June 20, 2024 - Take a Hike!

• Brush: Yaqi Bali 24mm Synthetic
• Razor: Game Changer .68P
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: AA Shaving - Gale
• Post Shave: Caties Bubbles - Un Jour Gris
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Waves EdT

FOF

Today’s Theme:

AA Shaving - “Gale will open as an aquatic storm.” Definitely an aquatic and one of the notes is even fresh water. Paired well with the scent of a rainy day, Un Jour Gris. Finally Waves is a nice clean aquatic fragrance - “Resurrected from the early years of aquatic fragrance.” Pretty much fits the aquatic classification as acceptable for the theme.

Today’s Adventure:

I was hoping this would be on a weekend, but nope it is in the middle of the hottest week so far this summer here. Previously I would handle this on my back deck watching the cars go by on the street I can see over the arbor vitae natural fence for my little backyard. Probably would qualify, but been there already. What can I do then in my little corner of No. Virginia? Drive to one of the Civil War Battlefields? Well maybe yesterday’s theme would have been better. Plus, kind of disrespectful to go have a goofy shave where lots of people died. Well it is u/Old_Hiker appreciation day. I needed something hiking related. Then it struck me, there is just one place nearby that perfectly fit. The Appalachian Trail stretches from Georgia to Maine. People set about hiking this long route starting in Georgia in the Spring and trying to make it to Maine before Fall and the cold weather returning. Around this time, they should be around my area in the normal timeline for a hike. The Blue Ridge is about the western edge of the super commuter range for Washington DC. To get out there in the morning would be no problem, but the eastbound (and down?) traffic could be busy. It is forecasted to be around 95F this afternoon. Early in the morning was a more comfortable 75ish. There is a parking area at a trailhead about 20 miles west of me, I was in the car headed west about 6:40AM.

About 7:00AM I pulled up in the parking lot at Snickers Gap. The view through that pass is of the Shenandoah Valley. The Shenandoah River from the lyric in “Country Roads” is at the bottom of the ridge. A few cars were here, but nobody was around. I walked over to read the information about local wildlife. Nearby was an information board about the local trails and a brewery/restaurant in the area. This is just a couple miles from the FEMA station at Mt. Weather. I took a quick look at the Appalachian Trail entrance, and a shot of the highway and valley below.

It was time to shave. My SOTD picture has the gear I brought along for today’s shave. One thing I forgot was the scoop (back of a pair of tweezers) for the soap. Luckily AA Shaving includes a guitar pick in each tub. A scoop off the fairly firm soap into my trusty blue plastic bowl from IKEA, a splash of water, and a dry brush to start building lather. Because of the dry brush, it took a while to build my lather. Several splashes from the bottle and about 5 minutes to build up a pretty decent result. Where did I put that mirror? Well the car window would have to suffice. As I was starting to lather, an SUV pulled up. A guy got out and did a bit of warmup and stretching, before heading out to run on the trail. I’m sure he thought it was strange to see a guy shaving in the parking lot. It is strange to me that someone would get up early to go jogging in the woods. A little awkward on the neck leaning over to see my reflection, but a decent shave nonetheless. Two passes were completed, a quick tidy up, and I headed home.

Feats of fragrance:

Gale is described as a storm of a scent. I got the water and some damp earthiness from it. It isn’t a storm out on the water to me. It is getting caught outside near the shore during a rainstorm. Not really petrichor, but a wet field/shoreline by a freshwater lake. Un Jour Gris is when the storm has settled and it is an overcast, wet, and grey day. Waves though has the sun coming out, you are starting to smell more than just the damp ground, but the summer flowers and grasses have come out. Things are looking brighter, and it is going to be a nice summer day. I liked this progression of scents.

It is time to get to work now. Should have started at least 30 minutes ago. What would u/Old_Hiker say about that? “Work sucks!”

If you want to read a great travel book about the Appalachian Trail, seek out Bill Bryson’s “A Walk in the Woods”. Very descriptive and humorous.