May 23 - Central Virginia

DAY #68
START LOCATION: Seely/Woodworth Shelter
FINISH LOCATION: Harpers Creek Shelter
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 14.4
TRIP MILEAGE: 826.1
MILES TO GO: 1,353.0

I had the deepest of sleeps at the S-Dub. The other shelterer, Sam,
was up-out at 6:30 and I probably would have slept longer had he not
been stirring. I was glad I woke then though. I was hoping for a 20+
day. I was groggy and took awhile to break camp. I chatted quite
awhile with some really nice sectioners, Dale, Marie and their sweet
lab/beagle mutt Cookie. They've done quite a bit of hiking and Dale
was a wealth of good info about spots up and down the AT.

The weather was nice starting out... A bit humid but lots of sun. I
made my way up to Spy Rock, a large rock outcropping with some good
360 degree views. From this vantage point I was able to see some
nasty clouds off in the distance... Not promising. I was able to speak
with my buddy Smokestack up there. He's dealing with a tough family
situation at home but is hoping to meet me back up on the trail at the
beginning of June. He mentioned he left a digtal camera behind at The
Priest Sbelter coming up on a section hike back in December. I was
determined to find it against low odds. Anyway, it'll be great to have
the Smoke back.

I pushed on over some pretty solid ups and downs on the way The Priest
Shelter. About 2 miles shy I heard it... Thunder. Nothing motivates a
thru-hiker more than the sound of thunder. The Priest is reportedly
the last peak above the 4,000' elevation until I reach New England.
That was a rumor I'd heard. I'll have to check that in my guidebook. I
got to the shelter for lunch and scoured the place for Smoke's
camera... To no avail. Some great southbound sectioners stopped for
lunch there as well. They were all great guys who gave me a good
preview of what was to come in my push to Waynesboro. We chatted for
quite awhile and also gave me a heads up about who the cool and lame
thru-hikers were that they'd met. Good company for lunch. We decided
that the thunder we heard was going to skirt around us.

I started my descent from The Priest and my god, what a steep long
downhill. It descended 3,000' over 4 miles. I wouldve been bumming had
I had it to climb. About halfway down it hit... Pouring rain. It was
so torrential I just stopped and knelt down to let my rain gear cover
my legs and boots til it eased up a bit. It did and I pushed the rest
of the way down to the Tye River under scattered rain and thunder.

I crossed the suspension bridge at the Tye and pushed up the 2.5 miles
to Harpers Creek. I almost threw myself a curve when i reached the
intersection of the Mau-Har trail. It is an AT alternate trail that
allows you easier access to the following shelter, Maupin. While
tempting, it was a 3 mile hike whereas Harpers was a 3/4 mi hike. I
was soaking wet and starving so I opted to stay on the AT to Harpers.
It leaves me shy of the 20 I was hoping for, but dry miles tomorrow
are better than wet ones today. It's a packed house here tonight.

Of special note, I met an April 11th starter tonight... Snack Attack
from Carlisle, MA. Crazy right? But get this... He's done not one but
two 50 mile days. That blows my mind. I hope he can keep it up.

I'm looking at a 20 tomorrow and a nice nero into Waynesboro on
Tuesday. I'm looking forward to this town. It's got lots of trail
angels and tons of food and services.

And some Mennonite women just walked by. That was weird.

-natedog