Date: 2009-05-07
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Jenny Knob Shelter
Miles today: 23.8
Weather: broken clouds

Due to the loudness of the storm, sleeping with half of my body off my sleeping pad, and the continuation of the rain in the morning, I had no inclination to get up. At 7:30, I finally did so when I heard someone say, "The sun has come out!" (Single Speed had asked me the night before how many consecutive days of rain we had had...Whew! That was a lot to think back to... I said five, but as I thought about it during the course of the night, I realized it was nine and suggested that he might want to correct that fact in his journal). Sky King was complaining about missing his morning ritual of coffee, the newspaper, and a morning swim back at home. There seemed to be a lot of grumbling and complaining going on in that shelter. I, personally, have not missed anything from "home." Every day out here is unique to me, which makes life so much livelier and interesting than the same daily work routine. I have yet to experience any feeling of the much talked about "Virginia Blues."   I was the last one to leave the shelter and was again happy to have a few minutes to myself. A couple of the hikers that had spent the night planned on stopping in Bland to resupply. I was moving on towards Pearisburg, where my next maildrop was being sent.   We all started the morning with a steep climb up perhaps the fifth mountain that we had come to that was named 'Brushy Mountain.' At the top of the mountain, I felt a pair of eyes looking at me. It turned out to be those of a deer, which was much more comforting than a person! He froze, staring at me, and after I said, "Hi" to him, turned and ran off. Later in the day, I saw a pheasant (or possibly grouse?) fly out of the bushes in front of me (just like what had happened to Michigan Wolverine). It did not startle or scare me. It just made me happy to be walking alone, where I could witness such things.   There would be a lot of road and highway walking ahead. I find it harder to know if I'm still on the right path when I'm walking on roads than I do in the woods. I kept wondering if I was going the right way, which takes extra time and energy (I did see a church and wondered if someone would come out and verify the direction of the trail... later I would find out this church was giving out great trail magic every Monday. I, personally, have received no trail magic since Georgia!)      I finally found my way back into the woods and onto Helveys Mill Shelter, which was 1/3 of a mile off the AT. I ran into Mischa on my way in and was very surprised to see him, as I thought he was a lot farther ahead. It was 3 pm and he was on his way to Jenny Knob Shelter. I told him that I was going to take an extended break and then see how far I could get. It was looking like I would camp, as the next shelter was 10 miles away. Mischa looked at his watch and said again, "Yeah, it's early."   I ran into Lonesome Roads a little father into the side path to the shelter. He was drying out his tent after staying out in the big storm. While I was snacking, the rain started up again and sent him scurrying to gather his gear again. After an extended phone conversation (how rare to get reception at a shelter!), and a long trip downhill to collect more water, I left the shelter a little after four. As I ticked off the miles, I knew the next shelter was within reach by that evening. I just had to keep up a strong pace. Knowing that Mischa would be at the shelter, I felt safe about going there (without this knowledge, part of me would have been scared that I might find the hiker who I was told to avoid there, and would have felt safer camping alone). It turned out that there weren't many great camping spots along this section (none that jumped out as being really nice, anyway). It once again started sprinkling, and I picked up the pace, rewarding myself at the last road with a nut bar, before the final push. I arrived a little after 7:30 to find Mischa alone. I told him that I hoped I wasn't ruining his solitude. He said he could deal with one person. He offered me some of his green tea, but I declined. Then, I thought it might actually be nice... Luckily, he offered it again. It is rare that I ever get offered anything on the trail- especially from another backpacker- so I really appreciated the gesture. It felt like a nice treat, not having to collect water, purify it, boil it, and make my own tea. We talked about our jobs and lifestyles back home, and then set up our sleeping spaces on opposite sides of the shelters. The mouse-proof barriers were really nice in this shelter, with four hooks per device, strong enough to hang our packs on. There were flyers in the shelter for Woods Hole Hostel, where Mischa had planned on spending the following night. I had not planned on stopping there, as I was going into Pearisburg, about 30 miles away. A lot of people in the registry had written about their plans to stop at Trent's grocery 6 miles north, causing part of me to wonder if I, too, should make a quick visit there. The guidebook said they cooked hamburgers and pizza there. Mischa said he had plenty of food with him and had no need to go there. "Yeah... me, too." We both enjoyed the quietness of the shelter during the night, and woke up ready to once again hit the trail.