Date: 2004-05-23
From: East Fork of Big Wilson Creek

To: Dickey Gap (Fox Hill Inn)
Miles today: 15.8

Out of camp at 7:15am after a sound sleep with no rain during the night. As I hiked up Stone Mt, a herd of the wild ponies, led by the one who tried to eat my shoe, trotted across the path while I waited for them to pass. They were on a mission to get somewhere and didn't stop to beg for handouts. Behind them to the east was a rainbow. It's unusual to see a rainbow in the morning. It also means that rain is to the west and in this case moving toward me on the west wind. I got the pack cover on just as the light shower started.On down to the Scales campground where a large group (scouts?) were cooking breakfast in big covered skillets over an open fire. I had visions of big browned biscuits and an egg and potato casserole, with offers to a starved-looking hiker to join in. No such luck - I walked slowly through and tried to look hungry and pitiful, but was ignored. Chris told me later that he even took off his pack for a little break to extend the opportunity time, with the same results. No free breakfast today!So I stopped at the Old Orchard shelter for a second breakfast, joined by Jordan, Chris, Frank and a ridge runner hired by the Appalachian Trail Commission to patrol the trail. He was disgusted with the amount of trash someone had left in the firepit. Later down the trail we met the crew who is building a new Hurricane Mt shelter. The leader was a grizzled old guy with a huge fishhook on the bill of his cap, along with the message "There are no fire escapes in hell!"After hiking hard, I made it to Dickey Gap before 3:00pm. There I got a ride down to Troutdale with a gentleman from Las Cruces, NM. He had been section hiking with a buddy named Shady Smurf for a while, and had brought him back to the trail where they discovered that Shady's hiking boots were back at the hostel. Unlucky for Shady, but lucky for me! They dropped me at the church hostel.My plan was to hitch in and call the Fox Hill Inn for a pickup and room for the night. At the hostel I discovered that the church had put on a BBQ for hikers after the morning service and had delivered the leftovers to the hostel. Change of plans! I had a hamburger and hot dog with chips and a big drink from the leftovers, along with a big slice of Boston Cream Pie. The men's sleeping space at the hostel is still being worked on, but you're allowed to sleep on the floor of the building. I badly wanted a bed instead. So after the big meal I called the Fox Hill Inn for a pickup. I did leave a generous donation at the hostel.I had a good chat with a southbound section hiker lady while I waited. She's hiking a couple of hundred miles to a family reunion - guess who will be the center of attention at that function? Mark picked me up and we were off to the Inn, a big white house high on a hill with outstanding views of the mountains around. Mark and his wife thruhiked around 1990, stayed at the Fox Hill, and came back to run it for the owner since. There I met Rufus and Daisy, a retired couple from Olympia, WA who are thruhiking. The Welsh Nomad was also there; I saw her last in Hot Springs. She's leapfrogging up the trail and plans a flipflop later and will come back to finish up the parts she's missed. A very complicated plan that she has firmly in mind, but in my tired condition I couldn't follow the logic past about three moves.I got a hot shower, did laundry and sat on the patio with a big pot of tea updating my journals and watching the mountains slowly disappear into the gloaming. A very quiet and peaceful place, and there were no bugs.