Date: 2015-11-06
From: War Spur Shelter 

To: The Captain's Place 
Miles today: 11.5

Last night Tao gave me a stick of butter, and I put a third of it into my Knorr pasta mix and dehydrated vegetables. When I met Fiddle she was carrying a tub of butter and told me I should be doing the same especially when it is cold. I started by adding a tablespoon but when I saw Tao put in half a stick and thought about my clothes falling off of me, I upped mine to a third thinking more is better. It tasted very rich and flavorful, but I got full quickly and had a hard time finishing it. I quickly got stabbing pains in my stomach and dreamt about butter all night but not in a good way.  I woke up still feeling the effects of too much butter and did not feel right all day. Lesson learned.Virginia really tried to trip me up today, and I thought I had lost my mind and was back in Pennsylvania. It was a big climb up to Lone Pine Peak and the trail was VERY rocky for about four miles to Bailey Gap shelter.  It took me forever, and I was not expecting to encounter these rocks again.  They were big and small and hidden in the leaves and jagged and pointy and tortured my feet. The steps in between the rocks were deep with leaves and my feet sunk to the wet ground. I stopped for a late lunch at the shelter which was directly on the trail. I love it when that happens. It was very tempting to cut my day short and spend the night because the temperatures were dropping and rain was threatening. As I was reading the trail log entries about the brutal rocks I read that someone was charging their phone in the outlet here. What! I looked up and spyed an outlet and within seconds had jumped up and gotten my charger from my pack and plugged in my phone thinking I wouldn't have to zip line to the Captain's Place after all. It did not work, so I left a little disappointed. I had never seen a charging station at an outdoor shelter before but what a brilliant idea. I can only imagine the hikers in a big bubble racing to get one of the two outlets first.The rest of the hike was pleasant but cold, and I walked by several large creeks and a two mile rhododendron tunnel. It was beautiful and green this time of year. I can imagine it is magnificent to walk through when in bloom. I finally made it to the sign directly on the trail that says Captain's Place and followed the arrow down to Stony Creek and saw the zip line. I got into it with my backpack on my back and it immediately swung me to the middle of the creek where I had to pull on the cable to get to the other end while maintaining my balance without falling into the creek. Success. I was greeted by The Captain's dogs Buddy and Layla who lavished me with love and attention. I found the charging station on his porch and as I was setting up my tent in the yard The Captain himself came out to say hello and invited me to sleep on his back porch because heavy rain is expected tonight. He was leaving for the evening but let me stay in his beautiful creek front oasis. I set up my nest on his porch and listened to the sound of the water cascading over rocks in the creek and then soaked my aching feet in the ice cold water. My stomach is still sore from too much butter and I have little appetite so I munched on pretzels and peanut butter for dinner and drank lots of water since it is so plentiful here. It is now pouring rain, and I am laying in my sleeping bag with two big adorable dogs running all over me. I hope thry don't puncture my air mattress or rip my down bag. They bark at every single noise and car that goes by. I am so grateful to The Captain for sharing this restful dry spot for the evening. He even has a wifi code for hikers to use. Where else does one find this amount of generosity and trust from complete strangers except on the trail?  It is still overwhelming and mind boggling to me. I will never take it for granted and will always pay it forward. The amount of support and encouragement from everyone reading my journal is overwhelming as well. It makes my day when I oheck my email and find an unexpected message from someone. Thank you!