Tonight I am a sardine with very good timing! I’m sharing the shelter tonight with Kinloch, Slips, Fitz, Slim, Biscuit, Don (SOBO flip-flop) and one other hiker whose name escapes me at the moment.

That is the sardine part—we’re stuffed into the shelter pretty tight tonight. The good timing? Two thunderstorms today. The first one hit while I was taking a break at Harper’s Creek Shelter at 2pm. I hung out for 1½ hours and stayed perfectly dry, talking with Kinloch and a cool day hiker named Dave. The second storm hit 30 minutes after I showed up at this shelter and has continued for 1½ hours so far. The 6 guys here were kind enough to rearrange the direction their sleeping bags face in order to accommodate 8 hikers instead of 6.

It was a good 20 miler and I hiked alone all day for the first time on the trail. I am on a section of trail I have done before. That didn’t make the 3,000 foot climb over the Priest and Three Ridges any easier, but it did bring back some good memories of hiking with my bro & Heather in and around Shenandoah.

The azalea and mountain laurel are in bloom and the woods are strongly scented, especially with the 80 degree humid weather. Unfortunately, the poison ivy is everywhere as well, so I spend a lot of time watching my feet as I walk. Nothing itches yet, luckily, so perhaps I’ve been careful enough.

It is 8pm and everyone’s falling asleep. Slim and Biscuit are a bit younger as are Fitz and Slips—and it has been pretty obvious tonight. They carry a digital sound recorder named “The Windtalker” and use it exclusively to capture farts. I feel like I am back in a high school locker room!

I took some photos of this shelter’s trail register so that my bro, Cic and Jerrie could see the appreciation from the hikers they fed. And ’cause trail registers are awesome.

Up early again tomorrow for a 21 mile day. Meeting D at 6 at the southern tip of Shenandoah NP.