Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -
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June 18, Blackrock Hut - mile 862.6

My camp last night was so wonderful compared to this noisy, rat - infested, over run with boy scouts shelter where I am tonight! I am thankful that I actually got the last tent site & do not have to wedge myself into the shelter, but I'm practically standing up because the ground is so sloped & I fear the rocks under me may carve some new holes into me by morning. And what a lot of people here! Nine thru-hikers going north, one south bound, four "week-enders" (even though the weekend is over) and at least 10 boy scouts with leaders. The scouts came most recently & I still have no idea where they are going to sleep. There's not enough shelter space for them all & every tent site is taken, so maybe they'll just have to pile their sleeping bags next to each other as the only flat ground left is right under the bear pole. It's already 8 P.M., the widely recognized "hiker" bed time & the noise down there sounds like a teen-age slumber party. Will I get any sleep tonight?

Well, as I was saying, last night's tent upon the mountain was fabulous. I woke up about 2 A.M. & admired an inky black sky filled with so many bright stars! I swear I've never seen so many stars in my life. The Milky Way streaked from one end of the sky to the other, & I counted 5 brilliant, streaking meteors before I fell back asleep. When I woke up to a bright orange sunrise this morning, I was even happier to discover my bear bag intact - right where I left it.

At exactly 9:09 this morning, I officially entered Shenandoah Nat'l Park! I probably beamed for the next two miles, not that there was any one to notice. I didn't see anyone on the trail today, until 2:00 when I ran into three guys that I knew from several weeks back when we were hiking together. One was Pary Pinoy, a priest from the Philippines who is thru-hiking, & whom I dearly love. He is such a fun, warm, open person & I haven't seen him since Damascus, a month ago. He had been hiking with another friend, Steve, & they had almost caught up to me by Daleville when I had to get off for four days. Then Steve got off & Pary Pinoy got 2 days ahead of me & I've been following him in the registers ever since. In fact, 2 days ago, he left me a note asking where I was since he hadn't seen any of my entries, & of course, had no way of knowing of my injury. So we spent a while getting caught up. He will probably continue to hike a faster pace than me, so I don't know how much more I'll see him but at least we met up today.

Even though I saw few hikers today, I did see plenty of wild life. Three very tame deer joined me on the trail, a turkey strutted its stuff to warn me off, another grouse hen & five chicks flew off as I passed by, though I didn't get charged this time. Most exciting was the pileated woodpecker I saw - only the second time I've ever seen one. They're the largest of the woodpeckers, have brilliant red heads & make that drilling noise you can hear for miles. Tonight there's also a rattlesnake that makes its home in the stone fireplace in front of the shelter. I don't know why we still have rats here with him around but maybe he just moved in to this neighborhood & has to clean up yet.