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Journal
| About Downunda | Trail
Facts | Hiking the Trail |
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5th June 2002 From:
Jim & Molly Denton Shelter When I left Front Royal yesterday afternoon it was hot and very humid, and as the next shelter had a shower, I decided just to go the five miles. The shelter was one of the better ones in that it had a timber deck out front, seats all around, and custom-made deck furniture. The shower was wonderful even though it was cold. What surprised me was that of the 12 or so hikers that came into the shelter, only 4 of us had a shower. I would have thought they would welcome the chance to wash off all the grunge. Today, I knew I would have to cover some miles, so I was on the trail by 6:15 A.M. The trail was in good condition and not too hilly, however, it was very, very humid and the temperature was in the high 80's, so it was a tough day on the trail. Around 3:30 P.M. the thunder started and I hoped I would make the shelter before the storm hit. I arrived at the shelter around 5:00 P.M. followed shortly by 'Three Day'. Ten minutes later the storm hit. It was really wild, lots of lightening close by, and the rain was a real downpour that lasted over an hour. During that time, four other drenched hikers came in. 'Three Day' and I were really lucky in missing the storm. I forgot to mention that there was a park bench on the trail (put there by the local AT club) that I came across around lunchtime. After eating lunch, I had a 45 minute snooze laid out on the bench - it was great! There's a church group of about 17 teenage kids from New Mexico who've come to hike the AT for a week. Their leaders are making them all sleep in their tents, keeping the shelters free for thru-hikers. A few of them have come over for a chat with us - they're a nice bunch. They read from the bible for 15 minutes then sang a few songs. In the shelter tonight are: 'Three Day', 'Baseman', 'Redman' 'Digger', 'Droopy' (and Marley, the dog), 'Light Bright', and 'Lizard'. Two days to Harper's Ferry - Hooray! With that, I'll say goodnight all. |
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