Miles: 895.8 | A mixed-mood day in Shenandoah, shaped by tiredness, lingering frustration, and a quiet internal tug-of-war between “making progress” and allowing slower days to be enough. Scenic ridge walks and a well-timed wayside stop—complete with real food, cold treats, and water—help reset the tone. Dinner, boxed wine, and chess in the tent bring some calm, ending the day gently as rain and close-by wildlife settle in around Pinefield Hut.
I woke up in a kind of negative mindset. Mostly because the section hikers had kept us awake so late. The section hikers redeemed themselves by sharing some of their food with us. They had way too much. They shared English muffins, goober (pb&j mix), and oatmeal with us. We ate with them and discussed their gear problems. Eventually, we headed out.
It was relatively sunny and I tried to keep an open mind. Maybe today would get better. We hadn’t made much progress in the past week. I don’t know why but I just couldn’t let go of the PROGRESS. It, like, fueled me. I craved it. But I also liked what we called ‘chillin’. Doing 15ish miles a day. Taking naps and reading books. It was all fun and games but I wasn’t sure if it was right for me. I really was trying to grapple with the idea of progress. It didn’t matter. I didn’t matter if I was making crazy progress or just a little bit of progress. It didn’t matter if I summitted Katahdin on August 1st or October 1st (finances provided...). What mattered is that I was learning lessons and growing and becoming a more content person. But I couldn’t see this yet...
We walked for a while. We saw some great views.
There weren’t too many water sources this day and we saw that there was a wayside and camp store coming up (Waysides are restaurants and stores in the Shenandoahs. They are located along Skyline Drive and provide limited menus and convenience store type goods). We decided to stop.
Maybe it would brighten our day. We’d also been going slower than expected and Miles needed more food. There was a water fill up station there, too! I got a sandwich, chips, a honeybun, a Drumstick, and a small box of wine to carry to camp. It was a delicious 900 calorie lunch that still wasn’t enough to satisfy my crazy hiker hunger. Those Dill chips were incredible, though!
As we ate outside the camp store I heard someone in their car honk their horn. It immediately irritated me. We’re in the ‘wilderness,’ why are you honking your horn?!
It amazes me how little patience people have, even put here on ‘vacation.’ It amazes me how stressed and pushy driving makes people. We all need to slow down and realize time as the concept that it is. There shouldn’t be road rage on a 35mph ‘highway’ through a national park where you are on vacation! (Okay end rant).
Eventually I headed back to my tent to go to bed early. As I lay in my tent I heard something coming up from the woods. A deer came running right up next to my tent and off through camp! Shenandoah was filled with these close encounters! I, eventually, went to sleep. Sometime in the night it began raining. I rolled over and slept through the noise.
After lunch we filled our water and walked to camp. We made dinner (summer sausage and a mushroom rice side) and drank our boxed wine. The sun was still up so we hung out in Miles’ tent and played chess and listened to music.
1. Wayside
2. Views
3. Wine