VA 55, Manassas Gap 1214 to Front Royal 1222.2 (8.2 miles, 1222.2 total miles)
It had been hard to fall asleep last night, with the sound of cars, trucks, and trains rolling past the yard behind the convenience store we were set up at.
I drifted off around midnight, and woke up at 6:30 when the sky lightened, shaken from an anxiety inducing dream about Frankie that had him alive but missing. I got up and the reverse was true.
The store opened quite early, so I popped in to use the restroom, and said hi to a woman behind the counter that I hadn’t met the day prior. She asked if I was one of the campers and urged me to come back in for coffee, which I assured her I’d do in a bit.
After saying good morning to Iroh, who was up and reading his book, I laid down for another hour. I wasn’t sure why but my chest was feeling tight and I was having a little trouble breathing.
My best guess was a continuation of the allergies I’d been having lately, and my prior history of asthma being activated. I tried to rest and breathe deep, hoping it would go away, but having no rush to start my day.
Uncle Iroh and I were going into Front Royal, as I needed to resupply and he was meeting his dad there to hike together for a few days. Bard was planning on hiking further, while I was unsure if I’d stay in town or not.
I bought a coffee, breakfast sandwich, and a danish from the shop and sat with the others to eat. Joy arrived and said hi, and a man came out back to hang out with us as well.
He went by the Meandering Minstrel, and was a cheerful man in his 60s who’d just gotten off the night shift at a local factory. Minstrel was thrilled to find thru hikers, and told us how he liked to day hike the AT locally, living just a couple miles away from it.
He spotted Bard’s guitar and asked if he’d want to jam together. Bard immediately agreed, and Minstrel took out his harmonica. Before they started, I packed up my bag so I could dry my tent and footprint in the sun, since both had gotten wet from camping on grass overnight.
Iroh did a little dancing while we enjoyed Bard and Minstrel enthusiastically play a few songs together, vibing off each other’s clear passion for music and creativity.
Minstrel asked if we wanted anything from the store, his treat, and bought us a few drinks, snacks, and I grabbed one more of the frozen cheeseburgers, wolfing that down for hiking fuel.
Minstrel was very sweet to do that for us, and had very interesting stories, including how he’d visited the Georgia Guidestones, which I’d never heard of prior but found very fascinating.
Eventually it was time to hike out, as Iroh’s dad would be meeting him in town around 2:30. I was surprised, but pleased, when Joy and her employee both gave me big hugs, wishing us the best of luck.
It had been a really special stop, and I was happy we’d gone there when our other plan fell through. They really made us feel at home, and everyone had been so genuine and kind. It went to show that being open to changing plans last minute could lead to wonderful outcomes.
Bard, Iroh, and I stuck out our thumbs across the street from the store, taking bets on how fast we’d get a ride. My guess was closest, and we were driving down the road back to trail after seven minutes.
Our driver was a soft spoken young man in a Nissan truck on his way to work. As always, it was fun to chat with a new person and find out a bit about them.
We saw Uber, Patience and their little dog, Skeeter, as we were getting out of the truck, and caught up to them after a minute or two up trail. It was 11:38 when we started hiking, and my goal was to complete the 8.2 to town within 2-3 hours.
I let Bard go first again, and he disappeared ahead of me after a quarter mile or so as we climbed up 650 feet from the road. After a bit, Iroh dropped back a bit as well.
The trail was rocky, but had a few nice switchbacks and a grading of 730 feet for the first mile up to the ridge, which followed a lovely meadow for two tenths of a mile.
I hiked hard and fast up the first incline of the day, though my shoes weren’t tied quite tight enough, and my heels were slipping out a bit. I noticed my lungs felt completely normal again, as I breathed hard from the exertion.
It was an incredible day, the weather was warm but not terribly hot or humid, there were no cobwebs in my way thanks to Bard, and I was hiking in my new sun shirt, which was much more pleasant and comfortable than I’d expected.
I saw Bard ahead chatting with a couple day hikers, who I said hi to as well, before he disappeared into the woods after a few minutes again.
A .7 descent to a paved road, where I saw a few leaves fall lazily from the trees, brought me back into the woods, where I admired how tall the forests of Virginia were.
In Maine and New Hampshire, I’d become so accustomed to dense pine forests, evergreens, and fir trees, and hadn’t seen anything like these enormous trees with canopies so high and open forest all around me in quite some time.
