Quick on the Draw: You always have to pay to go on a rollercoaster

Another catch up post quite a few miles behind where I am now. You can find more detail than the summary below, in the text with the drawings.

After a wonderful family break of 3 1/2 days, it was time to return to the trail with a full resupply and a new sketchbook. I hiked the Shenandoah in 2019 with my daughter. It was a fantastic experience for both of us, full of wildlife and beautiful spring flowers. I am glad she had that experience rather than the wet one that I had this time.

A clear day in Charlottesville turned to thick fog by the time I got back to the trail at Rockfish Gap. Dampness enveloped me as I headed north once again. It rained most days, and striking camp one morning, I even found a salamander had taken up residence between my tent and the ground sheet. With all the rain, I refined my wet weather camping. I found that if I placed my tent in the right place, I could hang my umbrella from a tree, providing a dry porch/kitchen. I also got much better at setting up and striking my tent in the rain.

The Shenandoah was as ever, full of deer. They are very unbothered by people here. Probably a sign that nobody goes round shooting them.

The day I left the Shenandoah, the weather improved. A big tree had fallen overnight completely blocking the trail. Trying to find a way around it I came across one of my biggest surprises on the trail. A very young deer foal all alone, pretending not to be there while it waited for its mother to return.

The next day took me through the notorious rollercoaster section of the AT. This is relentlessly up-and-down and very rocky, so I was glad that it was no longer raining. You have to pay to go on a rollercoaster one way or another and all the hikers that day felt the cost on their bodies. I also managed to fall heavily and painfully but no real damage done.

The day after it was a short step from there to the psychological halfway point at Harpers Ferry, and on to Maryland, almost the north of the country.

And a few photos. 

This salamander moved in with me under my tent.

I thought this was a tortoise but is a box turtle. 

Another beautiful red eft.

Just wonderful.

Home extension.