Date: 2008-03-25
From: Harvey's Knob

To: Rte 220
Miles today: 16.1

Tuesday, March 25, 2008Harvey¢s Knob Overlook to Rte 220, 16.1 miles, N-SStart 8AM. 30 degrees. Sunny, light breeze.At the Montvale viewpoint, some time ago the National Park Service erected a sign about the Appalachian Trail. It says:¢The Appalachian Trail crisscrosses the Blue Ridge Parkway for 100 miles in Virginia. Farther south, it winds through the Great Smoky Mountains. The Trail usually follows the crest of the Appalachian chain, occasionally descending into scenic valleys. The Trail¢s highest point, 6643 feet, is at Clingman¢s Dome on the North Carolina-Tennessee border. Its lowest elevation, 124 feet, is at Bear Mountain Crossing in New York. Stretching 2050 miles from Mt. Katahdin in central Maine to Springer Mountain in northern Georgia, the Appalachian Trail is the longest marked footpath in the world. Begun in 1922, the Trail traverses 14 states, including 541 miles in Virginia and more than 200 miles in North Carolina. Hikers who complete the trek visit 8 national forests and 5 national park areas.¢That selfsame sign has been ¢white-rectangle-blazed¢ by an anonymous bird.Today¢s sky is happy blue. Get photo.I pass an area of controlled burn.Hello to Coby and Dot, members of the Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club. Every Thursday they hike and, while doing that, maintain their sections. Today, a Tuesday, they are hiking between Black Horse Gap and Bobblette¢s Gap, because it¢s such a beautiful day for a hike. I ask them to please say Hi to fellow Natural Bridge maintainer Leneta for me. Before moving to Lynchburg VA, Leneta lived in a suburb of Syracuse, and we knew some of the same people. In 2004 she took me to the bus stop/J and C upholstery shop in Buena Vista (pronounced bew nah vis tah), where I bought a $95 Greyhound bus to Syracuse. Coby and Dot marvel over how famous their friend Leneta is. Everybody knows her!I pass an interesting downed tree. Its exterior intact but its inside completely charred, I guess from a lightning strike.9:30 Black Horse Gap.Hello to Dozer. One section hike of the AT over a period of 30 years, one NOBO thru in 2004, and now another NOBO thru this year. I remember meeting him at Gravel Springs Hut in Shenandoah April 2004, when he was hiking with Chainsaw, Cactus, Drifter (The Dutch Boy Possee) and a dog named Gus, the "Manimal". That night they slept in their tents, while Teach, Leap Year, Spunky (whose boyfriend was serving in Iraq), a couple of friends of theirs who had never hiked before and I shared the shelter.Dozer tells me Sunday he saw a maintainer on the section south of Rte 311 using a gas-powered leaf-blower to clear the trail. Dozer warns me to beware of deep leaves. He¢s fallen twice as much as he did in 2004 due to either slipping on leaves or slipping on rocks buried in the leaves. Me too.I see some leaves of trailing arbutus, no blossoms.Wilson Creek Shelter Register: Crazy Diamond and Giant back together again, spent the night here.Colliers Pit area. Sign says:¢The small open area seen here was a ¢collier¢s pit¢ during the late 1700¢s ¢ early 1800¢s. The pit, as it was called, was used to make charcoal for nearby iron furnaces.¢The term ¢pit¢ is misleading because no excavation actually existed. Instead a level area clear of rocks and roots approximately 50 feet in diameter stood here. This site was chosen for its nearness to the furnaces and location downhill from an abundant timber supply.¢About 1837 a new and more economical fuel source, anthracite coal, came into use. This new fuel was mined and therefore did not require large tracts of timber. The iron furnaces were then able to move closer to the cities, leading to the downfall of the charcoal making business.¢Past Collier¢s Pit, I sit at the side of the creek and eat lunch: my elixir, some ginger snaps, and half of a romaine, roast beef and Hellman¢s mayo sandwich. Water is flowing well here, but at late spring levels, not spring flood levels.Deep leaves cover the trail on the other side of the creek.I find an oak leaf that¢s about 12 inches long. Way bigger than my head. Longer than my Crocs. I check the field guide. Leaf looks like scarlet oak, but guide says scarlet oak leaves range from 3-7 inches. If this one¢s scarlet oak, it's acromegalic.Hello to the first spring azure butterfly!!! I LOVE these. I¢ve yet to get a photo of the uppersides of its wings. The undersides show a pattern and a grayish hue, not the azure of the uppersides.Hello to Stride. Bad news. Amazon Woman tried real hard today to walk from Rte 220 to Rte 11 and couldn¢t do it due to excruciating pain with every step. Her feet are badly infected. What a blow. Amazon Woman is hoping to recover from the infection quickly enough to rejoin Stride and Vagus in Waynesboro, reuniting the tres amigos.Hello to Vagus, who has seen wildflowers, including bloodroot and some type of vaccinium. He likes to "rejuvenate" in towns about once a week. While hiking the AT, except for his weekly town-stops, he lives in the woods. THANK YOU, Vagus, for the return of my lost Croc, and for telling me the names of the 3 dayhikers, Joey, Janice and Eli, who were also in on its return! I owe all 4 of you. Hello to Skittles, who thruhiked in 2004, ending at Bear Mountain NY on Halloween and celebrating his AT completion in NYC. Skittle¢s NOBO thruhiking this year. He has the strongest-looking calf muscles I¢ve ever seen, ever.I pass through another area that¢s maintained by The Odd Couple. About 2 miles north of Rte 220. The 2-mile section between here and 220 is full of poison ivy. Good thing this is their section. Oscar (Homer) is one of the few people who has a natural immunity to the irritating oil in poison ivy, urushiol. He is able to weedwhack the stuff and to pull it out by hand.Homer and Therese have been maintaining trail from here to Bricker Gap for more than 20 years. They helped get the AT relocated to the Valley Cleaners parking area. The original route took hikers under Rte 81 along busy Rte 220. Thank you both, Homer and Therese, for all you do. It's sure reflected in your section of the AT. Out at 5:10. One of those days where 100% of the hiking has been sheer joy. !!!!!