July 3: Blackrock Hut   Miles Today : 19.2 Total Miles : 49.9

I passed out last night before the sunset because I was so exhausted, but I didn't stay out for very long. It got below 50º last night, and all I am carrying this trip is a thin fleece bag, which was not at all adequate. I tossed and turned all night trying to stay warm, I curled in a ball to preserve my body heat, but I could never get quite comfortable enough for my body to pass out.

This was not good, since my body desperately needed a good rest. Finally, I stopped fighting the cold around 6:30 and got out of my bag. I found that I was in more pain this morning that I can remember hiking, absolutely everything hurt. Slow and shivering from the cold, I packed my gear and headed off into the Shenandoah National Park. Right away, I knew it was going to be a long day, even after warming up my legs were still killing me. It honestly felt as if I never stopped hiking yesterday, and I had no idea how I was going to hike any miles today. To make matters worse, somehow I strained the arch in my right foot, which made getting a rhythm going near impossible. There were more pains, but I am choosing not to put them to paper so that I do not remember them. Still, a handful of Ibuprofin and these pains subsided somewhat.

The first mountain of the day was Bears Den Mountain, with a nice, flat, open summit. It would have been much nicer had there not been 10 different radio and cell phone towers planted on the top. What a gross intrusion to this really nice mountain, I can only hope that there are so many towers here to avoid disturbing other mountains, but somehow I think not.

I would comment more on the day, but I was pretty much in a daze the entire time. It was not a fun day for me today, it was all about getting the miles done and nothing else. I hate hiking this way, but no matter how tired you are, you just can't sit around and whine about it. Well, I suppose that you could do that, but I personally cannot.

The day itself was really nice, however, the sky cleared out and the views were pleasant, if somewhat hazy, as is almost always the case in the summer down here. The AT crossed Skyline Drive, the road that travels across the ridges of the SNP, for the first time today, and then proceeded to cross it another five times later in the day. So much for the wilderness feel to the trail, but at least there were some views from the road anyway.

I got to the hut at about 2:30 today and I just passed out. There is a nice, grassy area out front, so I just threw down my sleeping pad, laid in the sun and took a nice, long nap. Wow, did that ever feel great, catching up on some lost sleep. Then, it was time to cook dinner, oh happy day! Nothing cures a bad day of hiking quicker that a full stomach of hot food. While I was chowing down on my Lipton dinner, a thru-hiker Red was telling me that last night he hung his food in the shelter, rather than on the bear poles outside. This is a big no-no here in the SNP. He woke up at 11:00 to find a small bear cub swinging from his food bag and thrashing at it trying to get at the contents. He showed me the claw marks, yikes.

There are a couple of other thru-hikers here tonight now, and we just all went out front of the shelter and picked a bunch of fresh blackberries. There are a few bushes within spitting distance that are just loaded with ripe berries, and they made an excellent dessert. There are still a few hours of light left today, so I am going to lie back in the sun and let my body heal for another 30-mile day tomorrow. Just kidding.

-Chomp

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