Date: 2008-06-01
From: Campground

To: Campbell Shelter
Miles today: 4.9
Weather: few clouds

I have run out of clever ways to begin... or end... my entries. So, I will start where I left off. How unoriginal. I camped on the side of the trail last night. My feet were aching and I could feel a dull ache in my shins telling me that I had probably gone a little too far. But, it was fun anyways. The problem was that I could not address the problems I did have -- the pain -- because of my lack of water. Given that it did not magically appear while I slept I awoke with the same predicament: no water; and a reciprocal predicament: hunger (no water to cook). Without food or water my walk down the trail wasn't what I would call pleasant. I bypassed the All You Can Eat restaurant (it was too early) and focused my energy on the first shelter just a mile from where I stopped -- I had no idea that I was that close when I stopped the night before. At the shelter I would find water. Or not. Thankfully, the next shelter was only another mile up the trail (yes, this is abnormal). So, onward. After the next mile my dreams of returning back to the restaurant for AYCE were dashed because I am dreadfully stubborn and I would not rehike a 2+ mile section. I made it to the water source and second shelter and made camp for the afternoon. I figured I had earned myself a nap -- 2 miles is quite an accomplishment. A few hours later I packed up and proceeded up to McAfee's Knob -- one of the more well known places on the trail. It is a rock outcropping that overlooks some of the best views in all of VA. I hung out there for quite a few hours talking with dayhikers/tourists who were curious about the AT and my experiences. I was waiting for Kraut to catch up as I did not want to bypass such a memorable mark (it was the 700 mile point, as well) without the requisite pictures and congrats. And I waited... and waited. So, as I was sitting around chatting I began to recollect the events of the night before to a couple of section hikers. I had not yet identified the kind of snake I had encountered so I brought out my camara to show them the picture. Sure enough... drum roll... copperhead. Good. Well, whatever it was it looked a lot like the snake coiled up under a rock within my view at that moment. I pointed it out and immediately there were a few people distraut. The snake, now the second copperhead I had seen, was curled up in an area that many tourists walk by and under a rock that one of the gentleman had just been sitting on (with his feet exposed to the critter). The snake was quickly confiscated and beheaded by the gentlemen. I have pictures of the affair. It was simply lucky that the snake had not previously been upset by the curious kids and unaware adults that patrolled the area all day long. After all of the excitement I decided it was time to make my way on to at least the next shelter (only another 2 miles -- which is again abnormal). I was still waiting for Sauerkraut. I figured she had stopped to indulge in the AYCE but I did not think it would be an all day affair. By the time I had mozzied over there was a storm coming on. Who wants to hike in the rain? Especially without their hiking partner? It seemed like a good enough excuse to make camp for the day. I began to wonder what happened to Kraut as I drifted off... and there she was. Really. She had come running into the shelter and a jolted awake. She had met the same section hikers that I had talked with on the top McAfee's Knob and had ran to find me -- somehow, like a game of telephone, she had heard that I was hiking dehydrated and snake bitten. So once we caught each other up on the affairs of the 24 hours we had been separated... sleep ensued.