I stayed in Manassas, VA Friday night before hitting the trail on Saturday morning. I hit up TripAdvisor to see where the good restaurants were and they all were in the old part of town. I settled on CJ Finz and ordered an Uber. The uber driver was a nice guy as they usually are. We dabbled in politics a bit as we rode. I’m not one to turn down good honest conversations on the subject. As we neared my dropoff it became quite obvious something was afoot in old town. Some of the roads were blocked off to vehicle traffic. The Uber driver didn’t know what was going on either. I told him to just get me close and I’d walk the rest of the way. It was very nice outside. I ended up running into someone fairly quickly who informed me of ‘First Friday’. Apparently the first Friday of every month Manassas shuts down old town to vehicle traffic. The shops, museums, and restaurants all stay open later than normal. Each of these establishments also provide entertainment in the streets in front of them. I saw multiple live bands playing, cornhole competitions, and so much more. Quite an event to just stumble into. The restaurant and its food was slammin’. After a while wandering around after dinner I called another Uber and head back to the hotel.

Saturday morning I get up bright and early aiming to get on trail before 8am and do so. I picked the parking area just north of I-66 accessible by and exit and side road east a few miles. There’s a quaint little bridge, AT sign, information kiosk there as well. I hop on trail and it isn’t too long before I see the side trail to Manassas Gap Shelter. I turn in and see a couple campers sleeping in and eventually come up to the shelter. I could imagine it being terrible for insects but thankfully it wasn’t that day. Nature called and I answered then I was on my way again. That’s when I started to see snakes.. I’m a brisk hiker typically. That means I don’t see snakes until they are right underfoot usually trying to high tail it off the trail. I’ve not heard or seen a rattlesnake yet but I’m sure one day we’ll cross paths. It’s just a matter of time. Anyways after about 6 snakes I arrive at Whiskey Hollow Shelter. This is one of the nicest shelters I’ve stayed in so far. The floor timbers are laquered. It was built by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. A younger gentleman rolled up. He was SOBO from Harpers Ferry. A lady showed up a little while later. Her daughter was SOBO from Harpers Ferry as well. A highlight of the evening was meeting Rick Stafford aka Aquaman! Rick is the guy DC Comics pays to be Aquaman at all the conventions etc. The Aquaman from the movies has had to publicly acknowledge Rick as the REAL Aquaman, as Rick was telling us at the shelter. Really interesting fellow. I got to hike with him a few miles Sunday morning. Here’s Rick’s site: Aquaman on the Appalachian. The cicadas set the backdrop tone for the evening. After dinner we all settled down and were in bed by 9pm.

Six AM comes early and soon the shelter is abuzz with breakfast and conversation. As I stated earlier I ended up hiking out of the shelter with Aquaman and northward towards Ashby Gap. The forest eventually gave way to large grassy meadows on the mountain; we had entered Sky Meadows State Park. Just before our descent to Ashby Gap I called my shuttle. They had just dropped off at Ashby Gap so they just turned around and came back. Aquaman and I parted ways and I end up popping out of the woods at a parking lot in the woods, hopped into the shuttle, and was back to my car in about a half hour or so. Another section done and head back home. I stopped at Fisherman’s Inn on Kent Island for crabs and crushes. Another great weekend in the books.