Ryan's AT Thru Hike 2011 Blog: April 2011

Day 62

This day was intense! Ok, so back in Waynesboro we met up with Jordan and his girl Jesse. And, they had invited us to meet them at a shelter in Shenandoah NP for hotdogs and beer. Sounds good but... it wasn't going to be easy. First, the shelter was 32.5 miles away. Second, because of an awesome but late night of good times and drinking with Maria and Michael, we didn't begin hiking until 1:00 pm. Did we make it? Hell yeah we did! We arrived at 1:40 am. That's about five hours of night hiking. Paul and I are forsure hardcore. And it's a good thing I bought a new headlamp in Waynesboro. We stayed at Pinefield Hut. And, I found a tic on my leg.

Shenandoah NP is nice but not so epic. This is because all the amazing views are off of Skyline Drive, a very nice road that weaves through the park. If you ever get the chance, visit Virginia and drive this road through Shenandoah NP. You will not be disappointed. On the plus side, the park is relatively low elevation, making for some easy hiking (compared to the AT in the south).

Day 63

This day was supposed to be another 30+ day. We only managed to hike 20.2, and stayed at Bearfence Mtn Hut. All was going according to schedule, when we came across two lost dogs on the trail. They were both black labs: one a seven month puppy, the other three years old. The dogs were following a day hiker who didn't seem to care, and the next thing we knew, we were left with both dogs (the hiker had walked off). At this point we were in the middle of the woods, with a road five miles south of us, and a campground six miles north. Although the dogs had a phone number on their tags, we didn't have phone signal. So, we decided I'd run to the campground and try to get ahold of the park rangers (there was a camp store there that supposedly closed at 7:00 pm), while Paul would walk the dogs to the same place.

I took off with about an hour and a half to get to the store before 7:00 pm. I was already tired but I was determined. Not only did I want to save these dogs, but I also wanted to buy some Gatorade from the store for Paul and myself. From the Marine Corps I have learned the power of motivation. While running, I found strength by shouting (as loud as I could) this awesome quote from the movie "The Edge," "WHAT ONE MAN CAN DO, ANOTHER CAN DO!" Anyway, I made it to the campground in time, but our information was off and I found the store closed. Lame. Luckily a park ranger happened to drive up. I told him the situation and he told me that Paul had already contacted the owner, who was on his way. Soon the owner showed up. We talked for a bit, until I realized that too much time had passed without Paul arriving to the campground. I told the dog owner to watch my pack while I back-tracked the trail to find Paul. At this point it was nighttime and very dark. I was half a mile into the woods, alone, when I heard a big crash nearby. I looked and saw these two, large, creepy eyes, staring back at me from the woods. About 50 feet away, and about 6 feet off the ground. I thought it might be a bear, but it turned out to be a really big deer. Crazy! But, I wish you could have seen those eyes! Anyway, I soon found Paul and the dogs. Poor Paul was having a horrible time getting these dogs to move. At one point the puppy ran off and Paul had to tackle it! He then made leashes out of rope. Paul also gave the dogs all his water, and had to draw more water from a nearby spring. These dogs were really dehydrated. I helped Paul, by walking (actually dragging) the puppy the last mile. In fact, I had to carry the poor thing the last 100 yards. It must of had complete muscle failure. Finally the dogs made it to the campground, and back to the owner. It turned out the dogs lived near the park, and had chased some animal into the woods and right into Shenandoah. The owner was very happy, and rewarded us with fast food and some cash. I'm sure those dogs would have been in trouble had we not showed up.

Because of the dog rescue our plans were altered. We hiked a mile from the campsite to the nearest shelter (hut). Unfortunately it was packed with people. I set my tent up, and Paul set up his poncho shelter. I commented that the park rules said we had to tent at the designated tent spots. And Paul says "I don't give a f*ck, we're heros." God damn right. We're baddass.

Day 64

It rained heavily in the morning. I was very surprised to see that Paul's shelter tarp rain poncho kept him dry. A very cool piece of gear, from Sea to Summit (pack cover, rain coat, and shelter all in one!). We decided to wait out the rain, which resulted in a late start. This day turned out to be a little rough. It pretty much rained all day. We only managed 22.4 miles and stayed the night at Byrds Nest #3 Hut. Furthermore, Paul's shoes were very worn at the bottom and was causing him a lot of pain. Luckily Paul had BC powder, which worked (the stuff is magical). The last hour of hiking was hardcore. We had to hike in the night through mist in heavy rain. Even with a flashlight the most you could see in front of you was a meer two feet! The shelter was full of mice, but no problem, we have mouse trap! Because of our efforts there are three less mice to terrorize hikers.

Day 65

Better weather this day. 28 miles of walking brought us to Tom Floyd Wayside Shelter. Near the end of the hike we came across this epic rock, in which Paul decided we should climb. A good thing. From atop the rock we witnessed our first Appalachian Trail sunset. We hiked 900 miles at this point. So, it's a 900 mile sunset. And it was beautiful. A big red ball that had a very small window between clouds to show itself. I wish you could have seen it. It rivaled the epic Pacific Ocean sunsets I've seen in Hawaii. My camera does not do it justice.

Earlier this day we met Dave, a really cool dude bicycling all over America. At this point he went from Seattle Washington, down the west coast, headed east along the bottom of the USA, hit the Key West Florida, and is now moving up the East coast. There's a link to his blog on this page. Check it out!

Day 66

Easy day. We hiked 6.3 miles into Front Royal, and then another 15 into Dick's Dome Shelter. Appalachian Trail shelter builders sure have a sense of humor. lol. We lucked out in Front Royal. We got a hitch into town, another ride around town, and a ride back to the trail. we hot up McDonald's, the library, post office, and grocery store. We also met up again with Dave. It was here that he interviewed us for his blog. He posted the video on my previous blog entry. Watch it! It's on youtube! I'm so serious in the video. I didn't mean to be, lol. I guess I need to work on my camera face!