Date: 2006-10-28
From: pearisburg

To: symm's gap meadow
Miles today: 12.2

======2003====== wednesday, april 16, day 54got a late start today...bill gautier, who manages the hostel, graciously shuttled 5 of us back out to the trail.....but it wasn¢t until about 8 when he arrived at the hostel and then a couple of the guys (goose and miles-to-go) still had to stop at the post office.....then, poor goose had left his trail guide back at the hostel, so we had to return to get that...but what a ¢trip¢, getting to ride around with bill and his little boston terrier!....bill is retired from the military.......his speech and mannerisms are wonderfully ¢saucy¢!...(an example?....in expressing some of his political views, he ¢hyperbolated¢ that he¢d like to ¢hang jane fonda from a tree¢!....of course, we all knew that if it came down to it, good ol¢ bill would give ¢jane¢ the shirt off his back!).....anyway, we got a good ¢taste¢ of what it was like to be bill!....he was also a bit ¢ticked¢ at this guy at the hostel (same one who had done such a ¢great¢ job ¢encouraging¢ me yesterday), because he had refused to take two other hikers to the bus station....(said he intended to have a little talk with him when he got back....that the guy had been at the hostel too long anyway)......it wasn¢t difficult to see bill¢s enthusiasm for hikers, though, and the hostel that he managed with such bill-gautier-affection!.....(although he indicated that the ¢higher-ups¢ there didn¢t really share that affection....i don¢t get it.....isn¢t this sort of thing supposed to be what the church is about: ¢i was a stranger and you took me in¢?).....oh well....bill does his part anyway to carry out the ¢ministry¢.....he¢s always checkin¢ on the hikers...askin¢ if everything¢s okay....makin¢ himself available to shuttle or whatever.....i wish i¢d taken a picture of bill and his cute little hyperactive dog!we finally said goodbye to bill and pearisburg and were at last on our way up the trail...and i do mean UP the trail!....it¢s a pretty steep climb with a full pack there and it was HOT today!....the first day since we began that i wouldn¢t have CARED if anything got soaked with rain!....in fact, we dunked our bandanas in a streamlet there on the side of the mountain a couple of times and let them hang dripping (or paw tied his around his head)....what with the full load, my time of the month and a bit of ¢town trashiness¢ still hangin¢ on, it made for a difficult pull....we trudged on, however, trying not to let our previously winter protected, but now exposed skin get sun burnt....trying to take it easy so we didn¢t bring on heat exhaustion......we¢re still seeing bloodroot.....we also saw uvularia (bellwort) today......our schedule indicated a short day...only 8 miles....but even with our late start, we ended up walkin¢ on out the ridge here to symm¢s meadow*...how beautiful it is up here in this high meadow in the mountains!...and as far as i know, we¢re the only ones up here for miles!...the views are spectacular with the allegheny range undulating off to the west....nice to see a few real ¢bumps¢ in the horizon again....there¢s a marshy sort of pond here and the peepers are ¢goin¢ to town¢.....there was ¢dinner music¢ too as a mockingbird serenaded us as we indulged in corn pasta...the drumming of grouse we ALWAYS hear these days...it looks as if we might could get a little thunderstorm......we¢ve had a few little sprinkles over the last hour or so....but right now the sun and the clouds are ¢battling¢ it out in the west to see who wins the prize in contributing to an incredibly golden sunset!.......there are old apple trees up here in this windswept meadow, one to which our tarp is hopefully securely attached (if it does storm)....we feel snug and safe under here at the moment, but we¢ve never yet experienced really violent weather under the tarp....if the wind up here did happen to ¢uproot¢ this thin, but necessary little sheet of nylon, it wouldn¢t see earth again till it landed in a tree somewhere far west of the alleghenies!...(and then we¢d REALLY be ¢homeless¢!)i guess the most exciting thing that happened today was the 5 fighter jets that ROARED over us just at the ridgeline! it was awesome!....they were so close we almost felt as if we could have reached out and touched their wingtips!....and they were so fast that for a split second they were there and then they were gone!.....it was the strangest experience*....a heart palpitating irony...standing there dumbfounded on the trail, our ears covered with our hands, our feet throbbing with the experiential knowledge of man¢s most primitive and ancient form of travel....and yet our eyes beheld in the same instant the high-tech magic of men being transported over the ridgetop at a speed faster than the sound their near and screaming engines could reach our ears!....two eras.....two worlds.... juxtaposed on one mountaintop older than any of us....in a split second all the human eons came together....and we were there to behold it!........my! my! it took me a while this a.m. to get my ¢head in gear¢ for hiking again.......too much ¢negative¢* stuff in town.....but now that we¢re out here again, it feels so good....so right....even though we¢re both pretty exhausted at the end of every day, still there¢s just something that feels so absolutely, incredibly right and good about it all!.....and speaking of exhausted....i think it¢s time to think about reading my bible and doing what paw is doing already....SLEEPING!