a break and met Toejam for the first time. He was the food champion with peanut butter on the days of trails. He explained that he received his name on the Smokies when he stuck his foot in a rock at night and broke it. We separate while we walked, but we joined the Skyland resort when we got into a passing rain.

The salad was here, but disappeared after taking a bath for the bathroom. Acorn and Cinderella were also here. These are two hikers that I met the day after leaving Franklin, North Carolina, near Mile 100. We saw each other again in the days of trails, and again now. I like these little meetings that happen.

My aunt and my uncle said they felt sad to leave me alone on the path. There has not been a single day that I have felt alone here.

After the rain, I pushed the shelter and went to sleep. Byrds Nest #3. There were fireflies here so bright that the plants turned on around them. I noticed them when they flew on my hammock and thought that a person was shining in the forest.

Day 7

In the morning, bees, mosquitoes and jaw mosquitoes replaced the fireflies. I put the aerosol of insects on my legs and hands exposed to keep insects at bay. However, this did not prevent them from being in front of my face.

The sun shone in insects and I thought they seemed to dancing. It occurred to me that maybe I could imagine them as small forest sprites or fairies. They were just a little entourage dancing and welcoming the new day. He didn’t spend much time before he started thinking about Ferngully movie. Humans seemed increasingly heroic and I realized that my outbreak of capricious optimism was not going to last.

The heat was increasing but the day was easy. I arrived at the end and met with the Tramilia. They were waiting for the heat of the day while they ate and visited their own family. We press in the afternoon to get to the final shelter in the Shennies.

A storm passed at night. I kept waking up at night because I was picing. No See-Mus kept getting into my hammock insect network and biting me. I turned on my light and I saw that about 20 of them had moved and about 50 were waiting for their turn. He reminded me of the episodes of The Walking Dead prison, where the walkers were pushed against the chain fence.

Day 8

In the morning, we walked through the rain outside the Shennies and went to the city of Front Royale for a refueling and a very necessary night at the hotel.

The consequences

Other hikers had also complained about the park. It seems that all the wave that happened with us could not go out quickly enough. It was hot and Buggy, which is not really the fault of the park, but did not combine well with the lack of views and expensive food.

That said, this was a difficult week. We listened about approximately 15-20 people who knew that they left the path during this time.

Holiday and Swamply got out of the way during this time. However, this was a planned item. I feel honored that we meet during the last 500 miles.