(Calf Mountain Shelter (mile 872) - Pinefield Hut (mile 898.2))

I slept ok in the shelter until Jasmine and Delta woke up and started packing their things at 5am. Delta in particular sounded like he was making noise just for the fun of it. He had slept on one of the upper bunks, and each of his movements reverberated and amplified across the cheap plywood surface of his bunk. What must have been a dropped water bottle startled me like a gunshot. After Jasmine and Delta got moving, I managed to fall back asleep until about 6:30am. I packed my things and was hiking around 7:10am. After a mile, I reached the last water source before a 12 mile carry. I took my time to drink deeply, fill both liters, and get breakfast ready.

After hiking almost 2 miles, I stopped for breakfast at the first Skyline Drive crossing of the day. I sat on the low stone wall of the pull-off for Sawmill Run Overlook, which despite it’s name, was not much of an overlook. After breakfast, I had 10 miles and several Skyline Drive crossings to Blackrock Hut, where I stopped for lunch.

A half mile past the hut, I reached the summit of Blackrock, which was a giant rock pile. A quick boulder scramble provided lovely panoramic views from the top of the pile, where I found Katie, Caroline, and Tyler lounging in a post-lunch daze. I wondered to myself what sort of insane geological phenomenon could produce a rock pile such as this. The rocks looked like they had been crumbled by some ancient giant. For what purpose? Who knows. But I’m sure the indigenous people of this area must have had legends explaining the origins of this place. Those stories would probably be a lot cooler than the geological explanation. Maybe involving an ancient giant?

I continued solo, and after 2 miles, I made it to Jones Run Trailhead where Professor PB&Jazz was waiting with her old Girl Scout troop leader. They were standing by the open tailgate of her SUV in classic trail magic fashion and explained that they were waiting for Katie and the others. Jasmine’s Girl Scout troop leader apparently had bought way more food than she needed and offered me a selection of dried fruit. I happily partook in a bunch of sun dried peaches and prunes before continuing on. As I was rejoining the trail, I ran into Delta, who I alerted to the availability of free food with Jasmine and her troop leader. There may be no better way to make a hiker’s eyes light up than to tell them there is free food. After 0.5 miles, I stopped at Dundo Picnic area to take advantage of its privies and water spigots.

View from Doyle’s River Overlook, a parking area on Skyline Drive

In Shenandoah, the trail seems to always run in close parallel to Skyline drive. This results in very regular road noise, which is not the ideal wilderness experience. After another 4 miles, the trail wrapped around Loft Mountain Campground and continued 3 miles to a set cliff ledges overlooks on Loft Mountain.

I stopped to dig a cathole right before reaching Ivy Creek, where Delta caught up to me. We began a short but steep climb after Ivy Creek and chatted about the Walter Isaacson biography of Leonardo Da Vinci I had been listening too. We both laughed as I described Walter Isaacson’s seeming obsession with speculating that Da Vinci was gay. We reached the summit of the small, unnamed mountain and appreciated the excellent views briefly before continuing on.

Over the next mile, I got ahead of Delta after he stopped for a bathroom break. I soon reached Ivy Creek Overlook, which was a parking area off Skyline Drive offering excellent views to the east. As I crossed the parking area, I noticed a black SUV and a woman rummaging around in the back seat. She seemed totally absorbed in what she was doing, so as I approached to pass, I tried to make my footsteps as noisy as possible to alert her that I was approaching and avoid startling her. As I got closer, she must have heard me, because she looked over her shoulder. Her eyes lit up when she saw me and she asked “Are you thru-hiking?” When I said yes, she started asking me animated questions about my experience. As we chatted, I also started getting bits of her story. Her name was Liza, and I learned that she was converting to Mormonism next week after being raised and living as an Episcopalian her whole life. Apparently she had met a guy (a Mormon guy), fallen in love, and would be soon living a clean life with him under the tenets of the Church of Latter Day Saints. She was in Shenandoah for one last hoorah of drugs and debauchery. Liza explained that she was on a ton of shrooms, some coke, and a little cannabis. It was around this time that Delta caught up, and she offered us a bunch of shrooms. Before we could say anything, she asked us for our thoughts on “all the satanists in media controlling news messaging.” In my shock, I think I managed a response along the lines of “it’s certainly hard to find media outlets to trust” just as Pudin, Clover, and Katie reached the parking lot. Apparently, this was Liza’s cue, because she bid us farewell, hopped in her car and drove away.

Pudin, Clover, and Katie reached us just as Liza was pulling out of the parking lot. I could not help exclaiming “y’all are not going to believe what just happened!” I shared the story of my full interaction with Liza as we covered the last mile to Pinefield Hut. The last mile was super busy with park visitors finishing up their day hikes. When we reached the hut, we found it occupied by a large group of Shenandoah section hikers. I set up my tent behind the hut and then situated myself near the front for dinner. As I was explaining my “Frogman” trail name, I mentioned that I was studying the evolution of frog vision. I think I mentioned the word “opsin,” which was overheard by a LASHer named “Codger” (which apparently means a grumpy old man), who excitedly explained that he is a visual neurologist and knew all about opsins. Before I distracted him, he had been trying to convince another section hiker that her trail name should be “Dorothy” because she was from Kansas. She was clearly unenthused by the prospect, and later that night, out of earshot of Codger, I advised her that there was no reason to embrace a trail name she hated.

I soaked my feet in the creek in front of the shelter as I prepared for bed. As the evening light was fading, just as I was about to crawl into my tent, Jasmine and her Girl Scout troop leader arrived. Their day had obviously been a slow one😂