Date: 2008-04-19
From: Thunder Hill Shelter VA

To: John Hollow Shelter VA
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 62 ¢ Saturday April 19 ¢ John Hollow Shelter VA ¢ Miles Today: 16.3 Total Miles: 775.1We had some excitement last night - Brakeman heard an animal in the camp area. He said it sounded just like a human walking. He sat up, looked out the tent and confirmed it was an animal and thought perhaps it was deer. They walked all around the tent, maybe 25 ¢ 30 feet away. However after talking with Chris, who was in the shelter and had a full view of the animal, we learned it was actually a pack of coyotes. There were either 3 or 5 of them, but they were definitely coyotes. Such excitement. It was an early start to the day as we had 16 miles to cover, as well as a 5-mile hitch in and out of town for food resupply. We had heard it might be a difficult hitch so we wanted to make sure we got there early in the afternoon to give us more opportunity and time. We were up at 5:45 a.m. and were on the trail by 6:30. The early morning hike was a little slow due to stops to take pictures of many pretty flowers and stops to watch some lizards. By 10:00 though we ran into great terrain and trail conditions, which we had for the remainder of the day, and were able to set quite a good pace. It was wonderful.It was another hot day. It was about 52-54 degrees when we woke up this morning and in the mid to upper 80s with just a slight cloud cover in the afternoon. Not nearly as cool as we'd hoped for but since the terrain was easy and the trail conditions were friendly, we weren't gulping water as much as yesterday.   Yesterday, Brakeman said he felt like he should be called a spring because he had so much water in him. We ran into a Boy Scout Troop today. When we met the troop leader and mentioned that we needed a hitch to Glasgow, he almost handed over his car keys to us! The only problem was he couldn't figure out how we would get the car keys back to him. He was greatly concerned for us, and told us it could be a hard hitch.   He highly encouraged us to stop at the next shelter where there was another group of Boy Scouts and see if we couldn't convince one of those leaders to walk a mile or two back to their car, take us to Glasgow and then walk back a mile or two to his troop. We got to that shelter about 12:30 to find everyone sitting around the picnic table eating their lunches. Our best yogi¢ing efforts to get somebody to volunteer to take us into Glasgow failed. Unfortunately, they were not all as nice as the original Troop Leader. They did offer us some food though! Oh well, on we go to secure our hitch.We crossed over the James River Foot Bridge, the longest foot-use-only bridge on the AT, about 1:00 and came across 3 young guys jumping off the bridge. The bridge was probably a tad higher than 10 meters and the water was about 60 degrees, according to the jumpers. They were having a blast. They offered us some beer and highly encouraged us to join them in jumping off the bridge but we declined on both accounts. And we did not ask them for a hitch to town because we figured if they were drinking beer, we didn't want to get into that car anyway. Just on the other side of James River was U.S. Rte. 501, where we needed to switch gears from hiking to hitchhiking. Brakeman stood alongside the road and hitched while Grasshopper stood in the parking lot. As people came back from their day hike, she asked them if they would take us into Glasgow for groceries. On her second attempt, she scored us a ride! The first group she approached would have helped out, but the car was full already. So much for being a ¢difficult hitch¢! Our Trail Angel, Mark, is a young man who lives in this general area. He had just spent a few hours sitting along the river reading as he frequently does and was in the process of heading home until we nabbed him. Not only did our Trail Angel drive us to Glasgow, but he also waited for us to shop and then drove us back to the trail!   He does not even live towards Glasgow and went out of his way to take us shopping! And on top of all that, we got a ride in our most favorite car - the Honda Element (only because Mr. Grasshopper HATES it!). We're not quite sure about this resupply business in small towns. It seems like our diet for the next 4-5 days is going to be based on the main ingredient of sugar - pop tarts for breakfast and chewy granola bars for snacks. For our lunch, we will continue to use the sausage and cheese that we bought in Daleville and burrito wraps. For dinner, we were actually able to secure mashed potatoes for $.59. They were extremely marked down. I'm not quite sure if they are 10 years passed their expiration or what, but we'll be eating them. It was a very small grocery, in a very small town, with extremely high prices. We spent $20 and didn¢t even buy that much, but a few extra items did manage to fall into our cart for immediate consumption - a pint of ice cream, 2 Fast Break candy bars and a quart of chocolate milk. Oh yeah, life just got really good again. Brakeman is on the prowl now for his favorite Philly snack, Tasty-Kake Tasty-Klairs. This store had some Tasty-Kake product, but not the Tasty-Klairs. Rats! Our Trail Angel dropped us off at the parking lot and headed on his way home, after being so nice to us! We sat on the curb in the parking lot and ate our ice cream and candy bars. We had finished off the chocolate milk on the drive back, as we were thirsty! Hmm, now what to do with our trash? We surely did not want to haul an empty milk bottle and ice cream container with us! Just as we were trying to figure out our trash game plan, in pulls a Honda CRX, Brakeman¢s first car. We talked to the guys about the car and what great mileage it gets. He reported that he just bought the car because of the high gas prices and loved it.   Then of course, we mentioned that we were hikers and wondered if he could take our trash for us. ¢No problem¢, he said! By 2:30, we were back on the trail after a 1.5 hour resupply break.Our shelter for the night was just a couple miles up the trail. Shortly up the trail we met 4 flip-floppers - all females. Two were a mother-daughter team (Rabbit & Owl) and the other two were friends (Tigger & Soaring). Along with them was Rabbit & Owl¢s dog, Roo. They started in Harper's Ferry and are on a 7-month plan. We very well could meet them again in mid-July in Maine! One of the ladies, perhaps Soaring, was hiking in crocs as her boots were causing foot/ankle issues. Luckily they have a zero day planned for tomorrow. We informed them of the potential yogi¢ing of beer ahead and Tigger thought that sounded wonderful.A bit before 4:00 we arrived at the shelter and quickly setup the tent for protection from the bugs! We had very buggy conditions today especially around camp. As evening approaches, the bugs quiet down some, but it's quite miserable to be out in them during the day. As we set up the tent we had a few sprinkles.   Chris arrived about 6:00 and we had another brief set of showers. He had a funny story to share. He was freshening up in the stream down the trail from here with no clothes on unaware that 2 ladies, a mother and mid-aged daughter, were upstream. Apparently the ladies eventually realized that Chris was downstream and struck up a conversation with him and took pictures. Sounds like Chris had a little bit of a challenge getting his clothes back on with them in viewing distance! But the ladies were laughing, having a grand time about it and saying he was very photogenic. Not sure if we want details about the content of the pictures! It's about 6:30 and 75 degrees in the tent. The sprinkles have stopped so we can now open the tent and get some of the cooler air in here! We can hear Chris gathering wood for his nightly fire. I don't think he understands us old folks who go to bed at 7:00. When he arrived at camp tonight at 6:00 and found us already in our tent, he said, " Please tell me you're not hiding in your tent already."   We were actually escaping the bugs and relaxing.   Out we go to enjoy a bonfire with him. We surely do not want him to think we are too awfully old! Goodnight.