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February 7- Party at Blackrock Hut George and I had the use of a car in Virginia. One day, when hiking through the Shenandoah Valley, we ran into Morpheus, Nightingale, Panda, Crouton, and Clivus. They were some thru hikers that we had met earlier when hiking in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. It was pouring. We had already hiked about fourteen to sixteen miles that day but still had about seven miles more to go before we would reach the next shelter. Then, we saw a road. I said to the other hikers, "You go on and get to the shelter. George and I will get the car, drive into the nearest town to pick up some food and drinks, and we'll meet you at the shelter later." George and I bought wine, candles, roasted chicken, fresh vegetables, fruits, and cakes. Then, we hiked to the shelter to meet the other thru hikers. At the shelter were three additional thru hikers, two Czeckoslavakian men who had hiked down from Canada and a woman from Florida named Firewalker. The ten of us crowded into the shelter for the night. We sat in a circle and piled the food we had into the middle. The Czeckoslavakian men added some potatoes they had, someone else added some beans and cornbread, and broccoli with cheese. We had no plates or forks. It was the most primitive set up you could imagine by candlelight. A storm raged outside as we sat across from each other, seeing only eyes, bearded faces, and smiling teeth tearing at chicken bones. All of us were eating and laughing and drinking. This became the great party on the trail. Days later, weeks later, I would run into hikers and they would say, "Hey, did you hear about the party at Blackrock Hut?" You would never think of a party in the rain being that much fun. But, yes, this one was. In fact, this was one of our great trail experiences.- Jacques d'Amboise |
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