Shenandoah, Day 6

Basically Pete was a wacko burnout, but I didn't want to say until I was miles away. When he was telling me about a conversation he had had, he would actually act it out and have the whole conversation with a fake person. The other thing that worried me quite a bit was how noisy he was when he was sleeping. It made me a bit uncomfortable.

Other than that, the shelter was pretty cool. I'm planning on staying in one, one more night, probably the last night. I actually used one to escape an afternoon thundershower. I was pretty much already drenched, but I got to dry out a bit before I trekked on to Skyland, when I am now (16+ miles).

If all goes as planned, two longish days and then Monday will be really short (3.1 miles).

I'm surprised I made it so far, with my injuries and all. Two more blisters, one on each pinky toe plus the one from yesterday (on my third toe, not my fourth, btw). My knees, of course, hurt like a bitch too. It seems the pain never goes away, just goes from one body part to the next.

Had lunch at Big Meadows and the dessert at Skyland. I've never felt like so much of an outsider. Here I am--hot sweaty, & pretty ragged--coming into a slightly upscale restaurant. You think they'd be used to it, but it sure didn't look like it.

Just saw lightening and have been hearing thunder for awhile. Guess it's going to rain soon, but this time I'll be dry--hah.

Ever since I read it in one of the shelter logs the other day, I keep thinking about ice cream. I had some at Lewis (a big I.C. sandwich) and tonight--a hot fudge Sunday at Skyland.

Saw seven or eight more deer today. Two were fawns I think, they had white spots on them. May gave gotten a picture of one. Took a few other pictures, nothing to exciting.

Another though on future hikes: Gaiters. They'd keep your socks & boots drier, and they'd protect you from stinging nettle. Which yes (oop--there goes the rain) I've had a few run-ins with the past two days.
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I'm camped in a virtually perfect spot. It's pretty level, not in an illegal place. Had trouble finding a food hanging place though. (And no, I'll still haven't seen a bear yet. 2 1/2 days left.) Had a very pleasant dinner, after my dessert at the lodge. Even had a good rock to sit on. Btw, one neat thing about the shelters is that they have a food hanging pole, so you don't have to find a good tree.
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Man it's coming down hard. Hope it dries out by morning.