Woke up to even harder rain. No signal here so we can’t check a weather report. Today could be a bad day of trekking in wetness, and it wouldn’t be a great day considering the next shelter is about 14 miles away. There’s a camp store with blackberry milkshakes about halfway, so that might be our motovation for the day. Just before we set off, we got a surprise guest- Tiny Ponies showed up! We greet him with smiles and catch up on chit-chat. The rain seems to be coming and going, and we decide we’re going to go ahead and try to get a few miles in. 7 miles to Elkwallow Camp Store. Right after we set off, we spot a small orange newt on the trail. Pretty rare if I say so myself. I’ll have to look him up.
The rain picks up. I start as the lead in the charge but the rain starts getting the best of me. Water trickles from my hat and into my eyes, my glasses fog up, and seeing is a disaster. The mix of sweat and rain burn my eyes and I start dropping back. The terrain isn’t any more forgiving either. Lots of downhill, and my quads haven’t really got a chance to heal. I thought I was good this morning but I was mistaken. I get pretty frustrated in all this, stop to wipe my eyes and continue to drop back. HS starts leading the charge. He seems to be finding his pace, and MM and Mr.T are on his pace. TH is having issues as well, wet socks, in crocs, and blisters. I hang with TH as to make sure we don’t separate too much, so we have our own little trek party way back. The weather is relentless. We walk ridges, in heavy rain, then it lets up. As we descend, the rain picks up. It doesn’t stop at any point either. We’re absolutely drenched. My socks, shoes, my whole pack, cover and all… it’s as if I jumped in a pool. There’s some sharp switch backs and downhills, and my right quad is screaming to call it quits. Today is looking more and more bleak. The blackberry milkshake just doesn’t seem worth it at this point. TH and I agree that we’re pretty miserable in this mess. We finally get to Elkwallow. HS says they’ve only been there 15 minutes or so, which kind of surprises me considering how slow and as many times as we’d stopped. I seek relief from the onslaught of falling water, and lay on the ground, almost defeated. There are strangers that have parked and under shelter too, overlooking me laying on the ground in all my precipitation-beaten agony. MM and Mr.T are already enjoying a cheeseburger and milkshake, and I spring to my feet to join them in their reward for todays punishment. Gotta say- the hype was real on the shakes, and for good reason. Probably the best shake I’ve had in a really long time. Maybe it was the absolute hell I put myself through to get one, but it was extremely satisfying. Their smash burgers are top notch also. We also find out that this Wayside doesn’t have a campground, nor a place to wash laundry, or any showers. Things are looking bleak for the day. The next shelter is 7 miles away and the rain shows no sign of letting anyone enjoy the word dry. We brainstorm a bit. We decide to call a shuttle to go into Front Royal a day early, so we can resupply, dry off, get rest, and make sure TH gets a pair of shoes he can finish the trip with. He’s been on HS’s borrowed camp crocs, and it’s at the point where it just isn’t going to cut it anymore. We wait a couple of hours for a shuttle driver named John to show up. All the while, we’re under the porch of the bathroom facility. We feed a couple of finches, and watch them play and beg for food. We notice that one of the three finches is a chick that’s learning to fly, but also still dependent on getting fed. Mr.T got stung by a bee, right on his hand. Luckily he’s not allergic, and he took it like a champ. Finally after what felt like eternity, the shuttle driver shows up. He mentioned that he got lost, as he said he never drove on Skyline Drive before. We pile in, and on the drive into town, TH, Mr.T, and myself all take a nap. We get dropped off at a Baymont by Wyndham which is what is a pretty run down hotel. TH, MM, and myself get a room to share, while HS, and Mr.T opt for a night of privacy and get their own rooms. We gather our weathered clothing, start laundry, take showers, and basically enjoy the luxuries of regular societal living for a bit. This all immediately alleviates our moods and now we feel like tourists. We decide to have dinner together, this new rag-tag trail family of ours, and we decide to see what Semi was talking about before. We set our dinner journey for Spelunker’s, to see if this truly was worthy of the title of “best burger I’ve ever had.” We walk a few blocks, myself in Mr.T’s soaked New Balances to a counter style restaurant. This was already what I expected was going to put Semi in debt to me in the form of a punch to the face. It did fill up fast, and soon the line of cars around the building were backing up so the place could catch up on orders. I get a double cavern burger, add bacon and sautéed onions, onion rings, and a coke float. It comes out fast. Messy, good, but not “best-I’ve-ever-had-good.” We all agree. In fact, we all unanimously decided that the Wayside’s smash burger was better in all counts. I now officially owe Semi a punch to the face. As we walk back to the hotel, we resupply, TH buys the shoes he’s desperately been needing, and we call it a night. Tomorrow is all about getting back on trail where we left off and navigating the shuttle ride back, but it may be hard considering tomorrow is Sunday. We’ll see what happens. No Bad Days.
