Date: 2006-05-25
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Quite a bit of excitement last night after I finished my journal. I was laying in my sleeping bag listening to the radio when one of the other people in the shelter came up and asked if I had a cell phone. It turns out that one of the section hikers staying at the shelter had started having chest pains and difficulty breathing. I gave my cell phone, but we really couldn¢t get anyone on the line. There¢s just no service out here.        Just as we were wondering whether to send someone running down the trail to the ranger station four miles away, two more people showed up at the shelter. It was easily 9:30 ¢ 10:00 p.m. so they arrived hiking by flashlight. One of them was a vascular surgeon. Talk about real Trail Magic there. What are the chances of a doctor of any sort showing up at a shelter after dark?        The surgeon was able to determine that it wasn¢t anything immediately life threatening, but didn¢t feel comfortable leaving it for the morning; so it was back to the phones we went. The surgeon was able to briefly get 911 services, which told him to call a specific number. After that we couldn¢t get anything. I discovered that I could get 911 services on one specific spot in a corner of the shelter. I confirmed that yes; they were sending paramedics to the shelter.        After that it was a matter of waiting for the EMT¢S to arrive. It took about an hour and a half and we were all starting to doze off when we suddenly heard engines. We went outside and we saw a string of ATV¢S making their way through the fields of Grayson Highlands. It¢s a good thing we were out on an open bald so they could just drive right up like that.        The EMT¢S worked on him for a bit and then carried him off in a stretcher. After that I got back into my bag and passed out. I dunno how the hiker is or what was wrong with him, though the surgeon suspected it was an ulcer. I¢ll have to remember to look for any news stories about a hiker being evacuated from the Thomas Knob Shelter.        Anyway, due to the late-night craziness, I slept in later than I usually do, and got a late start today. Not that this morning provided much of a pleasant hiking experience. It was drizzling and there was a tremendous driving wind, so the rain was slamming into me so hard it hurt.        Eventually, the rain cleared away and the sun came out, which I was not expecting, so it was a pleasant surprise. After that it was pretty good hiking weather, even a touch on the hot side.        I got a bunch of tiny little Trail Magics today. The first being right towards the end of the rain when I ran across a few people handing out candy and sodas for thru-hikers. The next was a bit more important as it was a hiker who pointed out a reasonably short hike (one mile each way with pack off) to a phone I could use to call the post office in Atkins. My plan had been to arrive in Atkins on Sunday, get my mail on Monday and head out without stopping. While eating lunch at Wise Shelter, I suddenly realized that not only are the post offices closed on Monday (Memorial Day), but that I was likely going to get to Atkins on Saturday. So I had gone from not stopping to having to take TWO zeros. Duh!        The other hiker at the shelter, though, had had the same problem and directed me to a phone in the state park only a mile away on easy trails. Using the p hone, because I send everything priority mail, I could have them forward my packages elsewhere. So I forwarded my bounce box to ¢Bland¢, which is a town 40 more miles down the trail. My other mail I forwarded to the Relax Inn in Atkins, so I can pick it up whenever I want.        The third bit of Trail Magic was the couple at the camp store who gave me a quarter when I was short on change when I wanted to get a soda from a nearby vending machine after using the phone. It¢s the little things.        Of course, since I had to take that detour, I couldn¢t go as far as I wanted today, which is making me revise my schedule and I¢ll be arriving in Atkins on Sunday after all. Still, now I don¢t even have to wait on Monday, so it all works out.