Date: 2007-04-21
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Hurricane Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: clear sky

Today was one of the best days on the trail thus far. It was a spectacular day to walk thru spectacular open scenery. Ice Man and I got a late start, but we were still up before the day hikers, who are very slow and out of shape and weighed down by heavy packs. There are seemingly hundreds of day hikers out and about here to-day. I think I counted at least three Boy Scout troops, plus families and friends. The Grayson Highlands are beautiful, and I just marched along them at my own little pace and just enjoyed the experience of living outdoors.The Grayson Highlands are known for the feral ponies that come right up to hikers and try and finagle food from them. When I first entered the park, I saw a couple galloping around a couple hundred meters away from me, but they never got really close enough for me to pet and being touristy. I didn¢t even get a chance to snap some photos of them. Ah well. Another day, perhaps.About halfway through the park I met a Boy Scout troop that seemed very interested in me. One of the adult leaders was wearing a whiteblaze.net t-shirt, and we began chatting it up, the usual hiker stuff. Miles per day, pack weight, blisters popped, etc.. They offered me food, some of which I took. The Mountain House had either beef or turkey in it, so I politely declined. One of the scouts looked more burdened with gear than all the others. His pack was enormous, and he had a duffle bag filled with who-knows-what in one of his hands to boot. The leader said the kid could learn a few lessons from thru-hikers about pack weight. I concurred.Did I mention that "The Scales," a desolate desert-like section in the park were incredible? Well, they were!At one of the shelters another Boy Scout troop told me that Widowmaker had passed through here yesterday, and they told me he was hiking 150 miles a week. Uh huh. More like 80 or 90. Still, he managed to hike about 25 yesterday, I guess he wants to get ahead of me as much as he can because he¢s going away to a concert upon reaching Bland. Don¢t know if he¢ll be able to catch up to me again.Foot pump supposedly went to a ¢caver¢s party¢ or something for a few days, so I don¢t know if I¢ll even see him again either. If it¢s one thing I have learned about long distance trails, it¢s that the relationships you have with your fellow man are short, ephemeral, but still worth it. I hope I see those guys again, but I don¢t want to sacrifice my hike in order to do so. I¢m out here to experience what the trail has to offer, so I¢m taking everything ¢as is.¢ If Widowmaker and Foot pump have to do 25+ mile days to catch up with me, hey, more power to them, but I¢m going to keep trucking along at my own pace.To-night it¢s just Ice Man and myself at the Hurricane Mountain Shelter, which is brand new, but has a wobbly picnic table which sent my alcohol flying at one point when I sat up off the bench. Minus a piece of plywood placed at an indiscriminate angle, the privy here is almost totally exposed to the elements, and completely filled with whats-it. I think that if I sat down all the way the ¢mound¢ would touch my ass.Delightful, eh?