5/29/06 Monday: Loft Mtn to Bearfence Mtn Hut (26.8mi)

PICTURES:
1. Morning at the Loft Mountain Ledges...
2. A medium sized black snake.
3. Trail Majic at US33
4. Trail Majic again at the Lewis Mtn picnic area..
Wayne and I both got out at 0630. I reached the Pinefield Hut at about 0800, about 4 miles later ahead of him and found Irish just starting his day. I got my water from the spring but was having some problems with my water purification device, so I borrowed some chlorine from Irish to treat my water and got back on the trail. I reached the next shelter/water source at 1110 and decided to have lunch there... While I was eating a very inquisitive father and daughter dropped bye. We chatted for about 30min as I prepared and finally ate my lunch... The afternoon proved to be the warmest yet with temps soaring into the 80's. I was fortunate to receive some Trail Majic at US33 in the form of a cold coke...:)... at about 1300... nice pick me up before ascending the 1000" mountain standing in front of me... I was hurrying to make it to the camp store at Lewis Mtn before the 1730 closing time... I made it by 1630, with plenty of time to spare and picked up some sliced turkey and cheese to go with my wheat tortillas... MMMMM... A couple picnicking nearby, stopped by and offered me a beer and some food which I graciously accepted. I received a skewer of veggies and chicken, large section of watermellon, and homemade cake.... Needless to say I was quite stuffed... Poor Wayne, who said he was gonna take it easier today arrived at 1800, after the store closed and after the picnickers left... I offered him the rest of my pringles... I took 5 minutes to shower at the camp store. It was one of those coin operated showers and I had to borrow a quarter from Wayno to get my 5 min. (there was no change machine around) 2 min to wash the all the body parts and 3 min to rinse as much sweat out of the clothes as possible... We all then walked the one last mile to the thru-hikers shelter. On the way to the shelter I met Bunny again... I had not seen him for about 2 weeks. He was not feeling too well but was hopefull that it would pass by the morning. Well it didnt!!! From the time we reached the shelter, about 1900, he started puking and didnt stop until he woke me at 2230, asking me if I could help him up to the ranger station for a trip to the hospital. I could see he was worried, probably never been this sick in his life. He's 26y/o and a picture of health... Well on any other day but today that is...lol... Anyway, Irish, who was already at the shelter when I arrived, and I packed up all Bunnys' stuff and began our walk up about 500" and 1mile to the road. I headed for the camp store, which double as the bunkhouse for the campground rangers. It all worked out quite well with a ranger available within 15min of my arrival. We found Bunny and Irish bushwacking their way to the road as the ranger and I drove bye. The Ranger was a little worried about his condition and an after Bunny agreed, he called for an ambulance. The Ranger then drove off with Bunny to meet the ambulance which was coming from Harrisonburg. To this day, I still dont know what Bunnys' real name is so we can't inquire about his condition... We all hope it was just a bad flu bug... Irish and I returned to the shelter with our headlamps blazing, keeping one eye out for a bear that was spotted earlier this day by the outhouse... We were back in our sleeping bags by 2330, on a star filled night....praying for Bunnys' quick recovery.