The contrast of going straight from the north to the south was fascinating, and so different from the linear hiking I’d been used to where plant life, animal life, culture, and weather change so gradually as to be almost imperceptible, or at least much more logically.
I was loving how the stark differences were keeping me present and aware of my surroundings, feeling the newness all over again of a fresh journey almost.
A mile of easy climbing brought me to the spur trail for the Jim & Molly Denton Shelter, where I saw Bard had placed his trekking poles against the sign, indicating he had stopped there.
I placed mine as well, and walked a short couple hundred feet to the shelter which featured a mini putt game, horseshoes, and a solar shower. The PATC had struck again.
I saw Bard coming back from the shower, and he challenged me to a game of mini putt. After that game, I challenged him to horseshoes.
It was close, and we didn’t know the actual rules, but after an intense, but friendly competition I declared Bard the winner.
When Uber and Patience arrived, I asked if they’d passed our friend, since Iroh still hadn’t appeared. They said no, so Bard and I decided he must have just kept hiking.
It seemed time to leave then, as I filtered water quick and left just a minute or two after Bard. I kept hiking fast, up another couple miles to a short and almost flat ridge.
I’d been hiking in silence so far all day, and had gotten to really sit with my thoughts and process a lot of things, clearing out some mental clutter.
I thought about Frankie quite a bit, and had a revelation about his authenticity. Frankie had no pretense to him, while Tika was a little more reserved in her affections, she held her cards a little closer to the vest.
I’d learned so much from Frankie, like how to love wholeheartedly, and how to not let past trauma define you. Now I was thinking how he fully wore his heart on his sleeve, as it were.
He always wanted to be near me, and he made sure I knew it. When he wanted to hang out with someone, he flew right on their head. He made nests for me to show me his affection, he had the cutest and most unique happy dance of any bird I’d ever met, and he charmed everyone with his open personality and lovely nature.
More than anything he taught me how I deserve to be loved. Without reservation, without judgement, with total support and kindness.
I know maybe I’m reading too into it, but the more I reflect on the time I had with him, the more I see how he changed my life in so many ways. It’s often only after something is over that we can fully appreciate the impact it had on us.
In that spirit I reflected on another relationship I’d had in my life previously. I’d been thinking about it a lot, spending time writing out my feelings, and trying to decipher what my gut, my brain, and my heart were all trying to tell me.
I did a little more writing on it while I hiked, dictating into my phone as my thoughts became clearer, distilled and molded by the serenity of the forest, and the peace it afforded me.
After getting that off my chest, and beginning the descent of the last 2.5 miles into town, I decided the time was right to turn on a little music.
I shuffled my playlist again, and rolled down the switchbacks as they carved their way down the mountain. I jogged a little here and there, enjoying the speed and feeling of my own strength.
The trail started to look familiar as I followed a chain link fence to my right for the last half mile or so, singing along to the music in my ears.
I spotted Bard sitting by the trail next to the road with his guitar out, though he said he’d only gotten there maybe 30 seconds before me.
He was thinking Iroh might be behind us, but I thought he must be ahead. We’d spent half an hour at the shelter playing games, though Bard was enjoying the mental exercise of hypothesizing ways in which we could conceivably have passed him.
It was 2:30, so we’d hiked 8 miles in 2 hours and 22 minutes, after subtracting the break time, putting us at a pace of just under 3.5 mph, which I was quite impressed with.
We hiked another .2 along the road to see if Iroh was there at the dirt lot where the trail crosses the road. He was not, but Bard told me there was a hostel .3 back up the road he was going to stop at for a bit.
I had no service at the road, so thought it made sense to go there too, thinking Iroh must be in town by now and would have service there.
We walked the .3 on the road shoulder to the hostel, though we definitely should have gotten back on the trail. That one was on me, I was hungry and my brain was fading.
I’d thought the only hiker hostel in Front Royal had closed for the season, and hadn’t looked at this place because it had the name B&B in the title, so I assumed it would be more expensive.
However, I found out there was a hiker hostel portion with a $35 fee for a bunk, shower, and breakfast the next morning. I thought I might consider staying.
Scott greeted us warmly at the door to Mountain Home B&B, and brought us inside for ice cold glasses of lemonade. Scott was a former SOBO thru hiker from 2012, and he joked with Bard that I was hiking in the “right” direction finally.
