Oh S—t
Okay, it is Wednesday, June 12, and I’m at the Gravel Springs shelter and campsite, which is located about 13 miles from Front Royal — that’s where I'm headed tomorrow. I had a pretty good day today. I woke up and ate breakfast alongside Thumper and Bambi. The wildlife around the campsite all seemed very tame. There were bunnies all over the place, and when I went to get my food bag from the bear locker, there was a deer that just wouldn't get out of my way. Eventually, I just had to walk around it. I got within a few feet of it, but it didn't care. It was just sort of hanging out, munching on grass. Definitely used to campers being around.
I got out of camp a little bit on the later side, mainly because it was so dewy this morning that it was just as if it had rained. So I needed to try to dry out my tent a little bit before I packed it up, but I was on the trail by 7:30. Actually, the approach trail from the shelter to the AT was about a quarter mile, so I guess I was officially “on the trail” by about 7:40. Joy and Ghost Pepper left a few minutes before I did.
My focus for the first part of the day was getting to the Elkwallow Wayside. It’s the last wayside in the Shenandoah National Park where you can just get off the trail and go to a grill and get a hamburger or chicken sandwich or something like that. I only needed to hike 7.5 miles to get there, and it opened at 11. So leaving at 7:30 wasn't really a big deal, because I’d still get there before the place opened.
When I was about halfway there, I heard a rustling in the bushes, and I just stopped and waited to see what would happen. Just a few seconds later, a black bear leapt out of the brush and onto the trail about 20 feet in front of me. It froze, looked at me, and I looked at it, and neither of us knew what to do next.
The only words that came out of my mouth were Oh shit. As soon as I said that, the bear jumped across the trail and continued on its way. I wish that I’d been quick enough to get my camera out and snap a pic. That was definitely the closest encounter I’ve had with a black bear, but I think we just startled each other. No real threat, thankfully. It was actually kind of nice.
The hiking itself was not very challenging, which was a nice way to start the day. There were some ups and downs, but generally, in the Shenandoahs, the trails are so nice and smooth that even if there are some steep inclines or declines, the hiking is pretty quick, because you're not having to navigate a lot of rocks.
I got to the wayside by about 10:30, and Joy was already there. I noticed that she’d already purchased herself a beer to have while she waited for the grill to open at 11, which I have deep respect for. And a quick side note for my friend Dave, who is the head brewer at Three Notch’d Brewing — she chose a 40 Mile IPA.
Ghost Pepper was there, too, and got himself a 40 Mile, too, and I went in and got a Minuteman. So we were all just drinking our beers at 10:30 in the morning while we waited to get lunch. When the grill opened, I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich, which came with a big side of fries with it, which was great. Apologies to S., but I forgot to take a picture of it, but I did take a picture of my meal a few days ago at Big Meadows, so just imagine a chicken sandwich instead of a hamburger. And for dessert, I had an orange creamsicle whoopie pie, which was next level. Very decadent, but definitely something I’m going to be seeking out in the future.
At that point, I had the choice of hiking either 12 more miles or just six. But coming out of the wayside, there was a six-mile stretch where no one is allowed to camp for some reason. So I opted for only six after consulting with S. for a little bit, and I think that was the right call. I'm going into Front Royal tomorrow, and I only have 13 miles to get there. And you know, I can't check into the hotel until a certain time, so there’s no benefit to getting there early.
There's a free trolley service into town, which is great, and one is supposed to come by at 2:15, which is perfect. So I'll probably get down to the road somewhere between 1:30 and 2, get the free trolley into town, check into my room, and then do all of my in-town stuff before I go out to eat.
Not much to say about Gravel Springs campsite, where I am tonight. There are two couples here, too, but the energy from them is kind of weird. Whenever that's the case, I just kind of keep my distance. I mean, I don’t think they’re dangerous or anything. The vibe is just not particularly warm and inviting, whereas last night, I hung out with Joy and Ghost Pepper, and we had a great time.
You know, sometimes you just get lucky with the people around you, and sometimes you don't. For dinner, I ended up just eating what I would have had for lunch today, if there hadn’t been the wayside, so I didn't have to get my stove out or cook anything. And now I'm just hiding from the bugs.
I'm sad to say that I'm leaving the Shenandoah National Park tomorrow. It's been a very nice place to hike — very well-maintained trails, great to have the waysides, and just a really enjoyable place to hike. I guess it’s not surprising that the park gets a lot of visitors. I’m off to different parts of the trail tomorrow, and then we'll see what happens after Front Royal.
