Better days.

Though quite a bit shorter. Only pulled 12 miles today, the 15th of May. Been expecting the rain all day long, and sort of managed to avoid it. Before I forget though, I got a funny story about last night. 

So the register had several mentions of a large bear bothering the shelter we were staying in, and there was some advice from a ridge runner that said to poke it with your hiking sticks if if came too close to the shelter. So Lady Moose sleeps with her sticks beside her. In the middle of the night, something wakes her up and she sees this huge black shape moving around the edge of the shelter. So she grabs her poles and tries to poke this bear to get it to go away. But she misses, which is good because it was actually Turtle who'd gotten up to go pee. I don't think he had any idea how close he was to being skewered. 

The walk was better than yesterday, though my feet were still killing me. Honestly, if they don't improve I may not be making it past Harper's Ferry. I think the problem is my shoes. Not being very bright again. I've been wearing the same pair since day one. They still look pretty good, but there is no shock absorption anymore. I had some silly idea about how it would be awesome to walk 1000 miles in the same pair. Not a good idea. I've already got my replacements and they've been mailed to Front Royal, but it's been pretty painful the last 100 miles. Sure hope they fix the problem. 

Anyway, due to the agony in my feet and the imminent deluge predicted, I planned on doing a short 12 mile day. Didn't quite make it. First, let me tell you about the Shenandoahs. They're kind of like the Disneyland of national parks. There are little stores and restaraunts every ten miles or so. Milkshakes every day if you want. Coin-operated showers and washing machines. Civilization is everywhere. So kind of hate it and kind of love it. 

There was a little camp store and campground with cabins about .7 miles before the shelter Lady Moose and I were planning on staying in. We stopped there for showers and food, and while in the camp store the rain hit. Hard. We ran into Snailpack and the Texan Brothers in the store. They'd stayed at the last shelter with us, and I guess just felt bad for us so they let us sleep on the floor of their cabin. Score! Indoors during the rain store. Snailpack had some awesome stories. My favorite was when he was sent by his Biology Dept in college to go pick up a bunch up rattlesnakes. He was doing venom research at the time. So he drove down to wherever in Texas, and loaded up a bunch of rattlesnakes (packed in bags) into the back of his VW van. I assume he looked like a person the police would want to pullover, because he sure enough was pulled over by the highway patrol. They have him step out, and of course the officer wants to know what's in the back. And doesn't believe him. So the cop opens the back up, reaches in and grabs a bag, and every rattle snake in there started rattling at him. He throws the bag back in, shuts the van up, and screams at Snailpack to "Get the heck out of my county!" I thought it was amusing. Good guys, those Texans. 

Selfie before the rain.