waynesboro, va to blackrock hut

the morning routine was the same as yesterday. get up, eat breakfast, pack up. i noticed bugs and lyric got up a full half hour later than yesterday. fatigue is setting in.

while we ate breakfast we got word that rocket had already hiked, shuttled, resupplied, and was back on trail ahead of us.

after breakfast we packed up and called the same guy that shuttled us into town. he was happy to come again.

back on trail, my pack and legs felt heavy. the trail was pretty flat, but i kept tripping all morning. i had great cell service, so called magz and we had a good chat before she had to get back to work.

sadly, the views thus far have not been great. many are overgrown with saplings. the trees here are also a little behind what we’ve been hiking through. they’re leafing out, but the leaves are still tiny.

i stopped at calf mountain shelter for lunch and found rocket. there were a few other hikers there and a couple day hiking with their border collies. i got some dog scritching time in, which was fun. the same folks also offered to take our trash!

after lunch i chatted with magz again for a bit before diving back in to, and finishing my audio book, and then due to the great shenandoahan cell service, magz was able to call me! we talked at length again, which is always amazing.

i’ve definitely been starting to suffer more from home sickness lately and chatting with magz helps. i know this is all part of the mental process i’m looking to go through, but that doesn’t make it any easier. i just miss her, the dogs, our home, and our community so much.

i got to the shelter a bit late, after missing it by almost a half mile. it was pretty packed with day and section hikers, most of whom had taken the very limited camping spots. the shelter however was practically empty, so i set up there.

dinner was spent answering questions from the section and day hikers about gear, food, bears, and myriad other things.

some images from today: