Wednesday, 10/11/23 – Left home around 0600 to meet Jerry at Compton Gap at 0800. Jerry was there when I arrived (he had driven in from Ohio on Tuesday and stayed at a motel in Front Royal). We decided to drop a car at Gravel Springs and then hike from there back to Compton Gap (about 8 miles). That stretch of the AT was lovely, with lots of views of the valley and ranges to the west. The weather was perfect (sunny, clear, with temps in the 60s). Jerry had been having back problems, so we took it easy, hiking at a very relaxed pace (about 1 mile/hour). At about mile 6, Jerry’s back began to bother him, so he walked out to Skyline Drive, and I hiked the last two miles back to Compton Gap. When I got there, Jerry had already arrived (hitched a ride). We drove north to pick up my car, then we headed to Front Royal to wash up at the motel (Townplace Suites by Marriott). After resting for a while, we drove into town to eat at PaveMint Smokin’ Taphouse, a local favorite. The restaurant had very good food (I had brisket, sausage, and cole slaw), and an excellent selection of local craft-brews. Ryan Egan stopped by our table to say hi (I hadn’t seen him him in a few decades). Although I enjoyed the meal, it didn’t sit well with me (too much food?), so I didn’t sleep much on Wednesday night.
On Thursday, we had breakfast at the motel, then drove to the Dark Hollow Falls parking area. We hiked down to the falls (very crowded, as usual), and then stopped by Big Meadows for cheeseburgers and blackberry milkshakes. We had planned to stop by the Compton Gap area again to take the short hike to the columnar basalt formations nearby, but ended up skipping that plan, and we just headed back to Front Royal. After a brief rest, we stopped by a local bar for drinks, then hit the Mikado Japanese Steakhouse for dinner. After dinner, I stopped back in at the motel to get some coffee, then headed home, arriving a little after 8.