Today was a nero in every sense of the word. I just had lots and lots of stuff to do, so we spent much of the morning taking care of that, and much of the afternoon getting back out the the Shennies. (new word for Shenandoah NP)

My parents are dropping me off back at the trail, and then driving all the way back to Reston so they can be near the airport. We stopped in Culpepper for some Starbucks and to organize the food, but nothing much more exciting than that.

When we got to the trail, I discovered that I only needed to go 1.2 miles to get to a shelter, which could possibly be the shortest hiking day so far. This was good considering that it was already 8 pm, so there was not much time to do more than that anyway. I said goodbye to my parents, and they started their 3 hour trip back to Reston. It was really great having them out to visit, and I’m glad my dad got to hike with me. Thank you guys for everything!

At the shelter were several guys on a section hike who are in the military. They were a pretty comical bunch, as their antics kept everyone entertained. They were all carrying something like 60 pounds or more, and it appeared as if they had just grabbed their packs after a military maneuver and didn’t change the contents. One guy had a full battlefield medical kit, and could treat you if you were missing an arm or leg or a gunshot wound. This kit easily weighed 4 pounds or so. Two of them had hatchets, and of course they were carrying MREs (Military ready to eat) for food which are very very heavy. Two of them were getting off the trail already, because they had hurt their knees carrying all of the weight.

Map