======2006====== thursday, april 6, day 54 (app.16.3 miles from about a mile or so past VA 624 to lambert¢s meadow shelter)well... it began to get a little overcast today, but no wind and very nice temps.....we were really looking forward to this section and it did not disappoint!....i think we got some pretty good photos....although paw declined to have his picture made out on the point at mcafee knob*...(i was the only one out THERE today!....just barely though....i won¢t go near the edge!)scenes from today?...well...let¢s see....beginning with early this morning....we went out before true daylight about 6:00...followed the creek and bloodroot out to the pastures.....several barns were silhouetted against the lightening skies.....had the ¢delightful¢ experience of encountering cows again!....the bull didn¢t really seemed to be as bothered by us as i suspected he might be......but one of the herd did ¢moo¢ at us!....then we crossed the creek and proceeded to climb the long pasture hill......near the top we stopped for a moment to turn around and have one last look at where we had come down off the mountain yesterday.....we could see dragon¢s tooth* all lit up with the morning sun in the distance!......as we entered the woods again and began to climb the knob we saw a deer ( or rather, the shadowy figure of one) go leaping up the dark, rocky hillside that was only just beginning to ¢warm¢ with the sun....the scene made me think of the scripture: ¢He makes my feet like hind¢s feet¢......another scene from this afternoon on our way to tinker cliffs was of a long ¢hallway¢...a ¢sidewalk¢ sort of configuration of flat-ish boulders (the actual trail) for about 50 yards or so, with full-blooming serviceberry, very white, arching over from either side!....it totally had the feel of a ¢wedding chapel¢!.....or a scene i imagine one might encounter in the New Earth!.....i think if the Lord allows me an occupation in heaven, i would love to design and install parks and trails and gardens!....i decided today as i walked through this flowery, woodland nave that it was definitely a scene i would be interested in re-creating!we met frank (lorenzo?...horenzo?) today from roanoke at the campbell shelter where we stopped for a break.....learned that his beloved son john is the inspiration for the new ¢boy scout shelter¢ for whom it is named.....john hiked in 95-96, but somehow missed signing in at springer....frank told us it was his wish this year to travel to georgia to accomplish this for john.....frank was very helpful (and also blessed us with some delicious trail mix!).....he belongs to the club which helps maintain this section and loves looking after the shelters.....it¢s folks like frank who make this trail so much more than a mere footpath!we¢ve been seeing lots of butterflies....we saw the beautiful zebra swallowtail today along with all types of others!we are here at lambert¢s meadow shelter ( with the ¢03 reputed sock-eating monster rat!)....there are cherry trees in bloom here and the many butterflies really seem to love them!.....it is so quiet and still and warm....i imagine we¢ll get rain....i saw a deer a little while ago down near the water here...and we watched two hawks do a little ¢dance¢ above the treetops!....the spicebush is showing off plenty of golden bloom down here (at the higher elevations it was lyonia that stole the show).....we crossed the ridge above catawba today, looking down on the store we stopped at in ¢03 (and the little post office that was so good to help us).....we saw the red roof of the homeplace restaurant, but alas... no BBQ for us tonight....we just passed right on through like we had good sense!.....we¢ll probably have some good ¢town grub¢ in Daleville tomorrow anyway!......we¢ve also got to get ourselves to the outfitters for some supplies.....want to check and see, too, if there¢s a hostel anywhere in town.....(OH!....WE PASSED 700 MILES TODAY!....1/3 OF THE WAY!)....i guess we¢ll be goin¢ to the grocery tomorrow, too...(the kroger superstore!) to get paw-ee a grapefruit! (and maybe some juice and some other fresh stuff!).....i sure do hope we can find a hostel.........with a washin¢ machine!*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS*symm¢s meadow....(see our photos).....click ¢previous¢ above.....then click on photo (of ¢hikers in the kitchen¢).....click ¢next¢ to see paw filtering water at symm¢s....or 3 more to view maw in the same vicinity*mcafee knob and dragon's tooth....(see our photos).....click on the photo above ....then click "previous" about 15 clicks for pics of our coming over dragon's tooth.....for mcafee knob pics, continue clicking forward (in the photo album) past dragon's tooth (about 15 or so clicks on "next")...the trek up to mcafee on day 54 begins on the photo entitled "following a mossy trail up to mcafee"*strangest experience....watchin¢ the fighter jets......i¢ve been reading nimblewill nomad¢s ¢10 million steps¢ and i noticed he had a similar experience that evoked similar feelings.....it really does strike the most ironic chord, i think, as you stand there on that ridge having walked 6 or 700 miles and witness super sonic flight!.....amazing!*negative stuff in town........or rather ¢positive¢ if you measure by most modern, american standards.....but paw-ee and i have learned, i think, that certain ¢positive conveniences¢ when placed alongside a simple, unencumbered, vibrant life in the woods, basically equates to unnecessary clutter that can negatively influence both body and soul.......subsequently.... ¢sickness¢ and ¢death¢ become the unhappy results of such ¢positive¢ indulgences....