Date: 2006-04-10
From: VA 603

To: Massie Gap
Miles today: 10.6

Monday10.6 miles (plus 0.5 blue blaze)A day like yesterday. Marion temp 34, colder at the trailheads. Memere and Gray Feathers will hike from Massie to 603 and Amoeba from 603 to Massie. She¢s looking forward to today¢s ascent.They breakfast at the Log House. Tonight that place will close early (5PM) because there¢s a 7PM game of Donkey Basketball at the Mt Rogers Combined School gym, about 10 miles from the Log House. 4 football-helmeted people (and 4 donkeys) on a side. 4 8-minute quarters. You must be on a donkey to shoot a basket. The rest of the rules are loose. Skill is involved. Sit too far back on a donkey¢s hindquarters and he (she)¢ll buck you off. Donkey Basketball is a rural fundraising event dating all the way back to the Great Depression. In some places today the game has been outlawed for being cruel to the animals. Supporters of the game defend it, arguing that the donkeys control the game and the only mistreatment that occurs is donkeys mistreating humans.Tonight¢s game is sold out. At breakfast, there are 3 tables of local men who speak with a drawl and in a manner that Memere particularly likes. So relaxing, she says.At 603 the sky has softened, it¢s a little warmer. Amoeba signs the Trail Register. Mrs Gorp signed on April 6, her mode of travel ¢horse and buggy¢. A sign informing that a new shelter has opened and the old Racoon Branch Shelter has been closed.Hello to Slow Leak from Ohio. Last year he and his wife, Hot Flash, began a NOBO thruhike. She got as far as Clingman¢s Dome. He made it to Roan Mountain, but had to stop there due to an injury. This year his wife isn¢t hiking, but he started where he left off, at Roan Mountain, heading north.A beautiful soft ascent through Lewis Fork Wilderness.Hello to Michigan from Holland Michigan. Thruhiking.Hello to OMA and OPA from Wilmington VT. They are hiking the entire AT in long sections. This year¢s hike is from Erwin to Waynesboro.Who is next? Cedar Moe!!! Amoeba met him on March 1. She was hiking south to Amicalola from Springer and he was hiking north. Somewhere south of Hot Springs Cedar Moe was bitten by a brown recluse spider. That bite festered to the point where Cedar Moe had to be hospitalized in Hot Springs to evacuate the necrotic tissue and receive IV antibiotics. He was off the trail for 10 days. Was wobbly for a while afterwards but by Damascus he got his trail legs back. He plans to go to Trail Days. Cedar Moe, it¢s great to see you again. Congratulations on hanging in there. Good luck on the rest of your hike.Hello to a friendly black lab and 2 young men who are hiking for 2 days. They were going to hike Sat and Sun but changed to Sun and Mon because of Saturday¢s rain. Sunday and Monday have been phenomenal.Hemlock and spruce forest with deciduous interspersed. Deciduous trees haven¢t leafed out yet, sunlight penetrates down to the forest floor.At an open area out of the woods, hello to a group from Richmond, 3-4 fathers and 5-6 children, from elementary school age to teens. Some of them are playing catch. They¢re out backpacking for 3 nights and 4 days.Burnt odor and charred ground, evidence of a recent burn by the USFS.Back in the woods. Trail is well-travelled but no blazes. Amoeba hesitates. Oh there¢s one, good.Out of the woods, another USFS burn. The Richmond group is at the Scales.At the top of the next rise, hello to a father and son out for one night.This is one of Amoeba¢s favorite sections of the AT.Hello to Memere and Gray Feathers who are also dazzled by the beauty of this place. They compare it to hiking out west.They¢ve just seen several ponies, close-up.Crisp clean breathable air, temp 50 or low 50¢s. Nothing hurts. Gliding, or floating, not walking. Hard to describe the feeling, there¢s a longing in the chest, an exhilaration, the feeling you have rushing towards the outstretched arms of a loved person who¢s rushing towards you. Can¢t put it in words. Today simply feels like being in heaven.Ponies are gone. But Amoeba saw some last night and saw them the other times she¢s hiked Grayson.2 hours at Wise Shelter. Eagle Eye from Syracuse is there. He just retired as an Air Force physician. He and Amoeba, who¢s lived in Syracuse almost 35 years, talk about home. Eagle Eye and his wife, who is also from Syracuse, are building a home in Canastota NY near one of their children.Register: 3-21-2006 Scuff and Bandana Man. Amoeba: Is that ¢my¢ Bandana Man, the one who, in 2004, introduced me to the evil pleasure of slackpacking?Harry from South Carolina and his son (sorry I did not get your name written down before I forgot it) stop in and leave 2 cans of food.Then Beef, who¢s greeted by Eagle Eye as ¢Beefaroni¢.Eagle Eye hikes on.Last year Beef started June 22, hiking from Katahdin to McAfee Knob. In Maine, Pinetree told the group Beef was hiking with that they had to get trail names before someone gave them a bad one (like ¢snotbucket¢), The whole group Beef was hiking with (including Beef) immediately picked the nicknames they are called by their families. This year Beef has hiked from Springer to here. He plans to end his hike at 603, leaving about 170 miles undone. In the register he writes: Beef @ 2000 miles going to Marion bus 10:45 to Charlottesville and a few days in north VA countryside. Call me in CT (phone number and email address).Beef and Amoeba talk about hiking they both did in New Zealand a few months ago. Beef will hike ME in July and August. Maybe they¢ll meet up again.A park ranger and another man stop in. The park ranger says he¢s seen Amoeba before. That must have been last year when she was here with Purple Rose, Purple Sherpa and Zig Zag. That man sure has a good memory. They ask if either Amoeba or Beef has seen any large groups. Amoeba tells them about the group from Richmond.As she is gathering up her things to leave, Amoeba discovers a baby mouse lying on the shelter floor. It looks like it dropped onto the floor from a nest in the rafters. It¢s still alive, but barely.Hello to Bigfoot! Size 15. Another hiker Amoeba met down in Georgia. At that time (March 3) he was hiking with Rambler. Rocky terrain is bothering Bigfoot¢s feet. He¢s worried.Ponies at Massie Gap.A community supper of rehydrated dinners, salad, crackers and beer.Memere and Gray Feathers tent, Amoeba sleeps in the Element.Goodnight.