Date: 2004-04-30
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 225.6
Weather: overcast clouds

4/17/04Deja Vu: I dreamed I was fighting an army of Mongols.Early Bird: Did you win?Deja Vu: Well, no, there were a lot of them.I was all set to leave town yesterday, and had just gotten a ride from the hostel to the trailhead, when who should I run into but Mello and Early Bird, and then Deja Vu walked off the Trail. So...I decided to stay another day in town with friends, instead of walking in a hiker void like I had the last two days before town. At the beginning of the hike, in March, people tended to hike together, in small groups of two to six people. Now the hiking dynamic has changed, and we tend to hike separately, and meet for lunch or dinner at a shelter. Now in Virginia the shelters are spaced oddly - ten and fifteen miles apart, so you either hike short days or long days to end there. With the rain it was almost necessary to be at a shelter; now with the sun out again I can begin to camp between them.So the sun! It's no longer raining, and there's no snow. I actually began to sweat climbing the mountain out of town. The Trail passed through Rice Field, a large expanse of open pasture atop a ridge, where I stayed for several hours, enjoying the vistas I'd missed before, and letting the sun warm me. As I sat there a hawk flew so closely over my head that I could hear the wind rustling in its feathers.After dinner I hiked another five miles to Symms Gap Meadow, where a trail maintenance crew from the Virginia Tech Outdoor Club was camped. They let me share their fire and their beer, and we talked into the night after the sun had set. Finally I rolled into my sleeping bag out in the meadow and fell asleep with the stars bright over my head.4/18/04 SundayThe best part about sleeping out without a tent is rolling over in the morning and watching the sun rise from your sleeping bag.The morning was cool, with easy ridge walking, but come noon...the HEAT turned on! Hot sun beating down through the bare trees made climbing up out of a river valley taxing indeed. Listen to me - complaining about the cold, now complaining about the heat. There's just no pleasing this boy.I holed up in a shelter for a while, sucking down water from the nearby spring, and then cooked an early dinner so I could start hiking again at 6:30 and put in five more miles at dusk when it wasn't so hot. Now I'm camped past Wind Rock, a picturesque lookout from which I watched the sun set. Even though the sky is clear there are malcontent grumblings - and I can't tell if they're from thunder or airplanes - so I set up my hammock instead of sleeping out again. I want to wake up early and get in some miles before the heat strikes again tomorrow.4/19/04 MondayI woke up before sunrise so I could get in some miles before it got hot out, and even taking my time and stopping for views, I got ten miles by 11:00, where I stopped at a shelter for lunch.Once again, I find myself in a hiker void. Mello and Early Bird are both moving faster than I am, and Deja Vu is behind me somewhere. Ah well, I'm only going about fifteen miles a day right now, so someone's bound to catch up. The solitude is good to an extent as well, though I find myself talking to myself a lot. At least I never argue. Or if I do, at least I always win.Today was full of stops along the Trail. After one long climb I was greeted by trail magic: two coolers full of soda and candy bars, left by Super Dave, a former thru-hiker. Next was White Rock on Kelly Knob, an impressive series of rock slabs hanging on to the edge of a cliff, overlooking the pastoral valley below. Finally was the Keffer Oak, a 300 year-old oak tree, eighteen feet around, whose branches spread forty feet out from the trunk in all directions. I rested in its shade for a few minutes before the steep climb up to the ridge above.I had been planning on staying at the next shelter, but it was three tenths of a mile straight down off the Trail. In typical hiker logic I decided to hike another six miles to the next shelter instead of climbing down and up to and from that shelter. And a good thing I did! There at the next shelter were Bloody Cactus and Xena, with whom I hiked for the first week of my hike. They'd gotten tired of hiking in the snow, so they went up to the Shenandoahs and started hiking south. So good to see them again!4/20/04 TuesdayUp for an early start once again, the heat today was brutal, with humidity so high I couldn't see across the valley for the haze. The Trail plunged into a valley only to climb incessantly back up again. And up. What would normally have been an easy climb left me