This morning I got up around 4:40am and began to make coffee. I actually slept great last night and it felt really easy to get going. Plus, today we are going about 23 miles and then are seeing some friends! Matador, who I met down in Florida while I was I was on the ECT, is going to meet us at a parking area with some trail magic! And it looks like Sidequest is coming out too! We hiked about 2,000 miles of the continental divide trail together last year.
We got moving before 6am and began a very brief bit of climbing. There were a few small hills to do over the course of the morning. But over all the elevation profile today looks even easier than the last couple of days. It should be a relatively easy day for us. We’re planning to go about 28 miles to another shelter for the night. That will leave us with about 13 miles to go to get to Front Royal tomorrow. The road we’re meeting Matador and Sidequest at is 23 miles into the day. So we’ll be able to take our time there and hang out for a while. Then will only have 6 more miles of walking to go from there later on.
Walking along the rocky trail as the sun came up.
As we walked in the dark for the first hour or so the trail went along a narrow ridge. I could tell that it was rocky and exposed, though we couldn’t really see much. I was shocked to walk past day hikers with headlamps on too! I don’t think we’ve seen a single hiker walking in the dark the entire time we’ve been on the Appalachian trail. I wasn’t really sure what they were doing though. The sun wouldn’t be up for a while and there weren’t a ton of overlooks nearby where you would be able to watch the sun rise.
I knew that about 4-5 miles into the morning we would be going past Skyland, another wayside that had a restaurant and Starbucks inside. But I don’t think it’s going to be open this early in the season. We passed by a couple day hikers and asked them if they knew whether the store inside was open. But it sounded like it was definitely still closed. I wouldn’t have minded starting the day with a Starbucks! That’s for sure.
The views were great this morning as we walked along the rocky ridge side.
We just kept on walking and didn’t stop off there. When we walked by the parking lot was completely empty too. Then the trail eventually brought us out to a road and we walked through a big parking lot. From there a gradual climb began, bringing you up to a really cool exposed ridge. There were wide open views and the sky was bright blue. It was a little windy, but was otherwise a perfect day.
As we approached this rocky section of the trail I could smell the faint scent of cologne in the air. I joked that there had to be day hikers nearby because I could smell them! I sniffed them out like a blood hound. Then we rounded the corner to find a group of people enjoying the views by the cliffs. I couldn’t believe that I’d actually sniffed them out like that.
Incredible views on top of this exposed cliff.
Once we enjoyed the views up top the trail began to descend briefly. The trail brought us down to another parking lot. Then we crossed to the other side of the road and continued along. For the next couple of hours we climbed briefly on and off. It was super gradual and we got a whole lot more awesome views. We went by a few other day hikers and they asked if we were thru hiking. After talking to them briefly we headed toward a trash can. Then dumped our trash before hiking on.
This overlook was stunning and we hit it as the perfect time of day.
The climbing continued on and off for the next hour or so. The trail had a handful of overlooks and I really enjoyed it. For the most part it was level and easy to walk along. Even the rocky stretches didn’t involve too much foot work. We passed by boulders and large cliffs. Then headed up toward the junction for an overlook. In 2023 I went up there to the high point, which was really nice! It just wasn’t in the cards for us today.
We’ve been seeing so many deer over the last few days! It finally feels like spring is here.
Around this time we started to see a ton of day hikers. At first it was just a handful of them. Then as we continued on and began to descend to the next parking lot, it really picked up. I swear we must have seen 50-60 hikers in the span of an hour. All of them were heading southbound up the climb toward the high point. We saw a ton of dogs and more people than I’d seen in one day all year long. Especially out on trail! I think it’s more people than I’ve even seen in one sitting when we’re in town at a store.
The entire way down the descent we passed hikers every 20 or so feet it seemed. All of them smelt so nice and clean. When we got down to the turn off for the next parking area most of those crowds disappeared.
The trail crossed over a busy road but fortunately it was quiet at the moment. There was a cross walk as well which probably helped when the road was busier. We could see lines of people waiting to enter the park. The weather this weekend is fantastic, and the camping facilities through Shenandoah really only just opened up. That meant the park was slamming with people on a Saturday! I had definitely expected that though.
Walking through an extended burn area. It must have burned in the last year or two, because I didn’t recall passing through a burned area in 2023.
As we continued on the crowds thinned out more and more. We passed a handful of more day hikers as we continued along. Then for the rest of the day we only saw a few more hikers at most. There were a couple more small climbs to do before we arrived at the parking area for the Elkwallow Wayside. Even though the wayside was closed, we still planned to go there and meet up with Matador and Sidequest.
Matador pulled in just as we walked up! The timing could not have been any better. He parked and we threw our bags down by him. Then he unloaded a cooler filled with drinks, McDonald’s, and loads of other goodies! I first met Matador when I was finishing the ECT toward the end of 2023 and start of 2024. Prior to that we had been friends on social media and had a lot of mutual friends. Then I saw him again at trail days in 2024! He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and loves the Appalachian trail.
We laid there in the grass and talked to him for ages. I stuffed my face with fries, nuggets, and burgers. Then washed it down with Dr Pepper and chocolate milk with 42 grams of protein in it. Now that’s some milk made for thru hikers.
