,,,Away, you rolling river

Enjoying another Shenandoah View

Today we only made it about 10 miles because we had to relocate base camp. We're actually staying out of Shenandoah Park now, and I miss it already. The real world is loud and crowded. I already want to go back to lots of trees, no electricity and quiet. We even had to cross a major highway on our hike today. It just felt like modernity was trying to track me down and lasso me in all day. I didn't like it. But in between highways I got to forget about all that for a while. We made a good find today when we came across one of the Shenandoah Huts. Everywhere else on the AT, the shelters are simply known as "shelters," but here in Shenandoah, a "shelter" is a wooden structure meant for day use only - meaning you can't stay there overnight. Instead, long distance hikers who want to stay on the trail have to stay in the "huts." We haven't seen one yet because they are usually at least a quarter of a mile off of the trail, which is half a mile there and back we don't want to walk. But today, we found one that was right on the trail. The hut looked a lot like the AT shelters I'm used to seeing, but roomier and made of stone. Someone clearly comes around to tend to it more often than the usual AT shelter too. Not bad, overall.

Shenandoah Hut

Most of the hike was through dense woods, but we did find one great view at Mary's Rock, where we ate lunch.

Luchtime View

It was a great little break until some very obnoxious and rude Europeans came up the trail and ran us off of it. I'm not saying all Europeans are rude and obnoxious, I'm saying this particular group of hikers, who happened to be European (based on their accents), were, since they immediately took over the whole rock without any regard for other hikers trying to enjoy the view, and proceeded to have very loud conversations about their past outdoor accomplishments. Luckily, I was nearly finished with my lunch by the time they showed up, so for a while, I had the view all to myself. We met with another minor annoyance at the end of our hike. It seems the AT had been moved at the spot where we were supposed to be picked up, so the AT didn't intersect the road. Rather than backtrack or hike 3 more miles to the next road crossing, we bushwhacked (read: traipsed through the underbrush as best we could) up to the road. We made it, but ended up covered in ticks and chiggers and who knows what else. After getting through that, I was glad for a dip in the campground pool and a shower. Not every day on the AT is perfect, but I'd still rather be here than anywhere else right now.

On Top of the World