Day 76, Friday May 14, 2021

 

Deuteronomy 

Byrds Nest Hut #3 campsite to Gravel Springs Hut campsite - 17.7 miles hiked today - 958.7 total AT miles hiked to date.

What a great day.  Weather was once again almost perfect for hiking, hovering in the 50’s and low 60’s most of the day.  Got yet another early start as we were targeting a Skyline Drive wayside for lunch at 11 miles from our site.  Almost immediately the trail afforded an incredible view to the west, with some of the more distant mountains still shrouded in shadow as the sun was rising in the east.

Within another mile, I came to Mary’s Rock, a popular day hiker destination in the park, and the source of a legend chronicled in a song by the bluegrass group Dukes of Drive.  The views from up there were great, as would be expected, and I had it to myself as it was still too early for day hikers to have made it up there.

The rest of the morning was spent mostly climbing up and over Pass mountain while crossing Skyline Drive a few more times.  By lunchtime we’d arrived at the Elk Wallow wayside where we took advantage of some deli sandwiches, soft drinks, and ice cream.  Ran into Wing Nut yet again, and found out he was heading for the Gravel Springs hut as well, our destination for the night.

After lunch, the hike was a leisurely 6 or 7 miles over very gentle terrain.  There were half a dozen great views and overlooks, as well as beautiful greenery, multicolored wild flowers, and soothing brooks along the way.  I almost walked head on into a deer who was walking down the trail in my direction.  We didn’t notice each other until we were only about 20 feet apart.  We both looked up at the same time, startled and frozen for a brief moment before the deer bounded into the woods.

A couple of other observations as I was walking this benign section of trail.  Since there weren’t a lot of obstacles in the path, I noticed a lot of the plant life growing along side.  Today there were a lot of dandelions.  I never noticed before the perfectly symmetrical way that God created these unique plants (weeds really) that morph from a lovely yellow flower to a round and delicate seed head, waiting for a wind to scatter.  I also crossed under a few large trees perched precariously across the trail.  Over the course of the last 900+ miles, I’ve passed under probably 100 or more of these types of obstacles, some requiring more caution than others.  I recently heard these types of overhanging trees referred to as ‘widow makers’, I guess for obvious reasons.  I always try to gauge the relative structural support before passing under on of these.  So far, no close calls.

After cresting Little mountain, with yet another great view, I arrived at camp around 5:30, found a tent site, got set up, ate dinner, and retired to my tent.  Tomorrow is a short day with only 10 miles to hike, and then Sunday will be a NERO as we go into Front Royal after a short hike in the morning to stay at Mountain Home hostel Sunday night.  It’s been a week since the last shower and laundry so I’m really looking forward to this stop.

Until next time…