Date: 2017-09-15
From: Knot Maul Shelter 

To: Chatfield Shelter
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: scattered clouds

I didn't sleep so well last night. I got dehydrated as a result of being too warm under my sleeping bag. I drank a whole liter of water during the night in order to try to fight this, so I had to get up 3 times during the night. I also took some Motrin around 3 a.m. because of the dehydration related headache.  I think it's important to note that this was no worse than many nights I have had at home in my own bed with exactly the same symptoms. So there's nothing here that can be blamed on being on the trail. Anyway, I got up around 6 a.m. and went about the normal pack up and breakfast routine. Except that this morning Stewart cooked hot water for all of us on his alcohol stove. That way Wesley and I could save canister fuel in case we would not be able to resupply that until Damascus.  I used the hot water for coffee and rehydrated oatmeal packets with cold water to round up my breakfast.We started hiking at just before 7:30 a.m. Plan today was to stop for lunch at a restaurant near the point where the trail would cross back over Interstate 81. That point is inside the limits of the town of Atkins, Virginia, as it is labeled on my map.It was cool and overcast when we started. The trail went up and down through forests and a few cow pastures. I took some pictures in one of the pastures, where I had seen cows and wildflowers. Grateful for some color on this rainy day. Otherwise the hike was uneventful and the sun began to come out somewhere between 10:30 and 11 a.m. Around noon I was in yet another cow pasture, but this one had neither cows nor the fresh cow manure as seen where we hiked earlier in the day. At this point I could hear the sound of traffic on the interstate.About 12:30, we reached the outskirts of Atkins, VA and then crossed under Interstate 81. (Picture). Shortly after that, Wesley and I stopped at a convenience store where we were able to pick up some more food (enough to make it to Damascus). That's when I noticed that the Mexican restaurant we had heard about was actually right inside the same convenience store. So, we stopped and had lunch, ordering to-go burritos for dinner. I was able to recharge my phone there. After lunch, we repacked our backpacks and hiked the remaining 4.5 miles to the Chatfield shelter, where we stayed for the night. Hiking south from the Mexican restaurant at about 2:45 p.m., the trail went south on US Route 11 for about a quarter mile and then went into the same sort of terrain that we'd hiked on the other side of I-81. These were fields and woods with gentle up and down slopes. At about 3 p.m., I met nobo hiker Iron Heart. We talked for about half an hour. He calls himself a flip flopper, and was presently hiking from Damascus to Harpers Ferry. He said he hikes slowly, and had started out nobo from Springer and then at some point went sobo from Katahdin.  But because it was getting later in the year and he was concerned about the approaching winter, he had decided to return to the south and head nobo again. He hoped to get to Front Royal by Halloween, and ultimately to Harpers Ferry before it got too cold to hike. He would take his time doing the remaining sections.Iron heart and I also had Army experience in common. He was in for 10 years and got out as an E6 on the E7 promotion list. He had been a linguist and analyst. He was now using translating those skills to analyze customer behaviors and make business recommendations to large companies looking to optimize sales. We shared information about the sections of trail we had hiked recently. He said that Grayson Highlands would be upcoming for me, an area with free roaming ponies. He also spoke about the Roan Highlands, as well as the Smokies. He also gave me his business card, which he carried as part of his Hike for a Cause. He had been a survivor of a sudden heart attack, and he had pieces of iron in his heart; hence his trail name. We both took selfies together, and he showed me some pointers regarding the use of my phone as a camera in voice activated mode with a delay timer. He had the same phone. (Picture)At about 4 p.m. I passed the Early Settlers Museum of Atkins. (Pictures)  Arrived at the Chatfield shelter about 6 p.m., filled water from nearby stream. Burrito from town for dinner. Normal evening.  19.3 miles trail