Date: 2015-04-26
From: Punchbowl Shelter

To: US 60, Buena Vista, Three Springs Hostel
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: light rain

4/26, Three Springs Hostel, 11.3Its my fault. I sent my winter clothes and sleeping bag home just before beginning this section of trail. Now the weather is colder than we have had for two weeks. After a long cold night, my thermometer read 35 degrees at 5 am and Maverick and I started listening to the rain beginning again around 6 am. It is difficult to set up a tent, keeping it dry inside when raining and even harder to pack in the morning when the rain hasn't ceased. We knew the forecast was for a 20 percent chance through the morning with clearing in the afternoon so we waited for the other 80 percent to arrive. By 7 the rain took a break and we packed and took down as quick as we could. We stopped at the shelter for a few minutes and helped Hungry Eyes make a difficult decision. She had hiked yesterday getting all of her clothes wet, and spent the night shivering. She knew she needed to get dry and warm ASAP so she was trying to decide the best course of action. We had no cell service at the shelter, but the Blue Ridge Parkway was just a half mile north, and we suggested she may get a cell signal or hitch a ride there. When we started hiking at 9 she was still at the shelter and undecided. We only had an eleven mile hike to our pick up to the hostel and with relatively short climbs we thought we would make it by 2:30. The rain never did restart, except for some slight mist late morning, so the only moisture today was the swollen streams. We commented later today that the hike was a little more interesting with so many streams swollen above normal creating a grand variety of water falls and rapids. The only down side is many of those streams are fed by rainwater running down the trails so we had another day of what I call river trails. Nevertheless I got a couple of good selfies with water falls in the background.We arrived at the pick up point on US 60 at 1:50, a bit ahead of our estimates, but soon discovered no ATT signal, and Mavericks phone was dead. I asked another hiker if they had a signal but no one did. Across the road was a house so off I went to try and use a phone. One of the things I expected this trip to change about me was my stubborn, introverted self reliance. In the past I would rather walk 8 miles to town than ask a stranger for use of a phone. I guess after walking 800 miles priorities get slightly altered. The farmer across the road took the hostel number and drove back to the farmhouse to call for me. It was an out of the way thing to do but I appreciate the help. In fifteen minutes the hostel van pulled up and we were on our way to warm and dry nirvana.When we arrived at the hostel there sat Hungry Eyes, warm and dry. She had hiked to the parkway and called Three Springs on her cell and was now enjoying the couch at the hostel. We proceeded to set out our tents and such to dry, took showers and headed to town for a small resupply. When we returned dinner was ready, Fajitas with all the fixins. Dinner is served family so we all sat around the table eating and enjoying the company. After dinner I made a couple calls, my wife and my mother, and then joined the others to watch a movie. It is now nearly 11 so with breakfast served at 7, then right to the trail after that, it is time to say goodnight, and have a pleasant tomorrow.Silverback