Cheeseburgers and the trail

The great thing about Shenandoah National Park is that it is somewhat more of what the founder of the trail, Benton MacKaye, originally intended. He wished for the trail to pass through historical sites, past incredible vistas, and to stop at communal inns along the way where the weary hiker could stop, have some tea, have a bite to eat, and continue on his way. Well, Shenandoah has three such days where something like this is possible. These are the three "Waysides" that are found close to the trail within the park. We planned to stop at these three spots because not only would it be delicious, but the extra food supplement would allow us to continue longer and restock less. These Waysides claimed to offer grocery stores as well as gift shops.

On our third day, we left the trail to the Loft Mountain Camp Store and Wayside. Our biggest delight was seeing the recommended hikes that SNP rangers have placed on a billboard. For instance, the section that we just completed was listed. It stated that the 4.5 mile section should take about 5 hours to complete. We just did it in an hour and a half. Ha!

Well, these Waysides are close to car campgrounds and RV parks. As we walked in, we became part of the attraction. People came up to talk to us.

"You walking?"

"Yes."

"Where y'all goin'."

"Back to Massachusetts."

"My God! Well, good luck to you," they said as the whirred away in their golf cart.

We could tell by the way that these stores were set up that they were not meant for hikers. Not many hikers could find use with a bottle of blueberry wine, SNP shot glasses. t-shirts, and necklaces. The food sections were heavy on bulk items and family packs, but didn't have anything for the hiker. Read Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. He will tell you all about it.

Well, we couldn't restock on anything, but I did have an expensive cheeseburger, and Hannah had a BLT. They were amazing! The only problem about the high prices in the park is they know that hungry hikers will pay them. Bastards.

Our next stop was a few days later at Big Meadows Wayside. This was a much larger place with waitresses and such. It was entertaining listening to the conversations of all the people, which were strangely unique to us after being in the woods. Here are some highlights:
This hiker and his dog Blue were sitting outside the restaurant. At the table next to us, an older man looked past us to him, "Oh look! It's a backpacker! I haven't seen one of them in ages." At the table behind us were sitting the most uncreative people in the universe:
"Oooh, look at me! I'm a hiker. I'm looking at my maps!!"

Brilliant.


Anyway, even after hiking, I had a pretty bad, though expensive meal. I ordered fried chicken, french fries, and cole slaw. I got friend chicken, mashed potatoes, canned green beans, and a biscuit that was burned in the center. Hannah had a Philly Cheese Steak and a milkshake. It looked yummy. She has good taste.

A third stop for breakfast had the staff tell us at 10:44 that they were sorry, but they stopped serving breakfast at 11:00 and couldn't serve us. If my math is correct, there was something wrong with that equation. Oh well. I was able to get some coffee, and it was the best tasting coffee that I've ever had. We also shared a banana. It was the first fruit that we had in more than a week.

Now that we are out of the park, things are a little different. Food has to be rationed a little more carefully. There is only a town here and there, and sometimes it's a 5 mile walk to the grocery store away from the trail. Now that our training wheels are off, let's see how we do. We just stole 6 bagels and 100 packets of sugar from the Comfort Inn in Harpers Ferry, WV to supplement our food stock. I think we're off to a pretty good start.