Part of the deal with Hard Core is that Bob arranges rides for you to anywhere on the trail you need to be. This is possible because some of the volunteers are former hikers who are driving home, and Bob organizes the carpools.
I get a lift from Lugnut, who is heading back to Ohio. I have him drop me off at VA Rt. 42 with a couple other hikers. This is 50 miles farther than I've actually hiked on the trail -- I figure two days of manual labor entitle me to 50 free miles...
I regret picking this spot, however, when I realize that I'm at the bottom of an 11-mile, 2500-foot climb up to Chestnut Knob Shelter. By the time I get there (passing a very cool high-altitude pond), it's rainy, cold and very windy, and my back is hurting pretty bad from hiking uphill a day after sledgehammer work. The shelter is full, so I end up camping outside, which impresses some section hikers who can't imagine sleeping in a hammock in the wind and rain. I sleep like a baby, though, greatly aided by a couple of Tylenol PM, and by Mustang Sally, who supplies me with one of those chemical hand-warmer things that I slip right into the small of my back and lay on all night.
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