Day 77 - Sunday, August 28

Linda

Got up and out early and had walked the last 8.3 miles on Rt. 601 by about 10:00. Came to Ashby Gap and stopped for drinks at the infamous George's Snack Bar and Souvenir Shop. We'd heard from Doc and Peg about grumpy, pruny old George, and how he was so mean to hikers. He certainly lived up to his reputation. Never once unshrivelled his face, and when I asked to use the bathroom, he told me he didn't allow hikers to use the bathroom (while he was handing me the key) and gave me almost word-for-word the same lecture Doc had told us warned us about. "Turn off the lights, don't leave the water running, and bring back the key…" He also said the packs had to stay outside the fence, because hikers got in the way when the crowds came and cluttered up the place. I wanted to ask him what crowds? And also tell him that as a paying customer myself, I was rightly entitled to use his "Customers Only" bathroom, but figured I'd be wasting my breath. We just chuckled over the encounter and his predictable response and continued on up the fire road a few minutes later after using the bathroom, not flushing, leaving on the lights, turning on the water full blast and pocketing his key. Just kidding! We were actually very polite, and even bought snacks at his humble establishment.

The trail followed the fire road up to the ridge, and we came to the fire tower around noon. Stopped to eat lunch at the famed hiker's bench that a lady named Mrs. Lipscomb had built along the road for hikers to rest and eat on. She also gives out water and has a hiker's register. I went down to her house which is just down from the road and got water and talked with her for a few minutes. What a sweet lady, and very interested in hikers. About a 180 degrees different from old George earlier in the morning. Wonder if they got together, who would rub off on whom? I'd be rooting for Mrs. Lipscomb. Anyway, we ate lunch on the bench which was the biggest bench I have ever seen. Our feet didn't even touch the ground. I felt like Lily Tomlin's Edith Anne character, with my feet dangling in the breeze, "And that's truth, pfffft".

After eating, we climbed to the top of the fire tower. It was locked, so we just sat on the steps enjoying the cool breeze for a few minutes. The walking hadn't been too strenuous all day, but the heat and humidity really sap the strength. The fire road had by then turned to a dirt road, which later turned to a paved road, so by 2:30 when we got to Manassas Gap and Linden on Hwy. 55, we were beat. Ducked into a gas station mini-mart and bought cookies and drinks. I tried to call Randy to see if he was coming to the Peaks next weekend, but he wasn't there. We walked on up the trail 3 miles to Mosby Shelter and ate dinner. It was 7.1 miles to the entrance to Shenandoah Park, and there was a shelter right outside the park, so we figured we'd try to make it there to camp tonight. The trail from the shelter to Rt. 522 at Chester Gap was mostly on roads, but one section skirted along the edge of a huge open meadow along the fence of the Front Royal Zoo. We'd heard that the high grass by the fence is called Tick City, and passing hikers have told us they came away from that short walk with 50 to 100 ticks on them. They just seem to fall off the bushes.

Since the prospect of being covered with ticks held no appeal to either of us, we opted to take the fire road down that last part to avoid the ticks. Reached Chester Gap with no mishaps, then started up the last 3.6 miles to Floyd Shelter. There was quite a climb to the ridge through meadows and down hollows, then back up again, so we dragged into the shelter around 7:45 after a long hot 30 mile day. On to the Shenandoahs tomorrow. Shenandoah National Park is the northernmost section at the beginning of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Skyline Drive, the scenic highway winds for a 100 miles through the park. Now that we're back in Virginia, it sort of feels like home turf. We've been up here many times for shorter hikes and weekend drives, but the perspective as a through hiker is altogether different. The Shenandoahs are beautiful - I hope the weather will be clear so we can enjoy the panoramas.

Ron

We managed an early start of 7:00 this morning. As almost all the trail was on roads, the miles went by easily. We stopped at the famed George's Tavern at Ashby Gap for drinks and munches. George was in his fine "son of a bitch" mood as we had expected. It seems George considers hikers the scum of the earth, so he does not bother to be nice to them. Of course he doesn't seem to be really nice to anyone.

After Ashley Gap we began our next session of road walking on a fire road. I must admit that dirt roads are much more agreeable with my feet than paved ones. We made good time despite the heat. By noon we had covered 14 miles. Mrs. Lipscomb, who lives by the trail and likes to talk to hikers, built a big bench along the road. However, it seems that we are about to lose another friend and water source. The AT in this area is scheduled to be relocated off the road soon. While I am not particularly fond of roads, just moving trail off the road does not always make for better hiking conditions.

The Tri County Fire Tower along the trail provided us a hazy view of the area. It appears we would be headed through a more populated area. Traffic along the road had begun to increase. The combination heat and road makes hiking difficult. When combined with the dust from passing cars, it becomes damn near intolerable. We finally made it to the section of paved road and flew the rest of the way down the mountain.

We made a brief stop at a store in Linden to gulp down some drinks and cookies. Soon we left the dreaded roads and entered the woods. The climb to Mosby Lean-to was up a gentle abandoned woods road. We found the hike quite enjoyable, even if we had to keep our eyes peeled for snakes. Our hour and half stop at Mosby Lean-to was long, considering the distance we still needed to make for the day. Linda was finding the register more interesting than getting ready to go. I was a little upset when we left, but we still managed to make the seven miles to Floyd Wayside before dark.

Tomorrow we will be entering the first real mountains since leaving New England. The trail through Shenandoah National Park is wide and beautiful. It's gentle grade makes climbs almost easy. We are really looking forward to exploring it.

(29.9 Miles - 1185.6 Total)