Date: 2006-06-30
From: Harpers Creek Shelter

To: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter 
Miles today: 25.0
Weather: clear sky

I'm currently sitting on Hanging Rock after climbing Three Ridges. This is roughly half way on the white blazes to the next shelter. No more blue blazin' for me, lol! Just the day before I was total purist, bushwasking over and through new blowdowns, what gives? Why, it just might be the Virginia Blues. More on that in a minute. We awoke to find a new tent on the other side of the river. Turns out to be Librarian and her mom. They got in around nine or so. This is her mom's first backpacking trip. She's had it all, driving, rain, fording creeks, slackpacking, night hiking. Librarian's dad comes out next week. Librarian and Mom gave me enough snacks to get through the day. That means I do 20, shelter 5 miles outside of town and hope for a quick, easy, early hitch tomorrow morning. Post office is only open 9-11 on Saturday. Thanks again Librarian and Mom!!On my way up the hill, I stopped at the first overlook. Met a local lady who knew the area well. She said (maybe only to amuse me?) that it's easy to get mixed up on the Mau-Har and get turned around by the falls. Oh well. So I'm airing out my clothes bag. The sund is beating down on this rock cliff. Birds are calling out all over the forest. There's a half dozen hawks floating on the updraft here at ridgeline. The clouds are dfigting past lazily overhead. These are the times I hike for. It's 4:00 pm (5 hours later) on another rock outcropping. I'm better than halfway to Wolfe Shelter. I'm feeling pretty good today, but I still need to discuss the Virginia Blues.I filled my water with a surprise spring (filled by the recent storms), found 46er and Storyteller there. She'd fallen and bumped her head, but was patched up and feeling fine, and chilled for a while with Seed and Murphy at lunchtime. I've also climbed enough stone steps today to figure that something at mile 939 (5 from here) called 'Stairway to Heaven'...better be pretty epic. Alright, I didn't made it to the Stairway to Heaven, but my faith is restored. F*^% the Virginia Blues!I came upon Seed and Murphy at the BRP. He'd decided to hitch to town and was on his cell trying to arrange a ride to his car, another 130 miles north. Well, we BS'd for about ten minutes when a guy stopped to give him a ride. Turns out he's headed to a Buffett concert in Jersey and can get Seed almost to his car. Wow! Five minutes after they left, a couple more guys pull up. They ask if I know where we are. I laugh, I'm on the AT! Don't know about roads. I double checked my guidebook and confirmed our location. They're section hikers looking for a place to park. This turn out is too small. We get to talking about trail angels. They made me think of all the good stuff over the last month. I laughed and said the only think that could make my day better would be a shot of whiskey, and voila, they whip out some scotch. I enjoyed my dinner, had a nip, and now it's time to do another 10 miles. Might need a headlamp tonight. Got to the shelter around 9:45. It got dark at 9, headlamp time. I crossed a river was a bout to tent on a flat road I found, then I checked my book, told me the shelter was .1 mile past the river. Twenty paces! I washed and got to bed as quietly as possible. Virginia Blues? Dunno.