Date: 2018-11-09
From: Lick Creek

To: Groseclose, VA
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Before I turned the light out last night I checked the mileage for today. I thought I had 15 miles to town but actually had 18. I didn't sleep well last night due to the knee protest. I tossed and turned trying to position the knee in a comfortable position but had no success. The corn on my toe also has been acting up. During the early morning it rained and sometimes hard. I pulled gear away from the edges of the tent so not to push out the tent to touch the rain fly. If it touches, it gets wet. As the rain slowed before 4 a.m. I started to pack up. When I exited the tent the rain had stopped. I packed and retrieved the trash bag from the pier and was on the trail at about 4:45. It was foggy only in a few spots. I came around one corner in the fog and dark to see two reflecting eyes. Momentarily I felt that fear tingle my head but realized it was a deer as it fled. I dropped into Knot Maul Shelter just after 7. No one was around. I continued over Brushy Mountain. Just as I was passing dilapidated Tilson's Mill along the North Fork of the Holston River it began to rain. I struggled angrily trying to get my poncho over myself as well as my pack. It never seems to cooperate. After crossing the next hill I came to a view of the fields along Old Rich Valley Road. I stopped for a break sitting on a fallen Ash tree. I always enjoyed the section in view (photo above). Coming the other way off the mountain into the fields in 1998 my dog Sheba ran from the cows in the field. She had been chased before. In 2008 the cows there ran towards me then stopped. They were just curious. I got some good pictures there of the cows and I. As I packed up and headed down the trail in the light rain I was happy to walk the fields. I crossed over a stile by the road then walked beside the one on the opposite side indicating it is no longer in use and no cows. After crossing through the field I noticed the trail markers were yellow. However, at a treeline was a big white and green Appalachian National Scenic Trail sign. As I continued there were more yellow blazes. While going up Big Walker Mountain at a switchback I saw yellow blazes below me and white above me. I felt better. Then I saw a mixture, sometimes white blazes sometimes yellow. I wondered if the trail had been relocated. After crossing over the rainy, foggy and windy mountain I came to an intersection. A new white blazes trail came in on the right. I must have missed the other intersection. It was raining plus I cut a corner there. I missed it. But since I did the old AT it's good enough for me. Case closed. The rain stopped around 1 p.m. while on Little Brushy Mountain. The sun even came out briefly. I was glad to take some rain gear off. The trail continued to descend through woods and rhododendrons. Then I walked through pastures with cows grazing. They watched me as I walked through staring intensely. I wondered what they were thinking. Maybe "hiker trash'', or "watch, he's going to step in a pie, ha ha ha moo" or "there goes the neighborhood." After crossing a road drizzle began. Finally, later than I estimated, passed through the I-81 interchange at Groseclose. At US 11 the trail turned right and followed the highway south going by an Exxon station and then a Sunoco truck stop. The trail then turned left into some fields. This was my destination for the day. It was 3:25 pm. Not much in Groseclose, just the two gas stations, a restaurant being renovated, the motel and a few houses. I continued over the Middle Fork of the Holston River and stopped at the Relax Inn. I stayed here in 2008. It is supposed to be in the 30's tomorrow and very windy so I got a room for two nights. After dropping my gear in my room I immediately went across the motel's covered bridge replica over the Holston and over to the Sunoco. I ordered a pepperoni and hamburger pizza plus purchased milk, soda, and Mike's lemonade. Back to the motel to relax, fix my foot corn, and rest the knee. It's good to be dry, warm, and well fed.