Date: 2008-05-29
From: Home of Briar Patch and Mandy

To: Lambert Campsite
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: broken clouds

I was thrilled when I awoke and looked outside. There was some fog in the valley, but overhead it was clear. It was going to be a great day to hike. Brair Patch had to be at work early. He had thru-hiked in 2001. We all left at 7:00 and I was hiking by 7:15. Brush Stoke still had very wet shoes. I'm not sure what he was going to do. He thought he might trying hiking in his crocs! I took off and never saw him afterwards. I'll probably see him up the trail at some point. The first seven miles were a series of short ups and downs that paralleled, the town of Catawba. It did go through some fields and someone had mowed a strip which was now the trail. All the vegetation was coated in dew. There were lots of spider webs that sparkled in the sun. One type was your regular web, but the other was a massive hodgepodge tear drop of spun silk. Wonder what kind of spider was making those webs? When the trail crossed US 311, it became apparent that this was a popular hiking section. The trail was wide, more even, and bridges were constructed over large boulders that normally we would be scrambling over. This is the trail to McAffee Knob, another famous geological feature. The John Springs Shelter was only one mile from the road.... It turns out that John¢s parents built and dedicated it to their son who committed suicide. He was a thru-hiker. I read an article posted at the shelter. He was a free spirit that loved to hike. What a nice way to remember him. The second shelter was only one more mile...Catawba Mountain Shelter. It was a nice shelter, but no register. I had a snack here. From here it was a climb up to McAffee. It wasn't that difficult. Wow, what a view! The rocks jetted out over the hill 3197 feet above the valley. It seemed like you could see for a hundred miles to the mountains in the north that are the beginning of the Shenandoah National Park. Judith took my picture. It is probably the most photographed place...like the Maroon Bells. It is also the 700 mile mark from Springer Mountain, Georgia. It's a real thrill for any thru-hiker to reach this point including me. The whole geological history of this area is very fascinating. Hundreds of millions of years ago Virginia was on the equator. Africa was a part of the land here not once, but twice. At one point there was so much mass and pressure from a collection of silt and sand that it bowed down the floor of the continent 40,000 feet (seven times the depth of the Grand Canyon). As Africa left, the seas receded and the rocks were uplifted it formed the Appalachian Mountains. Some of the more prominent rocks were the ones I hiked on today...McAffee Knob, Dragon Tooth and Tinker's Cliff. The last got their names in many cases from deserters of the Revolutionary Army. They lived in these rocks repairing pots and pans...tinkers. It was a great hike. I did get a little lost on the top, but a deer who was feeding kind of showed me the way. I thought I'd be camping alone, but two section hikers came in near dark. They were Rick and Seth, two etymology professors at LSU. It was so refreshing to be eating dinner with folks closer to myown age, at least within 25 years They were reading and we discussed news items from USA Today.  The birds have stopped calling. It's time to turn in.A quick note - Photos keep getting added, but maybe a few weeks late. You can always scroll backwards (or frontwards) through larger versions of the photos to catch what you¢ve missed. Fly right -Ravon