Flowers Truly Mean Spring

On the 11th I did 11.2 miles and camped at Wilson Creek shelter. On the 12th I did 20.8 miles and stayed at the Bryant Ridge shelter. On the 13th I did 24.8 miles and camped in the parking lot next to US 501 along the James river.

First I should address why I camped in a parking lot last night. My original plan was to stay at the shelter two miles before the road, hike two miles in the morning and go into town to buy some food. I assumed many people would be doing the same thing. Early that day someone informed me that Matts Creek shelter, the one before the road, might still be closed. Apparently a hiker had stayed there a few days and then another hiker found him dead in the shelter. Until cause of death was figured out they closed the shelter.

I was pretty sure that the shelter was reopened and continued past a campsite to get the shelter. About a quarter of a mile from the shelter I saw my first black bear of the year just down slope from me. It quickly ran off into the woods and I kept going. When I got to the shelter there was no one else there. I decided I would push to the road instead of sleep alone in the potentially deadly and definitely bear infested shelter. Unfortunately that meant I hit the road after dark and hitching a ride in the dark is incredibly unlikely. I found a nice spot in the back of the parking lot and set up camp. In the morning it only took me 15 minutes to hitch into town. Sometimes everything works out on the trail.

Besides that interesting day not a lot has happened in the last few days. The trail has truly entered spring though. The trees finally have a full leaf cover and the mountain flowers are out in force. Even the rhododendron are blooming finally. I'm glad there are still some around me while they are blooming. I was a little worried that I would hike past them all and miss out after walking through them for almost two months. The photos of the trail side field of flowers does not do it justice at all.

I have continuely forgotten to put this in my blogs for weeks now. In Damascus I found a lightweight hammock in a hiker box at the hostel in town. For those that don't know, a hiker box is a box at a hostel or outfitter usually where hikers put things they don't want anymore. This can range from food to clothes and sometimes even gear. I decided it could be fun to carry a hammock to take naps in during the heat of the day. Since then it has been fantastic. It allows me to stop in the middle of the day next to a nice water source and take a long break through the heat of the day. I have tried sleeping overnight in it to get a better sense if I like it but I like to roll around too much to be happy in a hammock all night. It does work perfect for an hour or two though.

I'm almost to Waynesboro which is where I started canoeing the Shenandoah River instead of hiking through Shenandoah National Park. I am looking forward to a section of trail I haven't done yet.