winded and dripping, and water was scare along the ridgeline.I stopped briefly at a memorial to Audie Murphy, the most-decorated American soldier in World War Two. The Trail then scrambled over the jagged ridgeline for three miles - and the slowest three miles I've done yet on the hike: it took me three hours, a far cry from my usual 2.5-3 mile an hour pace. After crossing Dragon's Tooth, a jagged outcropping of rocks, the Trail finally descended down rocks so steep metal rungs were placed into the rocks for steps and handholds. At last, the Trail left the ridge and led to the valley, where I stopped at Four Pines Hostel, a friendly place to wash off the past week of sweat in the shower, and to indulge in two pints of ice cream and a pizza from the local convenience store.4/21/04 WednesdayWhat a difference a day makes!It rained in the night, while I was cosy in the hostel, and the dawn brought fog and cool down in the valley. It was a most pleasant early morning hike, a needed respite from the previous days' heat.Once above the fog, the sun was bright, and the rain didn't help the humidity, so it was sweaty going, but at least it was 60 degrees instead of 80. After walking the rolling ridge for some miles, I came to McAfee's Knob, a promontory of stone jutting out over a cliff, from which thru-hikers customarily get their pictures taken. Since I was there alone, I set the timer on my camera and then sprinted around the rocks to reach the knob and try to look composed and thru-hikerly, all within ten seconds.Further on were the Tinker Cliffs, which the Trail follows along its edge for half a mile. And when I say on its edge, that's exactly what I mean. No daydreaming allowed along this stretch. The view from the cliffs is of the two valleys below, and the best part about this view now is that everything is turning GREEN. Instead of brown bare branches, now there are pale green leaves everywhere in sight. I think the trees which are leafing now are called redbuds, though their flowers are a brilliant fuscia. Walking among the purple and green is such a relief after so many dull winter colours.I stopped for dinner at Lambert's Meadow Shelter. Despite the name, there's no meadow (it probably used to be one, when this was farmland), but it does have a gurgling stream perfect for soaking my feet in. And they needed soaking. I was simply dead tired today - for the first time, I woke up with my legs still tired from the day before, so now it feels as though I've hiked even further than I have. My tread is heavy instead of light, every step thumping against the ground. I've been toying with the idea of staying in a hotel in Daleville, my next resupply stop, and I think I'm going to. Not take a zero day, but a short day into town to relax.4/22/03 ThursdayI had camped on the ridge above town, so I got into Daleville by 9:00...to discover that the outfitter didn't open until ten. I went to the coffee shop next door and struck up a conversation in line with Ken, a teacher from Portland, Maine, who ended up paying for my coffee and scone. Thanks, Ken! I sat around outside until the outfitter opened, and then tried on a procession of shoes to find the perfect pair. I ended up getting a heavier shoe than I'd had, because of the lighter models the ones that felt the most comfortable all seemed to stop a half-size smaller than my feet. Oh well, at least I don't have a hole in the toe of my shoe anymore. I also got new socks to replace the ones I'd worn through, and new low gaiters (which look like black spats) to replace my tall gaiters, much better for the heat.Fully retreaded, I gorged at the AYCE Italian buffet, bought groceries (including ice cream, of course), and got a hotel room. Pilgrim and Lulu were also staying at the hotel, so we hung out a little bit. Lulu had completely reoutfitted at the store, with a new pack and new summer sleeping bag, cutting at least five pounds of weight. After doing laundry I slumped into bed, watched som TV, and slept for a long time.4/23/04 FridayHuzzay! Howard Johnson's offers an AYCE breakfast buffet! I descended upon it like a locust. Many doughnuts, bagels, muffins, coffees, and orange juices later, I went back to my room for a shower (imagine - two showers in two days. Luxury), and to finish packing. I didn't leave the hotel until 10:15, by which time the sun was out strong. But! For the first time there were enough leaves overhead to create shade in the forest. Ahh, now this is the life.While I was in a shelter for lunch, a thunderstorm rolled through. I waied it out, then hiked to the next shelter. Rain is so much nicer when it's warm out - I didn't even put on my rain