Date: 2011-05-15
From: Groseclose, VA

To: VA 42 in a Pavilion
Miles today: 12.1

Day 55 - After attending church, updating my journal we headed north on I-81. Megan dropped me off at 1:48pm and I headed north on the trail. The first part of the trail was okay but there were threatening clouds on the horizon. I got a good hour in and then the rain came and came hard. The woods sound different in the rain, a different sound particularly with the leaves slowing the rain down before hitting the ground. I have been asked numerous times, "what do you think about while walking all day"? Today was a good example, listening to and walking in the rain still brought thoughts of thankfulness to be able to do this--to have the ability and the circumstances that allow me to undertake this challenge. This leads to thoughts of giving thanks for what He has done for me and how He continues to bless and watch over me. These are thoughts and small prayers of thanks that continue to surface as I walk. Virginia is not being kind to hikers right now. Last week, we had the tough, rocky climb up Grayson Highlands and Mt. Rogers. Today the trail has deteriorated due to the rain. I am talking mud and standing water, 5-6 inches deep in some places. I can tell there has been a lot of traffic on the trail today as hikers return from Trail Days. My initial plan was to camp at a place called Crawfish but I arrived there at 4:30 and decided I needed to take advantage of the day light and I did not want to set up my tent in the rain. As I proceeded the trail got progressively worse. In going down the hills you had to actually snow plow with your boots so you would not fall on your butt. On the up hill climbs you would have to take little baby steps, supporting yourself on your trekking poles so you would not slide backwards. The mud was slick as ice. Each time the trail crossed a stream or spring you had to pick your spots in order to move forward. Late in the day, as the sun was losing its intensity, the trail lost its white blazes. I came to a mud pit, with 4-5 paths leading from it. With my head down to watch my step, I proceeded along the path that appeared to have had the most traffic on it. I walked 10-15 minutes up the hill and suddenly realized that I had not seen a white blaze for a while. The path I was on was leading me out of the woods into a pasture. No problem, I thought, I will continue on this path and would certainly pick up a blaze. As I exited the woods I saw another hiker in the pasture and knew I was ok until he yelled out those four terrible words that no hiker wants to hear, "Is this the trail?" I got up to him and said that I would go on up to a little knoll and look for a blaze, but to no avail. I was not at all interested in going back into the dark, muddy quagmire that I had just left, so I decided to walk through the pasture but circling back toward where I thought the trail should be. I walked perhaps 200 hundred yards under the watchful eyes of ten or so Black Angus who did not like me walking through their territory. Finally, up ahead I saw several posts with the white blazes on it so I had guessed correctly. After resuming on the trail, I crossed VA 42 at 7:20pm, where there was a parking lot and a civic club pavilion. "Roadie¢ and ¢Shotgun" had set their tent up underneath the pavilion and I decided to just put my bag on the gravel floor. Camping at this pavilion is frowned upon but we did no damage and it kept us dry during the night as it continued to rain. Well, it kept me sort of dry. After I put my sleeping pad and bag on the ground, water dripping from the roof kept hitting me in the head. So, I had to get up and cover myself with my tent rain fly by hanging it over the picnic tables. Even though I had started late in the day, I still covered 12.1 miles and my total is now 551.6 miles.