Date: 2007-07-09
From: Three Ridges Summit

To: Fish Hatchery Road
Miles today: 15.7

Today I had to walk through hell to get to heaven, literally. I even had to meet a Priest! Even though I slept on top of the ridge, I did not wake up to a great sunrise, but it was a nice morning. Going down Three Rdges was not nice though. It was steep and rocky and long and steep and rocky and just went on forever. Having female issues start up halfway down the descent didn't help either. Not only is gravity putting stress on my knees and feet as I am trying to remain surefooted, I now how to deal with the uncomfortableness of gravity tugging on my uterus. Ugh! Men have it so easy! I stopped at the shelter and woke up a nobo hiker, an Asian fella with a dog, their trail name, Team Doggiebag. He's quite a character and a quite a talker. I enjoy a candy bar to settle my nerves and energize me for the remainder of the downhill to the Tye River. A little before the river, I meet another nobo section hiker who asks me if I am from Alpharetta. Quite an unusual question. I'm used to the "Are you Allison?" or "Are you Suoperstar?" But, this is a new one. Well, it turns out he stayed at the Dutch Haus last night and Chief had told him that he might meet me. He's a teacher from FL and we chat a bit about our hike and such. I reach the Tye River and take a bird bath and watch the fish jump in the water. Can't stay here forever. I have a huge climb ahead of me. It's called the Priest and it's about a 4000' elevation climb in about 3-4 miles. What this translates to is uphill for hours with no breaks in terrain. It is so hot and humid and I have no ene! rgy, but I climb and climb. I get about half way up where there is a nce rock outcropping and sit and rest and eat. I also make a phone call to Gob to check in with him to see if we might be able to hike some this summer. He is impressed and surprised that I am so far south. He plans to talk to his hiking buddy and see if he can arrange to meet me somewhere. When our conversation ends, a deer walks over to the edge of the outcropping, not minding my presence. I get out my camera and video it dining on some foliage. The deer in VA are not people shy.TIme to continue up the mountain. It is so hot I feel lke my head will explode - I can feel the heat radiating off my skin. I pass 3 pairs of dayhikers. I finally make it to the top. There is a shelter and I stop for water and more food and a shoes off break. I prepare to head downhill and hopefully to the Dutch Haus. I wish I knew what time they served dinner! I pass by the big rocks that give this mountain its name. Maybe I'm not a religious enough person because I do not get an overwhelming spiritual feeling from the rocks, but I take a picture of the rocks and make a few confessions that I will keep between me and the Priest. It's downhill for a while on gravely trail. I don't know where Wingfoor is getting his data from as I can find any of the points of interest that he mentions. That is until the Spy Rock trail. I take this as I understand I will be able to get enough cell phone service to call the Dutch Haus for a ride. I dial the number and get a messag ! telling me the line is out of service. What! I have struggled so hard today with the hopes of ending this dreadful day in a warm and inviting B&B. I call home and ask dad to look up a local number for them, maybe the number has changed since last year's guidebook was published. It turns out the phone was out of service temporarily, but Earl will be at the road to pick me up. I arrive at Fish Hatchery Road and its a gnarly steep gravel road, but get to the end of the road and Earl arrives in his charriot to take me to heaven, that being the B&B. When I walk into the B&B, Lois show me to my room, overs me a bath robe to wear after my shower and then collects my dirty laundry and shows me to the dinner table where she has saved me a plate of food. The other guests have finished dinner by the time I get out of the shower, but Chief stays with me to chat while I eat a delishious dish of shrimp linguine, fresh garden picked green beans, and salad. Later, the other guests and I have apple pie with ice cream for dessert on the front porch with the hummingbirds fighting over the birdfeeders. To end the day in heaven like this was totally worth the hell I walked up, over and through!