Date: 2006-04-12
From: VA 728

To: Elk Garden
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: overcast clouds

WednesdayMemere and Gray Feathers Elk Garden to 728Amoeba 728 to Elk GardenGray morning, warmer.   Sky and woods are dull in color. Temperature in 50¢s, 60¢s. Amoeba leaves the Stables before Memere and Gray Feathers because she needs to scout out where 728 (her start point) is.She finds 728 which leads to a parking area underneath the 500-foot Luther Hassinger Bridge at Creek Junction. 0.5 alongside Laurel Creek on a stone dust path. Wooden platforms projecting out over the creek for fly-fishing and wooden benches along the path. At Creek Junction, a sharp right and 0.5 along the AT back to the bridge. After the bridge, a sharp left into the woods.Going the way Amoeba is hiking there¢s a 2700-foot elevation gain she¢s looking forward to.Tiny (1 12 inches high) yellow violets along the trail, showing up well where dead leaves have been brushed away.Sign register at Lost Mountain Shelter, leaving a message for Memere and Gray Feathers. A frowny face because this is the next-to-last day of their hike. The easy companionship that the 3 of them feel. Memere and Gray Feathers are wonderful to hike with. Hiking in opposite directions has worked out excellently. Each person gets to hike at a pace and in a direction he/she likes, it takes less time to set the cars and there is a nice mix of solo-hiking time and togetherness.Hello to Eleanor (trail name=Don¢t Wait for Me), President of the Mt Rogers Appalachian Trail Club, Marie and Bob (husband and wife from Bristol), out doing trail maintenance. When they stop to chat, the first gnats of the season attack. Gnats bother Marie, who offers Amoeba insect repellent. The MRATC maintains 56 miles between Teas Rd and Damascus. Today they are out nipping greenbrier and pruning low branches. Bob says the USFS is going to do a controlled burn at Elk Garden, but that shouldn¢t affect Amoeba, Memere or Gray Feathers because they are hiking south of Elk Garden today.Thank you and the club for all the work on the trail. It¢s in great shape.An easy U-turn-type stile.Stumble, pick up those feet.At Rte 601 an abandoned brick house, windows busted. Beautiful setting with unobstructed views of countryside, hills and woods. A few bloodroot just starting to bloom. Spring beauties cover the forest floor.Susie, Bill and Bob from the Mt Rogers Club heading south to join up with Eleanor, Marie and Bob. Bob thinks he may try to hike in Crocs.About noontime, Memere and Gray Feathers!!!They have been thinking about logistics. They know Amoeba will be hiking Saturday morning with Spinner on the FLT. They suggest she leave for NY on Thursday afternoon. No need to stay to set cars. Friday morning Memere and Gray Feathers can get a shuttle to 421 and hike back to the Cruiser in Damascus.Amoeba considers this. Yes, it would be easier on her to leave Thursday, but she also wants to end at 421 in TN this trip. How to do it? Extend today¢s hike past 728 to 58?Hello to a bounding unleashed dog and a couple out trail-running.Spring, located just before Rte 89, is running well, as is piped water just before Elk Garden.At the trailhead is the Cruiser, a helicopter, several USFS trucks and stacks of supplies. This must be for the controlled burn that Bob mentioned.Amoeba drives to the 728 trailhead to eat lunch and wait. Who is there but Mr Dean and his friend Spring. Mr Dean says, Amoeba? Is that you?Many repeat encounters on this hike. Mr Dean is a high school biology/ecology teacher in Richmond. He and Spring are staying at a nearby cabin, perhaps the same one that Bill, Jean and Zack stayed at. They are trout-fishing, hoping to catch their dinner. Mr Dean and Amoeba have seen hillsides along roads to the trailheads where major appliances have been dumped. It would take a crane to get them out. Mr Dean thinks people tossed these years ago, they wouldn¢t do that today.One of Amoeba's favorite websites is www.automaticwasher.org. Click on the "Restorations" button. A collector of vintage appliances rescues a decrepit 1957 Lady Kenmore from a farm field where she has been weathering for 25 years. In 75 steps he rejuvenates her skin from rough, blotchy and pocked to clear and glistening, her body from flabby and saggy to taut and firm, her organs from stiff and atrophied to supple and sexy.Raw material on these Virginia hillsides for other makeovers. 4:15 Gray Feathers and Memere finish their hike. All 3 go to Damascus to arrange Friday¢s shuttle and try to find a place to stay.Dave can do the shuttle but his place is full.Amoeba knocks on the door of the Dancing Bear. Diane (Two Thirds) answers. Yes, she has room. They can have the Papa Bear Room.Last year Diane and Bob (Waterboy, Three Thirds, or, Bob, are you One Third?) had trail-angeled Amoeba and Purple Rose. It¢s great to see them again and to stay with them. This past winter Diane and Bob toured Costa Rica. Next winter they may travel to New Zealand. Christine (One Third, or Christine, are you Three Thirds? