May 14, 2000

Waynesboro, Va · 26 Miles Hiked Today · 841 of 2167 Miles Hiked Total

Basically, I hiked big miles today. It was the 26.3 listed, plus a 2.3 mile relocation for a total of 28.6 miles. I started at 7:00 and was through by about 7:15pm with a total of about 2:15 in breaks. There were some nice views from the cliffs today, but besides that the hike was just o.k. I decided to hike all of the way in so I could surprise mom on Mother's Day. She's worth it. The cool thing was that as we (myself, Sundance, and Guman) got to the road to hitch into town, who should drive up but Caveman and his girlfriend Cindy! They gave us a lift to town and drove us to our respective places. The YMCA was a bust so I went with Sundance to find his friends, only to learn the motel they were hoping to stay at was closed. So we went to look for them at a restaurant and who was there but Trail Mix and Two Stepper! So, I ended up with a floor to sleep on and a reservation for tomorrow night, a ride to the trail Tuesday, and cool people to hike with as well. The magic never stops.

In other news, after Candyman left the shelter at about 4:30 to head to the next shelter yesterday afternoon, he got stuck in the thunderstorm. He had to bivy out on a ridgeline when he realized he wouldn't make the shelter. A lightning bold hit so close that he got shocked a bit on his left side. Not enough to be really painful, just enough to be scary.