Date: 2015-04-06
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Undisclosed
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: overcast clouds

4/6, undisclosed location, 20.6Every day is a new day on the AT. New and different often in interesting ways. Maverick and I had settled into Lost Mountain shelter and went to sleep last night around 9 pm. Around 10 pm a couple of young hikers nosed in and decided to stay. There was plenty of room so it was no big deal, until the wind shifted. Maverick and I both woke up when they arrived, and Maverick said he could smell them coming. He asked them if they had stopped in Damascus and they replied they did, for the pizza buffet. "You didn't stop for a shower and do laundry?" he asked. "No. We couldn't find a place to do that." "I cant believe you did that because you guys really wreak" replied Maverick. And wreak they did. With as many hiker services in many towns there is no reason to go more than six days maximum without a shower and fresh laundry. In Damascus alone, even though the laundromat was closed, there were several hostels that did laundry for you even if you were not staying there. Fortunately their sleeping bags contained the stench and we managed a decent nights sleep.We awoke around 6 am because our plan was to hike 23 miles today. We were on trail by 7:10, and climbing right away. We climbed up Whitetop mountain first, and did so as quickly as we could because we had heard that one of the more infamous trail magic providers, Fresh Grounds, was at the road crossing beyond. We made the road crossing around 11:00, and the parking lot was empty. Now I love trail magic as much as the next person but it seems to lose some of its blessing when you know where it is. Maverick and I discovered today what a true blessing unexpected trail magic can be. We continued our hike down, then back up around Mt Rogers in the Grayson Highlands. The Highlands are famous for their herds of ponies that wander the high meadows. They are almost too used to people, so they can be petted and photographed. Maverick really wanted some selfies with a pony so we stopped at the Thomas Knob Shelter because we had noticed a few ponies below the shelter as we hiked in. I decided to get some water while Maverick got several selfies. As we were finishing at the shelter getting ready to leave, a trail maintainer stopped in and sat to visit. We thanked him for his work, especially since someone had left a bag of garbage there for him to carry out. As we were visiting he wondered how far we were going to go. We told him and he asked if we would be interested in stopping a few miles short of that goal, to visit, have dinner and breakfast and stay with him and his buddies for the night. Trail Magic extraordinaire! We were given directions to their cabin in the woods, off trail and in a private location, and sworn to secrecy about the plan. I think we would have done whatever he asked for a home cooked meal. We hiked on from the Thomas Knob shelter at 3 pm with the distance to get to the undisclosed location we thought we would arrive around 6 pm. We hiked into Grayson Highlands State Park knowing the 500 mile mark was somewhere in there. It was not marked, so our transition from the first 500 to the Virginia 500 was seamless and unnoticed. We continued on and unfortunately, due to the rocky path and our tired legs, we actually knocked on the door for our dinner invite at 7. We quickly settled into the supply shed on some cots they had stored there and changed into our camp clothes, because they are less pungent, then made our way into the cabin for dinner. They were just sitting down to eat and had places set for us at the table. Lettuce salad, potato salad, baked beans with sausage, corn bread and sweet tea were on the menu. We had multiple helpings each and enjoyed the company for the evening. Tomorrow morning they are cooking pancakes at 7 so we can be back on the trail by 8. This trail magic will live long in our memories because it was very unique and unexpected. Thank you guys for your dinner, breakfast and company. I wish I could tell you their names, but then their location might become disclosed. We have two days to get to the Mt Rogers Visitor Center. Tomorrow we plan to hike 15, leaving us a short-ish 12 miles on Wednesday. We both have things to do in the afternoon on Wednesday to prepare for the following days so it will be nice to arrive early. Today was my 43rd day on trail, and we are currently at 505.5 miles from Springer. That means my daily average is 11.75 miles daily. 12 miles daily meets my goals, and 15 miles daily from here gets me home a little sooner. My body continues to enjoy strength and good health so I covet your prayers that that will continue.Silverback