From the Journals: DAY 55, April 19

Coach

Waynesboro, VA - Black Rock Hut: 20.0 mi

After a successful resupply, we hit the trail by 8:30am. It was easy terrain and we made it to the "hut," which is what the Shenandoah National Park calls its shelters. Two things of note happened today. First, we saw our first black bear of the trip. It appeared to be a younger bear. When it initially saw us it was about 30 feet up a tree. It dropped right down the tree in about a second and then hightailed it over some rough terrain on a fairly steep hill. Moral of the story is that black bears can move.

The second note is that we met a couple of hikers who were section hiking in two trips. One hiker, a woman, was deaf and the other hiker, a man, was completely blind in one eye and partially blind in the other. It is simply amazing the kind of willpower that some individuals can draw upon. I hope the best for this couple on their journey.

When we arrived at the hut, we thought it was going to be a long night, due to the fact that the hut was filled with a Vietnamese boy scout troop. Luckily, the scout master ordered his troop to pitch tents and told us that he knew we needed a good night of sleep. In other news, Fosters and his group arrived at the hut right before dark. We hadn't seen them since before we went into Glasgow to resupply. Tomorrow, we will be hiking our biggest day yet, 34.1 miles. Hopefully, the gigantic rat that has been reported in the shelter log will not attack us during the night.

Professor

Black bear to the left up the ravine 30 ft up in a tree. With amazing agility it was down and crash! into the undergrowth and dried leaves. It ran a few yards up the hill then stopped and looked back at Coach and I just long enough to see we were not a threat. Then it trotted off into the bushes out of sight. This all happened in less than 30 seconds and Coach had just enough time snap one shot with his camera. Everybody we've run into and talked about bears have said we would see our first in the Shenandoahs. 6 miles in, we saw our first black bear of the trip.

Trail Angel Tom gave us a free ride the 4 miles back to the trailhead at 8am this morning. When you walk so long inevitably one enters their own world. I feel like I start dreaming. I dream with my eyes open while walking. A daydream I guess, very deep daydreams. Sometimes, I have daymares, too. It's weird when you get into a daymare... you're walking and your eyes are open but your mind can make it so real. Just keep walking..