Date: 2009-05-14
From: 0.5 mi. past VA 624

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 25.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I was all packed up and ready to go by 6:30 am! I stopped to get water at the first stream I came to, and was glad I did, because the second one had a bunch of cows standing in it! The morning sunlight coming through the clouds over the meadows looked more like evening than daytime. I crossed over the road leading into Catawba, where many hikers go to eat at the Homeplace Restaurant. It comes highly recommended, but is only open from Thursday at dinnertime to Sunday. I was out of luck on the timing, and couldn't afford the extra hours at this time, in any case.    I stopped in at Johns Spring Shelter to check out the registry. I knew that I had been gaining time on several people that were ahead of me, including Braid and Hellbender. The next shelter, where everyone spent the previous night, was only a mile north, and I excitedly reached it about 10:30 am, thinking that I was now only 2-3 hours behind everyone! However, I was crushed to open the register, finding that the entire group had woken in the middle of the night, collected their things, and left at 5 am to watch the sunrise over McCaffee Knob! No! I had wanted to do that all along, but was in no position to do so in the timeframe I had. I was dejected, knowing that everyone was much father ahead than I had thought, and feared that I would once again be alone at one of the most anticipated places on the AT to have one's picture taken. I ate a power bar and headed up the hill to this meaningful overlook. As the trees grew smaller, just as on the White Mtns, I could sense that I was reaching the summit, faster than I had anticipated. All of a sudden, I was there! I walked over to the left where the ledge was, all alone. I knew that Lady Cluck had been in the same position last year, and had to set the self-timer on her camera. I tried to do the same, but since I had never learned to do this, couldn't figure out how to get it to work! Just then, a large group of young guys stormed in, headed right for the famous ledge, and sprawled out both their gear and themselves. I was happy to have potential photographers around, but unprepared for this rush of energy! I continued to work at my camera, but couldn't get it. As the minutes ticked by, I finally asked the group if someone would be willing to take my picture. One volunteer leapt up, seemingly excited about the job. He took several shots and said he would try to keep his "knuckle-head friend's" out of the picture, for which I was grateful. He asked me where I was coming from and was very enthusiastic when I said "Georgia!" He thought it was very cool and was even more impressed when I told him how many miles I would be doing that day. I think I crushed his friend's ego with that number, however. I took off, and headed to my next destination- Tinker Cliffs, which I thought were a half mile off the AT. I remembered that Lady Cluck had taken a wrong turn here and had to scale a rock face, pulling her pack up with her rope, to avoid turning all of the way back. I wanted to make sure to avoid this scenario. The group of boys caught back up to me and started following me where- but down that same path! Luckily, one of them knew the area well and saw that we were headed underneath the cliffs instead of over them. I was happy to find out that they were directly on the AT, giving me a few more minutes of time to enjoy than I had expected. One of the boys pointed out McCaffee Knob across the valley, and the ridgeline that we had just walked across. Quite impressive! Once again, they sprawled out on the best ledges, and I walked down to the father end to take some pictures, eat a quick snack, and move on for my final 10.5 miles of the day. I passed by a multi-colored snake that I had never seen before on the side of the trail. A little later on, the boys came crashing through an opening in one of the rockfaces above me, tearing down the slopes, and taking dead trees down with them as they grabbed on for balance. I continued to dutifully follow the white-blazed path...      I reached Lamberts Meadow Shelter to find two section hikers in for the night, after a short day. I discovered a nice message from Bound in the register in her last shelter before her AT finish in her home of Daleville (where she had begun last May). She had written something for Jeremiah Johnson, Hellbender, and myself, with whom she had hiked this year, and it made me want to cry. I collected water once again, purified it, signed the register, and away I went. As I walked, I thought about the message Jeremiah Johnson had left, thanking Bound for her surprise visit and accompaniment to McCaffee Knob. Suddenly, I got the idea that maybe she and Bones would surprise me and hike up to meet me, and then the three of us could hike back to Daleville! My energy picked up, and I moved along. However, I began to tire and not feel so well. It was another warm day, and I felt dehydrated. I stopped to mix up an electrolyte drink before continuing on. It did not seem to help my energy level, however, and my feet began to hurt. I was running out of steam!    My guidebook listed two power lines before Tinker Creek, and when I reached the first one, I couldn't believe how quickly I had been progressing! It was 6:30, and I only had 3 miles to go! No problem! (I had told Bound earlier in the day that I would reach Daleville at 8 pm at the earliest. She told me to walk down the road and wait for her at the coffee shop). I was excited to see her and Bones- either on the trail or at the coffee shop. I passed the second power line and knew I only had 1.6 miles to go!But wait... I kept walking, and I was not hearing Tinker Creek. I passed the point at which it should have been located. Then, towards my right, I saw the unmistakable sight of more power lines... No! A third power line?! Okay, NOW, I had 1.6 miles to go... My strength was decreasing and it was getting late. I called Bound and told her how far I had to go. Then, I came to my fourth power line! I almost broke down. However, I had no time to cry. I missed a white blaze and went down a rocky hill that was off of the AT. More time wasted. I had to turn around, go back up the rocks, and look for the AT. I was really running against the clock now. Bound had told me earlier that she had found Hellbender in the Mexican restaurant earlier in the day. I didn't want to hear about the others relaxing at that point. I also knew she wasn't coming to meet me. I walked as quickly as I could as darkness fell, pausing for a brief moment at Tinker Creek, where I had hoped to spend more time. I knew then that I had a half mile left and rushed as fast as I could through that last part. Bound said that she would come find me, but no one was there when I broke out of the trees at 8:37 pm, and reached the road with neon signs for Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Super 8, and other businesses. I sighed with relief (never so happy to see such a sight), called Bound again, and then Erik, as I plopped down on the curb. I was exhausted. I could not walk another step. My feet were burning and torn up from the last several miles. Fourteen hours of hiking was too much for them.   Bound finally pulled up with Bones in the passenger seat. I was almost too tired to give them a hug. We went to the grocery store to pick up some more MCC (mint chocolate chip ice cream) for Bones, and a couple of things for Bound. It was nice to be around fun, happy energy again. We went home and feasted on watermelon, pizza, cheesy bread, and ice cream. Hellbender woke up from his passed-out state and came down to join us for a few minutes before we all retired. I took a shower before bed and slept in Bound's brother's room for the night. Tomorrow, we would all head to Trail Days in Damascus.