Date: 2017-04-22
From: Bridge near VA 630, S. VA

To: Stealth camping on ridge line near Pickle Branch
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Don't you just love Canadians? I mean, they live in Canada, a great and beautiful country. It should include Alaska, of course, but when the US grabbed Alaska I imagine the Canadian response was something like "Ah, actually that really belongs to....oh, never mind, just go ahead". I love Canadians. John Martin, one of my best friends, is Canadian. He's a great cook and does this amazing berry dessert that he knows I adore. I guzzle his wine and port and whisky and he just smiles benignly and asks if I'd like some more. But about the AT today. So there I was, packing up my wet tent. And again there was this immediate climb of 1,300 feet, and it started to rain. And there were more of these wretched rocks on the ridge line. I slipped and fell, just moments after observing that at least the rain had washed my hands perfectly clean, even my fingernails. Splat! I'm in the mud up to my (left) elbow (literally). #%!@?? So I wash some of it off in the pools of water on top of rocks along the way. Then out of the rain come two SOBOs, a middle-aged couple, and I try to move off the path to let them by by moving up a sloping boulder. Of course I slip and slide and fall on the rock. !@&$?? They were very concerned. When I mentioned that I'd lost both carbide tips to my poles in the last few days, the lady fished around in her hip belt pocket and found a spare carbide slip-on tip that she insisted on giving me. What a nice gesture! Did I mention they were Canadian? At least on the ridge line, I found decent cell coverage, so there I was, during one rain-free spell, sitting on a bench near the Audie Murphy memorial, updating my journal for yesterday and communicating with my wife. Audie was the most-decorated soldier in US history. After serving in WW2, he died in a plane crash near the AT here. His simple memorial is surrounded by a cairn of stones built up over the years. Service medals, ribbons, dog tags, flags and other memorabilia bedeck the cairn. I imagine a fair few tears are shed there, as many of the hikers are veterans or ex-military; many wounded veterans hike the trail as therapy. I had started the day tired, but at an empty shelter at midday I stopped to have a lunch of three tortilla-Nutella wraps. Yeah, I know, Nutella is just candy disguised as nutrition but so what? At least it tastes good, unlike peanut butter. What is it with Americans and that stuff, anyway? I came back on the trail with engines roaring and stayed that way until I passed the 21-mile mark and called it a day. I'd been hiking from 7:39am until 7:14pm, and I'd climbed over 4,900 feet. I found a spot a few yards off the trail that at some point had been camped on. I managed to (1) pitch tent, (2) cook mashed potatoes with pepperoni slices and Tabasco sauce, (3) have a tuna wrap, and (4) hang my bear bag before the rain returned. It's cold - maybe in the 40s but I'm munching on my second Snickers bar and reading my novel. Sucks to you, weather. And check out the photos of the wild orange lizard I almost stepped on right before I camped. Tipperary