Date: 2013-04-16
From: Cornelius Creek Shelter

To: Punchbowl Shelter
Miles today: 30.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was an epic day on the trail and the combination of the "punchbowl challenge" and my favorite view of the trail to date made today one of the most memorable yet..Everyone awoke in the morning to a light fog, as it had rained slightly during the night. I found myself having little motivation to leave the comfort of my sleeping bag, and as I checked the locations of the shelters ahead I thought to myself I would probably end up with a short 17 mile day. But sooner than I could lay back down for a quick nap, the others bagan rising from their bags, forcing me to rise from my warm cocoon and hit the trail.I made my way uphill in the fog, over a small mountain then up to the summit of Apple Orchard mountain. It is supposed to offer excellent views, but despite the sun's attempts to break through the cloud cover alas I saw nothing except the FAA tower atop the mountain. I enjoyed a small snack on the top and made a few calls before heading down the short descent to the thunderhill shelter. I passed through the famous "guillotine" rock squeeze and hopped across the many rocks down the mountain before quickly reaching the shelter. I found the others there enjoying lunch in the now emerging sun. I joined, then we all headed out in synch down the mountain. We passed a small stone overlook on the trail, which offered a nice view of the partially fogged-in valley below. Skeetbutter started his usual rutine of hiking fast, and the rest of us soon found ourselves in the dust. When we reached marble spring gap wefound Skeetbutter combing the area for arrowheads. Flo and I joined him in the search and despite our attempts we came up empty handed. I gathered some water from the nearby spring then headed back onto the trail. I made my way up the slow incline, which continued around some mountain folds. As I wound my way around I could see the others behind me on the opposite side of the small valley. I climbed a small rocky section before none other than Skeetbutter arrived to pass me. This time I decided to try and keep pace with him, and when we reached the top he stopped for a minute to allow some other hikers to use his cell phone and I jogged ahead. I jogged down the steep slope skipping over rocks and roots before reaching a small stream follwed by a short incline then a long ridge walk. I kept jogging along the ridge, which eventually began descending towards the James river. I eventually reached the shelter, where I soaked my shirt in teh stream and had a small snack. Skeetbutter showed up about 15 minutes later and i soon departed, hoping to hitch a ride into Glascow for resupply after the James river. I hiked down from the shelter to the pleasant mile or so of trail which parallels the river. Since the elevation was down below 700 feet the flowers were starting to bloom in abundance and the smell of spring was in the air. I crossed over the bridge and stopped at the parking lot in hopes of getting a hitch. The road seemed very busy, and a man in a nearby car waiting to shuttle another hiker southbound explained the road was pretty dangerous and was a hard hitch. I decided to heed his advice and continue on down the trail in hopes of resupplying at Buena Vista. The others had been talking about taking on what they dubbed the "punchbowl challenge" of doing a 30 mile day to end up at the famous 'haunted shelter.' Back in the late 1800s a child named Ottie had wandered up the mountain in search of firewood and never came back. There is a monument in his honor atop punchbowl mountain and legend has it that the shelter is haunted... I decided about halfway to the Johns Hollow shelter that I would try and take on the challenge, and when I reached the shelter my decision was confirmed. I arrived to find hiker Tenderfoot who explained J-LO got off the trail due to injury. There were also some weekend hikers there who had killed and ate a snake. Luckily I grabbed water as soon as I arrived, because shortly after they captured and ate a frog, disposing of the body back into the stream. I cooked up a hearty dinner, and just as I was preparing to head out Skeetbutter Aloha and Flo arrived. I took off up the steep incline soon followed by the others. The trail slowlty got steeper as the sun began to lower towards the horizon. When I reached the top of the peak I was soon joined by Skeetbutter and we enjoyed a spectacular view of the setting sun. The river valley was filled with green from the recent bloom of spring and the setting sun cast a blue/purple-ish hue onto the upper slopes of the nearby jagged peaks, providing an incredible contrast. We enojyed the view for a short while then prepped for the ensuing night hike..Before long we found ourselved atop bluff mountain, where we enjoyed some pretty views of the lights from nearby cities before heading down the mountain to the shelter. As we made our way down we started jogging and slowly increased our pace before finding ourselves at the shelter shortly after 1015pm. Flo and Aloha arrived not too long after and we soon crashed for the night.