Waynesboro, July 4th

Around 3am I awoke to the noise of rustling outside my tent. I barely got any sleep after that, hearing branches crack and twigs fall, the sound of crunching leaves. I sat in my tent flashlight in hand listening. I think it was just the wind knocking branches off of trees but it resulted in an ill nights sleep.

Black Rock Cliffs

While filtering water I heard this noise off in the distance and it turned out to be hundreds of black birds. They slowly flew closer with this menacing noise as they flew from tree to tree staying low to the ground. The sheer quantity of them was mind blowing. If they decided to attack me, they would win. It was really startling when large groups of them would suddenly take flight together. It put me on edge for awhile.

Raven Rock Cliffs

The trail was incredibly flat and even. It was wide and without rocks for a good section of the morning. It got rockier and trickier as the day went on until it looked like a mine field of rocks with no distinguishable trail. The trail was also ill marked. The blazes were placed in misleading locations. I found myself at a number of forks where there were white blazes were going both directions. I did however make it to Waynesboro, PA eventually.

Art I drew in a log book

I found myself in a group of new hikers. There are a handful of people that I do know in this bubble including GI Jane, Theory, Fresh, Bean, No Chill, and Dungeon Master isn't too far behind. GI Jane hooked me up with a ride into town with a guy named Chris. He is a real trail angel. He did so much for all of us hikers today. Heel-toe joined in on the ride and we ended up splitting a hotel room for the night at the Days Inn. Fresh laundry and a nice hot shower was amazing. We went to dinner at a local sushi restaurant. It was a quirky place, mostly due to the very odd service that we experienced there.

After dinner I joined the rest of the hikers in town at the field where the fireworks were to be held for the night. I had no idea if the town was going to be putting on a display or not when hiking in so I really lucked out. There was a mini carnival set up in the parking lot too. I haven't sat down to enjoy fireworks on the 4th of July like this in some time. It makes me think of home and the incredible display that Glenview puts on every year. It was a pretty fantastic night and Chris drove everyone back to their hotels or back to the trail.

Tonight in Waynesboro I'm at mile 1064.3 with 1125.5 left to go.