Date: 2009-06-14
From: Bailey Gap Shelter

To: Sarver Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: scattered clouds

FIRST BEAR TODAY!When I awoke this morning, I had planned on hiking some big miles. In the early morning, I talked with Walking Home all about his travels. He is 19 years old, was home-schooled, and lives on an island close to Portland, Maine. The big plus of homeschooling is that as long as you get your work finished, you have a great deal of free time. He has traversed several national parks in mountain bikes, hiked across parts of Scotland, biked across parts of Italy, and now he is hiking the AT. Not bad for a 19-year-old kid. He has yet to decide if he will go to college in the future, but I reckon that he will go. Personally, I had a bit of a late start this morning. My body was hurting from the big climbs the day before and I just didn¢t sleep well at all last night. I made it to Wind Rock, a beautiful vista point, where I called Jill Gavitt, my friend from the study abroad fall traveling circuit. Jill is the Assistant Director of Admissions at Sweet Briar College in Amherst, VA and lives in Central Virginia with her husband, Zack (spelled with a ¢K¢) and their two dogs, Riley and Kiley. Jill will be picking me up on the trail, wherever I will be, in less than a week, so that I can fly from Charlottesville up to New York for Dan and Kim¢s wedding. Logistically, it will be rather difficult to meet up, but I guarantee that it will all work out. While I was talking to her, I had laid out my sweaty clothing on top of the rock in order to allow it to dry. Swarms of black flies descended on to my clothing and my body. Just hearing the buzzing all around me and having flies touch my bare skin every second, while trying to maintain myself through a conversation, was very tough. The plan is for me to get to Daleville, VA, which is where Interstate 81 is, by Thursday and then hitch up to Buena (pronounced Buuuuuna) Vista, where Zack will be working for the Fiddler¢s Convention. At War Spur Shelter, I met Smiley and his dog, Peaches. Smiley is a middle-aged man from Portland, Oregon who was in the Marines for several years ¢ serving in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Germany. He explained to me later on that, due to some marriage issues (which I will not discuss on TJ), he packed up his belongings and set out into the world ¢ homeless and somewhat destitute. As he put it, ¢I left one bitch, for another¢ ¢ in speaking about his dog, Peaches. They have walked and traveled all over the country together and, seemingly, have had some pretty incredible experiences along the way. I hit a very tough climb, nearly 3,500 feet total in elevation over several miles, which completely knocked the wind out of me. Fortunately, as I descended on the other side of the mountain, there were beautiful white rhododendrons spread throughout the area. Down at the Laurel Creek Shelter, I met Jedi, a 25-year-old guy from Northern Virginia. Jedi had worked as a park ranger at a clay shooting site for the past three years. He recently quit his position and took up hiking the AT. He¢s not entirely sure what he¢s going to do when he returns (and he may only go until Harper¢s Ferry), but he says that he¢ll figure it out. I had dinner at the shelter ¢ oysters in a can and one of the Asian sides. The oysters and juice from the oysters made it horribly disgusting, but it was good protein and I just had to gulp it down anyway. Continuing to climb down the mountain, I saw this large brown thing jump out of nowhere and run off into the distance. A BEAR! My first one in 665 miles! It was just a bit surreal, as it really showed me that I was out in the woods. There were no cages, no wires, and no protection. It was just you and the animals in the woods. Minutes later, I exited the woods and started traversing across Virginia countryside with beautiful farmland. I could hear the buzzing of tractors in the distance and the chirping of crickets to the side. It was a beautiful scene. After I waded through the chest-high grass, I checked for ticks. It¢s getting to be that time for ticks and I must have pulled off about six of them. I just hope that I won¢t get lyme disease as I roll through Northern Virginia and into Pennsylvania area. Yikes! I passed some donkeys to the side in the farm and then VA 630. The sun was really getting quite low and I figured that I would be hiking into the late evening by the time that I would arrive at the Sarver Hollow Shelter. For the last two miles, I really should have had my light on in order to see signs and the trail. I had run out of water and was so thirsty that when I arrived at the shelter sign, I went down the wrong embankment. It was straight down and it seemed as if there were tracks for a 4 X 4, so I really doubted that I was on the side trail to the shelter. After descending down for .4 miles, I was so angry with myself for not taking out my light. I picked myself back up and climbed the incredibly steep embankment (with my heavy pack on), swearing as I walked. Once I arrived at the top, I climbed .3 miles down the other side of the mountain ¢ another steep embankment ¢ and finally arrived at the shelter. Jedi and Smiley had just arrived moments before, so my late arrival ¢ 10:00 pm ¢ wasn¢t all too late. I was thirsty as hell, so I immediately went to the well down another side trail and went to sleep. I didn¢t even have dinner.