Date: 2004-04-04
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: US 52 (Big Walker Motel, Bland, VA)
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: light rain

Brushy Mountain5:30PM(EDT) - Big WalkerAfter seeing the sun last night it stayed clear enough that I saw the almost-full moon setting over the Brushy Mountain in front of the shelter. But well before that strong, gusty winds came up, bringing a bit of misty rain with them occasionally. Since strong gusty winds have signalled a weather change every other time the have come through, I wondered what was coming in the morning. The answer, cold and snow.By the time I retrieved my bear bag, the earlier light rain had turned to ice. Shortly a light snow began to fall. The cold and snow continued most of the day, accompanied by a strong wind. It was weather much like the day before I got to Pearisburg, except it was a bit colder and the precipitation was a bit lighter.That made all the difference. Since it wasn't raining, I didn't need to worry about my clothes getting wet. So I wore an extra layer top and bottom, and was toasty most of the day. The walk for the day was mostly a short UP Brushy Mountain, then a ridge walk along its top. Brushy Mountain is just about as long as Sawtooth Ridge (Catawba Mtn), and just about as bumpy. (I am using the word 'bumpy' here in a sense I learned in my early distance running days in California. Whenever we talked about a road that had lots of hills my running companions would use the California hyperbolic understatement 'bumpy' to refer to it. That is how I will use that word in this journal. If I want to talk about something that is bumpy in the ordinary sense, I will use 'rocky' or 'rooty', since one of these will be the likely nature of the bumpiness.)The main difference between my walk along Brushy Mtn and Sawtooth Ridge was that on Sawtooth Ridge the day was hot and wiped me out. Today's walk on Brushy Mtn was pleasantly refreshing and I enjoyed every minute of it, even the constant flurry of snow around my face. (It never got cold enough to freeze my water tube, so I never felt the snow or wind were overly cold.)I had 2 instances of 'found' Trail Magic today. The first was a case of cola and a couple gallons of spring water left beside the trail near VA 611 by an anonymous Trail Angel. This Trail Angel was even thoughtful enough to have left the printout of the weather forecast for Bland for the next ten days. I partook of both the cola and the water, and duly noted the forecast. Thanks, to whomever.The second found Trail Magic was related to my only thru-hiker meeting today, with Stanimal (who surprised me by reminding me we were on Daylight Savings Time). He had taken three days off the Trail in Bland, to meet with and be treated by relatives. The remains of their partying were left in a cooler near the VA 612 trailhead. I enjoyed a piece of chicken and a bottle of Yeungling. Thanks, Stanimal!Right after that Trail Magic I was planning to get off the Trail in Bland. All day yesterday I had been pondering whether I should do a 19 miler today (I have been planning to do 1 long day on the leg from Pearisburg to Atkins.) or stay in town in Bland. The foot problem I had yesterday made that choice for me. I did put moleskin on my heel, and tied my shoes a bit less tight, and both feet seem to be doing well. But I didn't want to push it, and planned to stop in town from the time I got up.Just before reaching US 52 I would be crossing I-77. I was strangely excited about that, partly because of the role the AT crossing of I-90 has played in my interest in the Trail, and partly because I am surprised that this will only be my 3rd Interstate crossing after 300 miles (Yes, I passed that milestone today.).Well, from the time I drank that Yeungling until I left the Trail, it was all uphill (literally)(BTW - this stretch is very poorly blazed, probably because it is a road walk and many of the roadsigns have been newly replaced.). First, there is about a half mile up a steep VA 612. Then the bridge over I-77 is reached, but the steepness abates only a little. And today the added feature of a driving, snow-laden wind (This bridge is right on the pass where I-77 cuts through the mountains.) made walking so difficult that at times I felt like Sir Edmund Hillary struggling up Everest (When I got to the motel I found that the wind was gusting as high as 43mph in this area today.). Finally, I attained US 52, but the wind was so strong and the road so sharply curved that it was no place to hitch a ride into town as I had planned. So I walked up another steep, windy grade until I reached the place where the Trail went into the woods again. Fortunately the road levelled out and straightened up there, and the wind was blocked by a hillside. And even more fortunately a young lady driving her niece and nephew somewhere picked me up, gave me a tour of Bland and drove me to the motel, which must have been considerably out of her way judging by the comments the kids were making. Thanks, millions, Elissa and Jeremy's aunt !!Tomorrow I should encounter two AT landmarks. The first is Little Wolf Creek. It has 12 creek crossings in 2 miles, and a foul weather bypass if the weather is so bad as to make the crossings perilous. (I have conflicting weather forecasts for tomorrow. One is for sunny skies, one for an inch of snow. Go figure.) Tomorrow my hiking poles will get a workout, and I'll see if this pair of shoes is really better on rocks than the other one.The second landmark is Burkes Garden, also known as God's Thumbprint. (Judy and Victor - this is the place you were mentioning on top of Wind Rock.) It is a depression about 8 miles long and 4 miles wide and at least 1000' below the surrounding mountainous terrain. It looks like some kind of a crater on the topographical maps. I can't wait to see it.But now, dinner at the DQ awaits me.See you on down the Trail------------------------------Have you ever seen a rock scrapethe sky? www.pocketmail.com