Date: 2009-05-11
From: Campbell Shelter

To: Daleville
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

15.4 miles.It took awhile for me to fall asleep last night. I started out too warm, but then get too cold as I'd take my hood off and poke my head out of the sleeping bag. I wish I had kept my balaclava. One Pint was snoring a bit so I dug around my toiletry stuff sack and found my earplugs. As I was drifting off, two owls replaced the whipoorwill that had joined us earlier. One close and one far off, calling back and forth to each other. The far owl flew in and they continued to chat and hoot for awhile near the shelter. Then around 2 am, a bunch of us woke up to hear some loud rustling and stomping around the shelter and privy. We weren't sure what it was, and couldn't see well, but it sounded and acted like a bear. We hadn't bear bagged our food that night, so maybe it was feeling bold. I woke up for the last time at 6 am to some light rain. I pilled my stuff into the shelter and thought about sleeping more, but everyone else started to get up and pack. We hit the trail as it started to pour which continued all day. Had a steady climb up to Tinker Cliffs (where Revolutionary War deserters fled and repaired pots and pans). I decided I am definitely out of shape--legs and shoulders hurting, along with soreness on my hips. I hiked in my rain jacket, which I normally don't because it leaves you just as wet from sweat, but it was a cold rain so I left it on. I got to the cliffs and went 10 ft. down the wrong trail but saw Stretch making his way back. It turns out that everyone had continued to walk under the cliffs on an extremely poorly marked trail. Getting lost on the trail doesn't happen very often--usually people put branches to block side trails, and 99% of the time there's only one option anyway. But in heavily trafficked areas, with other side trails, we generally expect trail maintainers and ridge runners to properly mark the trail with white blazes. Oh well.Reached the top of the cliffs and saw a few views before the cloud and fog rolled in, each colliding from opposite directions. We pushed on in the rain to Lambert's Meadow Shelter and had a quick lunch. There was a phoebe in the shelter that had made a next--the hills have definitely come alive since I left. With 9 miles and a few hiccups left until Daleville, I left the shelter to hike and get warm. It started to clear up a bit as we moved across a ridge with lots of rock scrambles. Saw a reservoir and some forested vistas. I even saw an orange salamander with red spots which was really neat. It was lying in the shelter so I picked him up and moved him to a rock. I was hungry all day but I didn't want to stop in the rain and so close to a town. One Pint and I spent our day swapping stories (she served in Desert Storm and has lived across the world), talking about the absurdity of crazy evangelicals and certain trail angels, and goofing around. I got to Daleville, checked into a room with 4 of the other guys and walked down to Wendy's, Kroger, and the outfitter. After hanging around there for awhile I bought a pair of briefs to help with any reoccurence of the chaffing that had plagued me earlier. Ate awful Mexican food, knee is hurting, old foot injury is aching, shin splint is giving me issues, sore shoulder---yep, feeling great.I'm looking forward to eating some of the heavy food in my pack.