Tom Floyd Wayside - Manassas Gap Shelter
I feel very accomplished today! I tried to sleep in (until a whopping 6:30am) and was out of camp around 7:30am. It was an easy 3 miles to the road outside of Front Royal, and I felt confident in my ability to hitch. I wasn't thrilled at having to hitch alone, but thankfully Superman caught up and we were picked up by a nice farmer (his 1st time picking up hitchhikers!) in less than 2 minutes.
We got dropped off at a coffee shop and had breakfast with Wood before going to the outfitter. Front Royal may be the cutest trail town yet - I could have wandered down Main Street for hours!
The brewery, bakery, and outfitter all sponsor a free "basecamp" for hikers to do laundry and shower, so that was our #1 priority. The town also has a free trolly that drops off hikers at the trailhead at 2pm everyday, so Superman and I made it our goal to do all our town chores and be on that trolly.
We hit Martin's Grocery in record time and had plenty of time to question why we were leaving such a lovely town... I most certainly will be back! Once we were dropped off we hiked 5 miles to one of the most boujee shelters on trail (Deaton) for a snack in Adorondike chairs before hiking 5 more miles to our shelter for the night. I am so eager to get to Harpers! It's thunderstorming and I hope my tent keeps me dry. More hot weather tomorrow!
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