Date: 2008-10-16
From: Cow Camp Gap Shelter

To: Fish Hatchery Road
Miles today: 13.5

Some kind of nut tree was right by the shelter. And every time the wind would blow, nuts would come loose and hit the shelter roof. Either they were big nuts in green casing or they fell a long way or both. The first time it did it I was resting, close to sleep, it sounded like a gunshot. No lie. But after a while I got used to it. I would wake up and then go right back to sleep.I was up early and getting ready in the dark, as usual, so I could begin hiking at 7:30. It doesn't get light until at least 7:00. I never did think to look and see what kind of nut tree it was.Claw Hammer got up before I left and we chatted a bit. Then I set out to walk the .5 miles back to the AT. And then I was walking AT miles. For thru-hikers, only the trail miles count, not the side trips. I counted .5 miles though although I have not counted the other side trips to shelters that were less than .5. Shelters that far off the trail are usually avoided but it was the only water source for a very long way.The views from Cold Mountain were fantastic. The weather was a little cooler today, in the 60s instead of the 80s. Thank you, God. The wind was blowing very hard on Cold Mountain although it was not cold, at least not while hiking with a backpack. I did look a little funny, I suppose, hiking in shorts and sports bra with gloves on. The wind made my hands cold.I passed 4 SOBO section hikers of mature age, at least one of whom did the whole AT some years ago, Sub, John, Scavenger and Torch. Fun.The accent color in the forest is actually green against the yellow and brown. There is also one small tree whose leaves turn white and that is a pretty contrast too. The leaf drop is getting considerable. With the wind blowing like this, the Shenandoahs may be winter bare in another week. The red leaves of the Dogwoods are mostly down now. I haven't really seen any today. There is still some red from a red leaf Maple and some Sumac and some shrubs.People sometimes think all the white blazes (the white painted verticle rectangles that are the trail signs for the AT) so often on the trees are overkill. But if you are hiking in the fall during heavy leaf drop, it is very nice to have all those blazes. With the thick leaves on the trail it sometimes looks very much like the thick leaves on the rest of the hillside. Once I had difficulty finding the next white blaze for a while and waded around in leaves half way to my knees before finally spotting the next blaze. Thank you to those who paint the blazes.I was happy today to find Shag Bark Hickories. They are one of the few trees in the Eastern Forests that I can actually identify by their very distinctive bark. Some of the nuts I have been seeing seemed to be Hickory but I had not seen the Shag Bark before. Today I finally found both together. Cool!I pushed a bit so I could have lunch at Wolf Rocks and have mileage I could manage to get to Fish Hatchery Road for my pickup at 5:30.Shortly after lunch I passed a woman and dog out for a dayhike. The afternoon had some very nice trail that I could manage pretty fast for me.When I got to Seely Woodworth Shelter I found Woodman and Jerm. Jerm is a long section hiker from Atlanta going from Harpers Ferry to Damascus. She was fun to meet even if only briefly. Woodman took pictures of us on our cameras.Oh, I forgot, about a mile or so before getting to the shelter, I passed an apple tree dropping apples that really looked good, nice green with a nice red blush. I just had to pick one up and try it. It was delicious! Crisp and sweet and juicy! I took another bit and then I got stung by a wasp who also wanted the apple. I gave it the apple.I considered the epipen my Doc had given me but decided I did not think I really had ever had a bad reaction from a bee or wasp sting. So I rubbed cortizone cream on it and that seemed to work pretty good.2&1/2 miles after the shelter, after chatting with Woodman on the way before he took off to the Priest Shelter, I got to Fish Hatchery Road. Pretty soon 2 SOBO thru-hikers also showed up and I used their cell phone to call Dutch Haus. They came and got us and brought us to Dutch Haus.I will talk more about Dutch Haus tomorrow but I will say now this is an incredible place and lives up to all the good reports I had been given by other hikers.You walk in the door and are shown to your room and given a laundry basket and instructed to put all your dirty clothes in for them to wash and you are given a bathrobe to wear while your clothes are getting clean. And dinner was wonderful and plenteous. Fantastic place!There 5 SOBO thru-hikers here (Song Bird, Lightning Rod, Earthworm, Griz, and Superman) and a young woman cyclist from the Netherlands (Judith) and me. It is her birthday today so we had cake with candles and ice cream. Fun.