Mile 882.6
Elevation 2,608
Miles Hiked 20.7
The plan for the day was to leave the hostel mid to late morning. Then I was going to hike to the first hut (the shelters are called huts in the Shenandoah National Park) about eight miles away. That plan got blown away when Adam from Stanimal’s Hostel, told me he had a lot of shuttle rides during the day and really wanted to take me at 8:00 AM.
A group of hikers and I were dropped off at 8:30 AM at Rockfish Gap. Immediately we entered Shenandoah National Park. Hikers are required to register when entering the park. Once that was done, I moved down the trail. Another hiker. Flash Daddy, told me about a campsite fourteen miles into the park, so that was my new plan.
I passed the first shelter at 12:30 PM, which was way too early to stop, so I continued on. My sights were still set on camping at fourteen miles. The hiking supposedly is mostly on flat trail, but I didn’t find that to be true. Still, the miles peeled away fairly fast.
At Riprap Gap, we had some drama. As I approached the road, another hiker pointed out a bear to the right of the trail. I got my phone out and began shooting pictures. As the bear crossed the road, I changed to video and got a really good video of him walking close to me and a group of hikers. Eventually, one of the hikers ran toward the bear yelling and banging his trekking poles together until the bear scampered off.
I shot this video of the bear, which was probably only 20 yards away.
Back to the trail and I’m looking for a campsite and not finding one. At seventeen miles I’m frustrated and finally decide to go for the hut, which is now almost four miles away.
I walked into the Hut location at 6:30 to end a long day. The Hut was crowded, but there was a spot for me. Later that night, a walk to the privy was made and on the way, I saw a large deer on the edge of the campground. The perfect end to an interesting day.
