Date: 2016-04-30
From: Wise Shelter

To: Lost Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Awake at 5:15 without alarm. No light. Trying to be extra quiet to not wake anyone. On Trail by 6:15.Hikers were camping in all kinds of odd places along the trail before and after the shelter; yet there were only three of us in the shelter. The rules are confusing. Some signs say no camping in the vicinity of the shelter, others say no camping in the state park except by the shelter. Confusing. But one had to go just a few hundred feet to be outside the park again in the State Forest. Only a couple of people did that.The ponies came up quite close to the shelter while I was eating breakfast in the darkness, but once I got enough light to take a picture, they had moved farther away.I don't understand people who complain about not enough water sources in this area. In the first half mile, I crossed 3 Streams they must have passed on the way to the shelter! All the shelters can't be like Rausch Gap, PA, with a spring that feeds into a trough right next to the shelter.There's been a lot of trail work in the first mile and a half south of the shelter [actually, thru-out this section] , including rock steps, moving rocks around, & new signage, one of which indicates backpacker camping 0.7 miles off the trail -- that's not very inviting to the average thru-hiker!After Massie Gap, I met Forrest, Whisper and Alpaca and his brother-in-law, who had been hiking with him for a while but was getting off and going back to Columbus, Ohio. Then I met Captain, Patches, Doc, The Count, Yosamite. People just like to complain about the rocky trail. There are all kinds of new stone steps & other trail-work that make it a lot easier than it used to be going up to Wilburn Ridge. Also lots of little springs for those who complain about not enough water. On the ridge, I met Spirit, whose son died on the trail 3 years ago and who also had hiked some with Papa Al last year. Good to get to talk a little with her! I met Patches, Lava Man, Pops & the Kid, with loads of day hikers and weekenders in between: Lambeau, Sisyphus, Sookie & Whatever-Works, Raw, Moose, Hightop, Spaghetti-Legs, Snake.After a lunch break at Thomas Knob Shelter, I didn't ,let anybody for while going down Mt Rogers. Then I met Gandolf, Pippen, Little Bear, Star-brother, Spoony, Lt. Dan [another one], Nesquick, As the last few hikers had told me, there was Trail Magic at Elk Garden [Va. 600]: hamburgers, hot dogs, brownies, & a variety of other goodies, provided by a couple of guys who come up from NC once a year to do this. Thanks! While eating, I spoke with other hikers there: Buzzard, Wild Pony, & Kinder, whom I remembered from meeting her at the Massachusetts border 2 September. Going up the next hill, I met Jahtze & wife, Curly, Joker [Neth], Earl Grey, all of whom had some chance of getting to the road in time for food. I stopped for a break out of the sun & wind at Buzzard Rock, on the edge of Whitecap Mtn. There I met Zak Kaliphanakis, & going down, Flipper, Uumgahwah. After doing 12-hour of trial work, I met Queen's Sweeper & had a very interesting conversation. She's from Czech Republic, "sweeps" branches off the Trail like I do, & has an intense interest in improving her country & the world politically. Revolution had been a disaster & so has the extreme form of capitalism that has now taken over. I wish we'd had more time (I hope she's successful in what she wants to accomplish thru mobilizing young people.), but she really wanted to move on because of the impending thunderstorm. I started feeling bad about holding her back, but even a fast hiker like her wouldn't have gotten to the campsite on Whitecap without getting wet. After a day of sunshine & a little heat, it began to rain as I passed U.S. 58; so I was hoping to get to stay in the shelter. I did. At Lost Mtn. Shelter, I met Altar-Boy, Tree-Hugger, Shannon, & a couple of others without Trail names.