So last night was a great choice staying in the lodge, as it was a wet night. We did, however, get pretty wet fairly quickly as we headed out into the foggy, wet morning.
We hiked the first 9 miles to Skyland pretty quickly. There was only one tough section of trail consisting of a lot of rocks. At Skyland, we were able to drop our packs at the front desk, as we’d be returning here later in the day. After grabbing a few baked goods for some calories, we were off slack packing to meet up with our good friend Marc who came out to meet us.
For those of you who don’t know, slack packing is when a hiker puts in miles without their full backpacking pack. Usually they’ll just carry some water and a few snacks. We were glad to have the opportunity since Marc was going to meet us a bit farther north on the trail.
After a few quick miles, we reached the Pinnacle picnic area, and it turned out there was a guy with a huge spread of trail magic, including New York bagels. Being thru-hikers always on the lookout for food, we had to stop. Of course we lost track of time, because we were supposed to meet Marc on top of Pinnacle, but he ended up hiking the extra distance to the picnic area. Being the great friend he is, he brought us sandwiches and sodas and pretzels from Wawa (a gas station/ convenience store chain in the mid- Atlantic). We decided to just sit right there and eat those too right after the trail magic food.
After lots of food, the three of us headed back north to Thornton Gap, about a 5 mile hike. As we were heading up one hill, we saw a bear quickly scamper across the trail. It turns out this was the first bear Marc had ever seen in the park, and he’s been here quite a few times before. Not long after, on our way down to the car another bear crossed the trail. I was able to get a photo of that one as he peered back at us from the woods.
After we got to the car, we drove back south on Skyline drive, all the way back to Big Meadows. We went to the visitors center, then had dinner at the wayside. I got the pulled pork this time around… the fried chicken was much better. We also got dessert this time… a huge piece of blackberry ice cream cake, and a blackberry cobbler with a giant scoop of blackberry ice cream on top. The shakes yesterday were good, but these… they “took the cake” so to speak.
We drove back north to Skyland lodge, but on the way, I spotted a bear in the woods to our left. Marc pulled over to get a better look, and I looked out the right side, and wouldn’t you know it… there’s another bear just off the side of the road in the woods. I got a good picture of that guy, plus a video, which I’ll try to upload. We saw one final bear on the drive back, bringing our bear count for the day to 5.
When we got back Marc checked into our room, which was awesome. It was a two room suite with a fireplace. Did I mention how good a friend this guy is? We cleaned up, then took a little walk. First down to the lodge to watch the sun setting, then over to the amphitheater where we watched a ranger program about the Appalachian Trail. It was an interesting program where we learned some of the history of the trail, and about some of the more famous thru-hikers like “Grandma” who was the first woman to hike the trail in 1955 when she was 67 years old. If we were having any doubts about our abilities to finish, that was certainly a motivating story.
The night was finished off back in the room, where we all relaxed in front of the fire, chatting and catching up. It was great to see a friendly face today, and to spend another evening in comfort.
Sounds like a great day! I just started reading the book…Grandma Gatewoods Walk. .????????
Casey looks pretty happy, she does love blackberries !!!