jacket, because the downpour was refreshing. At the next shelter there were two section hikers, Greg and Kelly, from Cambridge, MA. We chatted over dinner, and they nicely shared some chai with me.4/24/04 SaturdayWith a dawn start I set off, and discovered that the next section of trail was a very gradual uphill, so much that I didn't even notice it. The Trail followed the Blue Ridge Parkway for ten miles, crossing and recrossing it several times. I ran into Mello, who was coming the opposite direction, slackpacking back into Troutville, where his parents have been shuttling him to various points along the Trail. There was fourteen mile section with only one place to get water, so I loaded up with enough for lunch. Still, the Trail was easy enough that I didn't notice.After lunch there were a few steep downs and ups, and my new shoes gave me a blister. Ugh. I'll have to wait for it to turn into a callous. These new shoes are stiffer than my old ones, which I suppose some people like, but they don't let me feel the trail as much. Just clomping along.For dinner I stopped at the Bryant Ridge Shelter, a huge post and beam affair, with a loft and a balcony, and a wrap-around porch in front. Now this is the life! After the Trail I'm going to come back and live here. Yep.I was going to hike on after dinner and camp, or reach the next shelter five miles away, but I decided not to. Just because there was plenty of daylight left doesn't mean I have to hike - and I'd already hiked more than twenty miles today. I almost regretted my decision when a group of kids with coolers and radio showed up at the shelter, but, seeing people here, they went back up the Trail a ways, either to give us privacy or to give themselves privacy (there are two section hikers here with me as well).4/25/04 SundayIt was a grey morning as I picked my way through the sleeping partiers a quarter mile up the Trail. I knew I had a steep climb ahead of me, so I'd gotten an early start to beat the heat. As it turns out, the fog rolled in and it began to drizzle - perfect weather for steep climbs. I missed out on the views, but you can't have everything.At the top of Apple Orchard Mtn., the tallest point, there was an FAA tower. At least that's what my guide book said. All I could see was a white bank of fog, and a strange rumbling noise. I investigated the noise and came to a fenced-in compound, with a building right in front of me, and another lurking in the mist nearby. I didn't see the promised radar dome, but there was a vague shape of a tower in the fog. I knew what this was - I've seen it on X-Files. A secret government base! I beat a hasty retreat before someone saw me lurking about trying to see the aliens.As I descended from the summit I passed beneath the Guillotine, a boulder suspended above the tail beneath. It didn't look in any hurry to drop, but one never knows. I arrived at the next shelter for lunch, and the fog began to blow away and the sun made an appearance. Perfect timing - cool and misty for my hike up the mountain, sunny and clear for my hike down.I stopped at a shelter just two miles from the road to Glasgow, where I need to resupply tomorrow. I plan an early hike in, then hiking more after I shop. It should be a quick in and out, assuming I can get a hitch.4/26/04I awoke to a drizzling rain, which gradually got harder as I packed up campand got closer to the road into town. Luckily I got a quick hitch in, and as I got out of the car at the grocery store, there were Early Bird and Waldo, trying to hitch out. I did my shopping, and they were still there, so we all tried to look like bedraggled hikers in need of a ride. Well, we were. It took another hour - Glasgow is a small town, and not many people were going our way - but we finally got a ride back to the Trail.We set off in the rain and got to the shelter ten miles away, where we'd planned on spending the night. The shelter was full, with a group of section hikers all dressed in cotton, with their gear spread everywhere to dry. Two thru-hikers, Katie Lou and Patti Poo, a daughter and mother duo, were also there, and set up their tents. Since we'd only come ten miles out of town (and I'd only come two miles before then) we decided since we'd have to camp anyway we'd hike on another four miles to a campsite by a river. Waldo kept hoping for a pavillion to camp under, but no such luck.The rain subsided enough for us to cook dinner, but then picked up again, so we all huddled around under Waldo's tarp until dark. Now I'm in my hammock writing, so my handwriting's a little messy (it's hard to write while propped up on your back), but at least I'm dry.(continued....)