Tuesday, April 12th

Hightop Hut (906.4 mi) to Bear Fence Mountain Hut (919.0 mi)

Hiking Miles: 12.6

Total Ascent: 2,738.2 ft

Total Descent: 2,695.2 ft

Total Grade: 432.2 ft/mi

Steps: 35.795

I woke up a few times during the night – it was windy, and at times sounded like a hurricane was whisking through the campground. Nonetheless, I slept well and got up around 6 am. We packed up our gear, had a pop tart for breakfast and hit the trail precisely at 7 am. Teresa had made it home by 10 pm the previous evening and called me from the driveway. She lost GPS in Washington, DC and had to blindly find her way to Rte 95. I called her at 9 am this morning after we had hiked 5 miles, then shortly after that we lost signal and didn’t have it for the remainder of the day.

We hiked to the Lewis Mountain Camp Store by 1 pm (12 miles) where we bought some snacks. It was the perfect resting spot, and the store was stocked with a decent assortment of goodies to choose from. I had a Butterfinger ice cream bar and a Gatorade, and Stevie ate a bag of Cheetos, a Pepsi and some ice cream.

It was here we met a hiker by the name of “Hell Raiser” and his dog Winston who was given the trail name “Marvelous Marvin Waggler.” The pair were hiking northbound like us, except this was their starting point. Hell Raiser weighed 299.5 pounds, and stated that he was proud of himself for being under 300 pounds! He certainly did not look prepared for an AT hike (he was drinking $2 Tall Boys and was coughing uncontrollably, all while smoking cigarettes). He reminded us of “Bubba J” – ventriloquist Jeff Dunham’s mannequin who enjoyed watching NASCAR and drinking beer. So we referred to him as Bubba J (although we did not tell him that). Sorry – no pics to protect his identity.

Bubba J was wearing Timberline boots and a pair of jeans. He claimed he hiked 500 miles on the AT five years ago. He did use the camp store shower that was available to hikers for a small charge, but when he asked for a towel, the store keeper replied “No – what do you think this is a hotel?”

Anyway, after an hour of small talk and rest, we set back on trail. After realizing we had 8 miles to reach a campsite near the Waysides (where we originally planned to have dinner), we decided we likely would not make it there on time, so we stopped at a site just 1 mile from the camp store. I was a bit sore, so stopping for the day to heal would do me wonders. Our revised plan involved getting up early the next day in order to reach the Waysides in time for a late breakfast or lunch.

At the Bear Fence Shelter, we found a tent site that we shared and set up for the evening. Bubba J and Winston eventually showed up and camped about 50 yards from us. We heard him approaching by his coughing spells, and for some reason thought to myself it was going to be a restless sleep if his cough persisted throughout the night. After unloading his pack, Bubba J walked over to us and asked if we had an extra spoon. I was 100% convinced at this point that he was totally unprepared.

For dinner, Stevie and I split a Cuban Rice Bowl compliments of the UNH Browne Center who had graciously sent us several packages as a gift prior to us leaving on our journey.

Dinner – compliments of the UNH Browne center

Today was a beautiful day in the low to mid 60’s, and we passed the half-way point in the Shenandoah’s. Funny story that happened just before calling it a night – I went to hang my food bag on a pole hang that required using another long (and heavy) pole to raise it. Having done this only once before, it took me several tries to hook my food bag in the dark. It didn’t help when there was a young girl, maybe eight years old, watching me who said “you are not very good at that”. She was right, but I wasn’t taking her candidness too kindly. I guess my ego was listening and taking her comment personally. The worst part was Stevie later said “Why don’t you just put your food bag in the bear box” which was conveniently located about 50 feet from the bear hang.