Date: 2012-04-24
From: Atkins, VA

To: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Man I slept so well last night. It is always good to be able to sprawl out starfish style across a bed after sleeping mummy style in a warm but confining sleeping bag. We packed up and headed up the road some for a breakfast at The Barn before walking under I-81 and heading back onto the trail. It's so nice to see sign for Roanoke and other familiar cities. Although still chilly and very windy today, the sun was out and the weather was a vast improvement over yesterdays. There were also a lot of ups and downs and pasture field walking, which I always love. Also way too many fence styles so lots of ladder climbing which my knees were less happy about. Still novelty is always something to appreciate on the trail as sometimes it does start getting repetitive. On one of the ridges I turned around and could just see the top of mount Rogers in the distance behind the still snow covered ridge lines we hiked yesterday. I absolutely get a kick out looking south and seeing how far I've come. in this case it showed the weather too. What a difference a day makes too. I never would have guessed that it snowed yesterday looking at the big fluffy clouds in the baby blue sky today. The flowers were in bloom and if it were not for the snowman and occasional clump of snow we saw on the side of the trail there would be no proof. The most memorable portion of the day came as we climbed down a fence style and made our way around bushes to find a herd of cattle blocking our path. They looked so startled to see us and instantly turned as one and started booking it away from us. Unfortunately they chose to head north on the AT so to them these three crazy, dirty hikers come out of no where and start chasing them. As hilarious as this was it was also kinda sad as the ones in the back kept turning to look at us and then mooing. I'm sure they were saying "keep going! they're still coming" and they chose a very effective deterrent as they all began going to the bathroom causing the trail to become a very difficult smelly path to navigate. I don't think I'll be touching my shoes or polls until they go through a few creeks. We did the cow chasing for a good half mile before they managed to break off. The last climb of the day was pretty rough on me and my ankles were screaming again. what else is new right. We also knew that the shelter was going to be full as a result of the snow and that given the time, we would be camping out tonight. Yeah yeah I know, we're hiking, we should be used to camping too. But it is suppose to rain tonight and wet tents, shoes, bags etc are not fun and wear you down very quickly. The great news was that we ran into old friends like BLT and August as well as meeting new hikers I had not hiked with before. I was especially happy to see Max again and Wyatt. two dogs btw. ha dogs tend to have the most normal names out here. the dogs spent most of the night playing and I got the opportunity to play chess with August again. He won the first game but in the second I tenaciously held on, refusing to concede even when I only had my king left. but I just kept moving space by space until I luckily forced a stalemate. hehehe. the other hikers commented that this was the most violent, overly intense game they had ever seen. What can I say, I'm competitive by nature no matter how bad I am at the game.   Eating some really junky, crazy food as resupply in Atkins was hard. Everything was marked up almost triple it's normal price so I bought the cheeper snack foods and am surviving the next few days on bland rice from the hikers box, donuts and peanuts. Oh there it is. just as I finish this entry up the thunder has announced itself with the longest thunder clap I have ever heard. It's been rumbling for a good 90 seconds now. And here's the rain. Okay tent, do your job.