He told us to check out the hiker boxes before buying food, and Bard found his way over to a piano in the spare room. The B&B was beautiful, and I was admiring the country vibe when I heard Scott say the name Tessa.
I gasped and spun around, “Tessa?” I exclaimed, and sure enough it was my section hiking buddy from a few days back.
I ran over and gave her a big hug, she was fresh out of the shower and tired, but in good spirits. I sat and caught up with her. It seemed this was the place she’d had her car parked while hiking, though I hadn’t realized.
She’d been having a better time hiking with less weight, but had been going for a week and a half without a rest day. She’d gotten picked up by Lisa, the other B&B owner, at a spot earlier on trail than when we were, and was deciding her next steps.
In the meantime, Bard and I found out Iroh was indeed in town with his dad. His dad needed a nap, having gotten up at 1AM to travel here from Texas, which was very understandable.
We decided to all get dinner later, so I figured I’d shower and get a bunk after all. I grabbed some bars someone had donated to hikers, and took a lovely shower in the large, clean bathroom on the first floor.
I put on a simple town clothes outfit of shorts and a t-shirt, and got my laundry together to throw in with Tessa’s. Our bunk room was downstairs, and we hung out for a bit, while I braided my hair then hers, chatting and enjoying some girl time.
I made a new itinerary for the next four days. I’d previously been planning three days of bigger miles, between 17-24 for the next few days, but decided I wanted to revise that a bit.
I was enjoying taking my time while I was still adjusting to my new trail life. I was also feeling more relaxed in my miles now that I was on the final leg of my journey, not needing to worry about the logistics of getting down south and everything that had consumed me before Katahdin.
I ended up pushing my zero day back one day, and planning just one 20 for later in the week. That had me hiking about 80 miles this week, which wasn’t bad for how intense it had been the first couple days to make the switch to southbound life.
I then took inventory of my food and made a shopping list. I’d been very lucky to have received almost all of my food as gifts from wonderful people, and only needed a couple things from the store later.
It was nice that I was strong enough I didn’t have to worry about carrying extra food anymore. I could have enough to be comfortable, because trying to roll into town with an empty food bag was a recipe for spending days on trail hangry.
Bard had been playing piano upstairs for hours, and we were all famished by then. We decided to hit the outfitter, then the brewery for drinks and apps, and would meet Iroh and his dad at Five Guys for dinner at 7.
Mountain Trails was an awesome outfitter with the perfect selection of gear, clothing, and food for hikers. I bought a simple wallet, since I’d been using a ziplock bag the whole time and had wanted a wallet since the beginning.
We spoke with Crank, the man behind the counter, another former SOBO hiker, who’d relocated to Virginia after the trail. He was great fun to talk to, while Bard and Tessa got a couple items as well.
We went two doors down to Vibrissa Brewing, where the drinks were good and the food was, too. I asked Bard what he liked about night hiking, and we had a fascinating conversation about anxiety and excitement.
We met with Iroh and his father, Mark, just after 7. I wrestled with the fact that I was paying $10 for a cheeseburger and the milkshake machine was down.
I still had a great time hanging with everyone. Mark seemed like a kind person, and a dedicated father coming all the way out from Texas.
A lot of jokes and laughter were exchanged around the table, and I was glad we all had a chance to be together having a nice time. I marveled at how lucky I’d been every step of the way on the trail to be surrounded by such awesome people all the time.
After saying our goodbyes, Tessa drove Bard and I through the plaza to Walmart, where we cracked up when we unexpectedly saw Iroh and Mark walking in just ahead of us. They heard us and turned around, laughing and waving as we went into the coffee aisle.
I grabbed just a few things, and we returned to the B&B. Bard set off to night hike another ten miles or so. Iroh and Mark were going to follow my itinerary, depending on how strong Marc was feeling.
Iroh would catch up to me if needed by Elkton, where we were going to zero together. From there, I’d see how I was feeling in terms of pace. I knew Iroh would want to catch back up to Bard, and Bard had urged me to as well.
Bard had a friend meeting him soon, plus I had a friend in Waynesboro I’d be seeing as well. So I’d have to see how that all shook out. I was enjoying the company, but wanted to make sure I was doing what felt best for me.
Tomorrow we’d enter Shenandoah National Park, full of places to get hot food, several spots where the trail crosses Skyline Drive, and hopefully some lovely views, if I remembered right. It would be fun to hike the park again, continuing my journey through Virginia, and my own mind and spirit.