Date: 2013-05-09
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Quarter mile before Va 611
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: moderate rain

It's 12 miles to the road to Bland, where I need to get some food, due to a miscalculation in food drops. But I can't dawdle in town because I need to get to Pearisburg. I did the 4.8 miles to Va 611 in 110 minutes ¢ that's pretty good for me!I then did the 7.1 miles to US52 in 3 hours. After hitching a ride into Bland, I spent 2.5 hr in town. Then: 2.1 to Helvey's Mill. 1.5 hr; 6.2 mi To camp - 3 hr; 20.2 mi in less than 9 hr. That's not bad at all!Not that this is very hard trail. It mostly follows Big Walker & Brushy Mtn, without much change in elevation. It seems strange on this dry, sunny day, but the Trail is still wet on tops of the Mtns! I've seen no poison ivy since Atkins but I keep thinking I see it: almost every tree that's leafing out starts with reddish leaves that might be "leaflets three". Many flowers are out again -- even dandelions were hiding yesterday -- I still have to identify the magenta ones that grow on dry slopes.The first major gap came early in the day & brought outstanding "Trail Magic." "Team Jaybird" is a couple from SE Pennsylvania, who came all the way down here to aid hikers. Jaybird was the trail name of their daughter's fianc©, who thru-hiked in 2010 & died in 2012. So they were doing this in his memory. They had come down for a week but got rained out the last two days. Their offerings started with meatball sandwiches, hot dogs, & pop, & included a variety of candy bars & granola bars, various kinds of chips, veggies, fruit, &c. In addition, they had other hiker essentials like small bottles of hand-sanitizer & a generator to charge up batteries! A very well thought out enterprise. Thank you!Dreamer arrived while I was eating & caught up with me a little later, while I was cutting a big branch across the trail. He's video-taping people & places thru-out his hike, so he had to interview me about my type of trail maintenance. His camera must have a lot more battery power than mine.Besides Dreamer, Caboose passed me at the trail magic; then I saw no other hikers except 2 SOBOs: Texas Kid & Red; going from Harpers Ferry to DamascusPartly my stop in Bland was to get food & partly to get bus tickets to get to Charlottesville for my trip home next week (obviously, I over-estimated how fast I'd be going). Then I discovered they have no grocery store. Since the IGA closed, it appears the only food sources in town [This is a county seat!] are the gas station & Dollar General. Neither has fresh produce, except for a display of potatoes, soft tomatoes, & brown bananas at the gas station. A depressing town to visit. Like every other small town in VA, Bland does have a nice, nearly new library [Must have been some state-wide funding program!]. They let me use the computer as much as I wanted.I'm trying to figure out my mail drop this weekend in Pearisburg. I would like to stop at Woods Hole hostel, half a day before that. The question today has been: Can I get up early enough to get there tomorrow; or should I relax & get there Sunday & Pearisburg on Monday? The post office is open 10-12:00 on Saturday. Half of Tuesday will be devoted to getting to Roanoke. I decided to try to go all the way to Woods Hole tomorrow. Sometimes the Trail has no schedule; sometimes it gets pretty demanding!