Day 86 – Zero in Front Royal, VA

“I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand

Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand

Life is good today” – Zac Brown

Up at 7:30. I went to the lobby and had coffee while Dana slept. Planned out the hike for the next week so that we can confirm supplies and timing for our next two meetups.

Went to IHOP for my first real breakfast in over 2 months. Then got a much-needed haircut. Went to the laundromat and got all my clothes cleaned. Dana ran back to the hotel and gave Overkill a ride to the laundromat so she could do her laundry as well.

Vicki arrived about 12:30 with our cousin Jeff. He came to visit. For the day. Very nice surprise. We had lunch together then hung out at the hotel for a bit while I worked on packing food and getting my pack ready. They headed out about 3:00. 

Overkill and I permethrinated our clothes in the motel parking lot. Very hiker trashy. We also made hotel reservations for Harper’s Ferry 3 nights from now.

I worked on getting 8 days of blogs uploaded. I will have them done before I go to bed. 

Spent some time reviewing documents and prepping for the Poolesville Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday night. We will be at Bear’s Den hostel and I should have a good internet connection to attend the meeting virtually.

Went out to a late dinner. Then got all packed up for tomorrow. 

We have 15.5 miles to go and want to leave the motel at 7:30. The only hard part tomorrow is a 2.5-mile climb to start the hike. It’s going to be hot so we want to knock that out early.

I am sending a few things home with Dana:

• schnozzle – does not fit my new sleep pad
• Bad pump sack that came with the new sleep pad
• rain jacket – have not used it in over a month 
• ball cap – goes with the rain jacket to fill out the hood
• Apple watch and charger – uses too much power 
• convertible shorts – too heavy. Will get them back in New England 

I added a 4 oz camp towel. We will have showers available at several camp sites in the future, and there are some swimming possibilities as well.

Overall, it was a nice and much-needed day off. Wonderful to spend time with Dana. This may be the last full day we get together until Katahdin.

Technical Notes:

• Not tracking on town day.
• Water liters: 0
• Miles: 0
• Time: 0
• Elevation gain: 0
• Calories consumed:  n/a
• Calories burned: n/a