Miles: 870.7 | A rough re-entry into the Shenandoahs marked by exhaustion, homesickness, hormones, and miscommunication. The morning unravels with sharp words, logistical stress, and space taken the hard way—alone on trail. Miles and I eventually find each other again, cry it out, and reset with a shared snack and a long hug. The miles are slow, the chafe stings, and motivation feels thin, but the day ends quietly at Calf Mountain Shelter with familiar faces, an early bedtime, and the reminder that even on the hardest days, we keep choosing to stay.
The church had us up bright and early. I had some coffee and cereal for breakfast. I woke up grouchy and I did not feel like hiking. We were supposed to be starting the Shenandoahs this day. I don’t know why, but ever since Glasgow I had just lost a lot of my motivation. I was homesick and constantly tired. No matter what amount of miles I did I wasn’t feeling like I was making enough progress but I was also really achey when I did feel like I was making progress. I was sick of salt chafe and rain and camping.
I, for real, just wanted to go home for a week and come back. But I knew that wasn’t an option. And I felt like if I did I might give up. I’d already been through so much and I couldn’t let that all stop me. So how could I let this dumb bit of rain and chafe stop me? I was grumpy and I took it out on Miles. I spoke to him sharply. He wanted to leave right away but I didn’t. He was using my charger and I needed to pack up. I, meanly, asked for it back. We still had to go back to Kroger because we forgot a few things.
We were compromising for each other. We weren’t hiking our own hikes. It wasn’t good but we weren’t realizing that that was our problem. He was supposed to be getting a new pack in the mail and I had told him the next place to send it would be Luray, VA, just before the end of the Shenandoahs. I do most of the mail drop planning. So I thought he got it sent there but he didn’t tell me until this morning that it had taken longer than expected for it to be ordered so it wouldn’t be sent there.
I got a package sent there thinking we would need to go there to get his pack anyway. I got annoyed with him. My packages weren’t vital and this town wasn’t a necessary stop to make it through the Shenandoahs. Front Royal, the next town after would be much easier to get in and out of. Now we would have to go into Luray anyway, even though it wasn’t necessary, to get a package of mine that I wouldn’t have sent there in the first place. I got annoyed. [TMI WARNING] I had also started my period this day...
None of this was a big deal. Luray, my lack of motivation, my terrible monthly pain, my exhaustion that seemed never ending. None of this was Miles’ problem either. He stormed out of the church and walked quickly away down the street toward Kroger. I packed up my stuff and walked slowly after him. Odd Job was right behind us. I let Miles get ahead and have his space. I went into the store and got what I needed. When I came back out he was sitting on a bench with Odd Job.
I tried to apologize but he was mad at me, rightfully so. And I was still blaming him for things that were actually my fault. He got up off the bench and walked away from me around the corner. I sat on the bench for half an hour. I didn’t know where he went. I tried to look for him but he wasn’t in the store. He wouldn’t answer his phone. We needed to get a ride back to the trail.
Odd Job wanted to leave so I told him to go, I guess he had been waiting for us. He called a ride for himself. I walked around to the other side of the building and finally found Miles. Charging his phone and eating. I tried to ask him about a ride and he told me “whatever” with an attitude.
I asked if he just wanted to meet me up there or if he wanted to spend a little more time in town, I could go get coffee and we could leave later. He wouldn’t give me an answer. Odd Job’s shuttle arrived and Miles said, “Fine. Let’s just go.” He unplugged his phone and got up.
We rode silently back to the trail head. When we got there he sped off again.
I walked behind Odd Job for a bit but eventually ended up walking alone. I walked for 5 miles without seeing anyone or anything. The beginning of the Shenandoahs were weird. I passed a cell tower, a for sale sign, a large pile of rocks, and the trail was narrow. It just went up and down up and down quickly and over no real hills or mountains. My salt chafe stung. I couldn't even wear a shirt because it just rubbed the chafe more. I looked around every corner for Miles.
After a couple hours, I finally came upon him eating a snack. I immediately started crying and ran up to him. “Im so sorry. I don’t want to lose you.” I said through my tears. He pulled me into a hug and said he was sorry, too. “Take your pack off, silly.” He told me. I took my pack off and pulled out a snack. We sat and snacked and I dried up my tears.
We hiked on after that. It was hot. We were both tired and frustrated. Miles said he felt like he might be getting sick. We decided to go to the next shelter and take a nap.
When we arrived there was no one there. We set up our beds in the shelter and attempted to sleep. After a little while, a guy called Twinkie showed up. He had started the trail a couple years ago and he was back to finish the rest. We chatted for a bit and then we told him we were going to take a nap. Of course as soon as I was about to fall asleep, Shirt Pants showed up. Shirt Pants and Twinkie talked loudly. I started wishing I’d set up my tent. I got up, eventually, and talked with them and ate.
When Miles woke up we decided we would just stay at this shelter for the night. We sat around with Shirt Pants and Twinkie while we all ate dinner. Miles set up his tent. Eventually, the Woo Crew (TNT, Biscuits, Supersize, Krafty, and Blackbird) showed up, too! We were all in bed around 9:30pm.
Around 10pm a group of hikers rolled in, loudly, with their white lights on their headlamps shining into the shelter. There was a bit of room for them so we all woke up and moved over, annoyed. They asked, again loudly, “oh, were you guys sleeping?” TNT sarcastically said back, “Nah, we were just chillin’.” The group continued being loud and making their dinners and blowing up their sleeping pads. By 11 they were still making noise. I put in earplugs, took a melatonin, and went to bed.