Hiked 14.1 miles, staying in Paul C Wolfe shelter.
Despite a late night of shenanigans, we were all up bright and early and ready to hike. There was a hiker shuttle at 8 but we didn't want to wait that long. We were aiming for Waynesboro today so we had a bunch of miles to get in. We managed to hitch a ride with the McNett equipment vendor that was packing up after the festival. They took our picture and supposedly it will be up on their blog if someone wants to search that out.
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| Morning view from the brewery |
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| Devil's Backbone brewery and pub |
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| Getting ready to thumb a ride back to the trail |
Overall the morning was pretty flat with some good views from Rock Point Overlook and Cedar Cliffs. After Cedar Cliffs we started the slow ascent to Humpback Mountain. This ascent was quickly interrupted by trail magic. As I crossed the road at Dripping Rock a guy handed me a large chunk of watermelon and told me to grab a drink out of the cooler. They then proceeded to make us sausage and egg biscuits, hash browns and biscuits with honey. While we were sitting there Papa and Mama Bull, Kermit, Grinch, Wanderwoman, Rusty Ramps, Toast, Tags, Jetlag, Slim Jim and Mother Theresa all came by and joined in the fun. At one point the family said "It's too bad you aren't staying for lunch, we are doing kebabs and baked potatoes". I bet you can guess what happened next...
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| Rock Point Overlook |
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| Rock Point Overlook |
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| Rock Point Overlook |
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| 9 AM photo |
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| Cedar Cliffs |
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| Cedar Cliffs |
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| Trail magic! |
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| One of the reasons we stayed for lunch |
Three hours later we somehow were still sitting there. It worked out great. That was some of the best steak on those kebabs that I've had in a long time, and the potatoes were to die for. We finally got underway again around 1 and continued our climb up Humpback. For a short while the fog rolled in thick and it threatened to rain, but by the time we reached the top it was clearing. On the way down there is a side trail to Humpback Rocks which is a huge rock outcrop off the side of the mountain. Totally worth the extra half mile, what a view. There were lots of tourists there because it is close to a road. A few of them were freaked out by the heights and it was entertaining to hear them gasp as I walked along and sat down on the edge.
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| There is a great view of the Shenandoah Valley from here...supposedly |
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| Fog cleared up as we crested Humpback Mountain |
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| View from Humpback Rocks |
Due to the amount of time we spent at trail magic we didn't make it to Waynesboro today. This wasn't a big loss though, it's not like we could have accomplished much getting in after 5 on a sunday anyway. The shelter we are staying at has an awesome swimming hole and it was great to get in early enough to thoroughly enjoy that. We also had the time to make some delicious quesadillas. We also made some pancakes and ate them wrapped around snickers. Best meal ever.
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| Looking right from the above photo |
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| Looking right from the above photo |
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| Me on Humpback Rocks |
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| Srocket got a hold of my camera... |
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| Humpback rocks, you can tell it is a touristy area from the grafitti |
We had a bunch of wildlife sightings today. I had a deer encounter similar to the one I talked about before, really up close, it was pretty cool. I also was walking along a stone wall at one point and heard a noise on the other side. I popped my head over the wall and surprised a doe with a little tiny fawn. The baby couldn't have been taller than my knee. Sorry folks no pictures, they took off running right away. Late in the day we also came upon an enormous black rat snack stretched out on the side of the trail. Must have been about four feet long and have just eaten because it let me get really close for pictures.
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| Black Rat Snake on the side of the trail |
Staying in the shelter tonight along with the four of us is Toast, Rusty Ramps, Juti, Not Worthy and Wanderwoman. A couple people have gotten off the trail recently. OB has a busted achilles and shin splints and is getting off in Buena Vista. Kermit is just not having fun and is planning to quit at Harper's Ferry. By this point in the hike when people drop out, you often know them fairly well so it is a little sad. We wish both of them the best.
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| Late day vista on the descent down from Humpback Rocks |
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