Sunday, 8 June

Bob and I were up early planning on breakfast at seven to beat the rush. The rush never showed up. We headed out to the truck to fill our backpacks. Our shuttle driver, Chris, aka Trail Boss, arrived at nine. I could fill today’s update just with the conversation until we were dropped off at US 522 in Front Royal. Chris supervises maintenance of 32 miles of the AT in Virginia. He has extensive knowledge of the trail and the land acquisitions. His wife is head of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

We were dropped off on the rain. A family asked us a couple of questions about the trail and followed us for three miles with an 800 foot climb. When Bob and I stopped for lunch at Mosby Campsite the rain stopped and the sun occasionally peeked out. Today was our coolest day, 70. The next two miles to Jim and Molly Denton Shelter were easy downhill. With a short day, at camp by 1:30. This shelter has a nice deck with an Adirondack bunch and a separate cooking pavilion. Also an outdoor shower. We chatted with a couple who were thru hiking who were off for another five miles.

We dried things off at the shelter and debated whether to tent or sleep in the shelter. Weather forecast is iffy and we do not know if other hikers will come in but it will not be the weekend crowd. Our tents were reserving tent space while our packs reserved shelter space. Since it did not get sunny and things were not drying out, we decided to stay in the shelter where we could hang things from the pegs. More rain and a little thunder after dinner confirmed that decision.

New shoes are comfortable and already muddy with today’s rain. Nice to not have to worry about shoes falling apart anymore.