Saturday, November 19, 2016
It wasn’t as hard as some other days, but it was long – 13 miles. Sweating all morning, by the time I rested at the top of Hogback Mountain, a front was coming through. Nick had taken a long break at Elkwallow Wayside, and he caught up with me at the top. Neither of us liked the front coming, although people had told him it was just going to be wind. We met again at a spring, and you could feel the cold air coming over the top of the ridge, so we pressed on. Nick left me in the dust. By the time I got to Gravel Springs Hut, I was whupped again. It was a 13-mile day and I felt it. Two guys were getting water from the spring as I passed, but they said there was good water flow. As I got to the hut, two guys were sitting on the roof enjoying the sunset. Nick was building the fire and welcomed me to camp. “Well big time at Gravel Springs on Saturday night”, I said.
The two guys, Matt and Phil were in their fourth year at the Naval Academy. Matt was from Maine and Phil was from Kentucky. They had just come for the weekend, hiking in about seven miles. Matt has hiked through the park a couple of times and likes to come back to this hut when he can. He asked us where we were getting picked up. Nick and I both thought we had one more day and a half, but Matt said we would be out of the park in seven miles, and then the trail went through boring private property from there. Otherwise, you walk the parkway to Front Royal. The wind was blowing up a gale now, and it was cold. I put on my long johns and ate some Thai chicken for dinner. Freezing, I crawled into my sleeping bag to keep warm and stretch out.
Nice guys, Matt and Phil told stories of how the Academy sent them to some very interesting places during their summers. Matt was going to go on nuclear submarine duty after graduation, while Phil was going to be a marine. They were set up to sleep in Hennessy Hammocks, which they swore by. I am going to have to check that out. Thank God for guys like these to do tough jobs for our country. It was fun spending an evening with them. It was also very fun to think tomorrow would be our last day. The wind was howling and it was very cold. So much for the perfect weather week.
I remember the wind we had here that day. Can’t imagine being out in it where you were!
Yea, I was glad to be quitting that day. It was fine while hiking though, as long as you stayed away from the ridge tops. When I stopped though, it was really cold. Such a change in a short time!