5/31/01
The last day of May began with a full shelter of thru-hikers sleeping in this morning. At 8:45 a.m. I began the day's hike and I was still the first hiker out on the trail. The Shenandoah National Park looks like it will be a very enjoyable section of trail and today kicked off the journey in grand fashion. The trail rolls a lot with changes in elevation generally around 500 feet with gentle ascents and descents. Wildlife was abundant today along the trail with numerous chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels, birds and insects going about their daily routines. My first encounter with a deer in the park was a close encounter. I was daydreaming while hiking at a fast pace through the woods with my eyes focused on the trail when I nearly ran into the doe that was busy eating shrubbery leaves. She didn't appear startled and barely moved off the trail as I passed within five feet of her. What a contrast to the deer outside the National Park. It was obvious she is used to human contact and hasn't experienced any negative human encounters in the past. I soon encountered a second doe about two miles farther up the trail. Like her relative, she too was comfortable with close encounters with humans.
By late morning several miles had ticked by and I was thinking about finding a good place to stop for lunch. As I rounded a bend in the trail I glanced up to see where the trail went next and there was a small black animal on the trail just ahead of me. Black bear! The trail was heavily wooded and the small cub stopped and turned to face me. At that moment I felt no fear, only an urgency to determine where momma was to see if somehow I was in an unfortunate position between momma and child. Thank goodness big fat momma black bear popped out of the brush just ahead of me and both bears ran away from me briefly before changing direction and running like freight trains down the side of the mountain. It seemed that the whole drama unfolded over several minutes but probably only lasted 15 to 30 seconds. It was certainly 30 seconds that will be etched in my memory forever. Lunch and the last 3 miles to the Blackrock Hut (shelters are called huts in the SNP) was uneventful and I was the first to arrive. I spent the afternoon drying out some gear and relaxing. This evening we have a fairly large crowd in the hut including Will Scarlet from Nottingham, England, Boot Stew, Snowbunny, Phantom, Lollipop and Angry Jack, Moonshine, and two week long hikers from Mobile, AL (father and daughter). The hut register mentions several bear sightings nearby and Will Scarlet saw the BIG DADDY bear just 3/10ths of a mile from the hut this evening when he arrived. The AT hiker's guide also mentions that bears frequently visit this hut, so it could be an interesting night. It was a relatively short mileage day as we were staging ourselves for the balance of the days spent in the SNP to maximize opportunities to stop at the wayside stations to yogi food and hit the restaurants for lunches. I'm very happy to be in the SNP and even happier to have a lot of shelter mates tonight. Today's stats; low 42 degrees (yes, it was cold). High 70. Sunny to cloudy (big rain day coming?) Today's mileage: 13.0; cumulative; 862.6.