It was so nice relaxing and knowing that we had all of the time in the world. We’d already gone 23 miles for the day and only had 6 more miles to go. That meant we could hang out for hours and still get to camp before dark. I ate until I just couldn’t do it anymore. Then just hung out with Matador and Punisher and talked try. At one point a bike packer came by and had ran out of water. Matador gave him some and we chatted with the guy for a bit. He was really nice and does all kinds of cool endurance type sports.
Lounging at the Elkwallow Parking area!
After being at the parking lot for maybe an hour or so, Sidequest pulled up! I hadn’t seen him since somewhere in New Mexico on the CDT. But we hiked over 2,000 miles of that trail together. And our times hiking through the Gros Ventre, Tetons, and Wind River High Route were some of the best times of my entire life. I had so much fun with him, 9 Lives, and Syrup last year on the CDT.
It was so awesome to see him again! But literally almost as soon as he arrived I felt something weird on my back. Earlier in the day I had felt something there. It almost felt like a cut, and was rubbing a bit on my backpack as I walked. When I finally touched it under my shirt I realized it felt like a tick! Oh no. We really haven’t been seeing many ticks yet this year. But spring is coming in quickly, so this is to be expected.
Matador, Sidequest, me, and Punisher! (Left to right).
Once I felt it I asked if someone could take a look. And sure enough I had a big ole tick latched to my back. Fortunately I only just felt it for the first time this morning. I don’t think it could have been there for more than a day realistically. But now the real fun part came. Someone had to get it off me! It was latched on like crazy. Using tweezers alone wasn’t working. The guys all worked together to try to get it off. They held a lighter to my back until it hurt, poured rubbing alcohol on it, and just kept pulling at it. The issue is you don’t want to accidentally rip the tick off and leave the head attached. So you have to be slow and careful.
It took forever to finally get it off my back. But Punisher eventually got it and didn’t leave anything behind. That was good! I’m pretty confident that it wasn’t on for long enough to cause an issue. And I’m actually carrying doxycycline. I figured I’d take one dose as a precaution. But I don’t believe it was really necessary. I also figured though that it probably couldn’t hurt.
Once that nonsense was taken care of, I could actually talk to Sidequest! Of course that all occurred right as he arrived. Then I just sat back down and we hung out for a long time. He brought us so much trail magic! Taco Bell, chocolate milk, ice cream, and so much more. He even remembered my classic Taco Bell order and brought my favorite stuff. What a guy. It was a blast hanging out again and just laughing wildly.
Sidequest, Punisher, and I!
We wound up staying there with Matador and Sidequest for 3 hours! I had such a good time talking with them. It felt like the hiking day was over at that point. Just before 5pm though we decided to actually finish out the day. There was a shelter 6 miles ahead along the trail. Matador was going to drive down to the trailhead right by the shelter and wait for us. Then Sidequest was going to hike with us for the next 6 miles to the shelter! What a fun day.
Eventually we headed out of there and got back on the trail. There was a super gradual climb coming out of the parking area. But it felt like a breeze since I was stuffed to the gills with food. I was fueled up! The three of us just hiked and laughed and had a great time. It felt like old times on the CDT. What an amazing way to end a 28 mile day.
Time flew by and the trail leveled out after a few miles. Then we just cruised along to the shelter. We went past the spur and went to the parking lot to meet Matador. Then grabbed some more food from the car to bring down to the shelter with us. There was still a half gallon of chocolate milk, cake, and some other snacks to devour. Matador and Sidequest came down with us and planned to stay the night too! There were a ton of people at the shelter doing section hikes. But they all actually set up tents, so the shelter was empty.
It was so cool hiking with Sidequest again after having hiked together for over 2,000 miles on the CDT.
The Gravel Springs Hut is infamous for the large rat that lives inside. Annabelle, the rat, was here in 2023 too! I think she’s lived in the shelter for years. Comments describe her as being either the size of a cantaloupe, or the size of two softballs side by side! What a beast. Most people said that as long as you hang all your gear you won’t have any issues. But if you leave anything hanging around, she just might steal it or chew into it. I was willing to take the risk.
We hung out there at the shelter with everyone and talked to the section hikers. Everybody was super nice. Punisher and I killed that half gallon of milk and then I ate some snacks. And just spent the next couple of hours talking and relaxing. The people who were already at the shelter were drinking and having a great time. They even made a fire! I love a fire, but never would have the energy to actually make one at the end of the day.
Today was so incredibly fun! It was easily one of my favorite days in ages. We did 28 miles but somehow it felt like we barely even hiked. It was almost like we spent the whole day hanging with Matador and Sidequest. Then we just stayed up for a long time talking and what not. Eventually Matador went back to his vehicle to camp there for the night. And the rest of us got set up in the shelter, stored our food in the bear box, and hung all our gear in preparation of Annabelle. Hopefully it’s not too wild of a night with her in the shelter! I even got a little bit of writing and video work done. But we’re only 13-14 miles out from the road into Front Royal. Which is one of my favorite towns on the entire AT! Maybe my favorite, honestly. So we’ll probably get in and spend the night there. It looks like Sidequest is going to grab his car and meet us at the trailhead tomorrow. Then drive us into Front Royal, which is awesome and will save us a hitch.
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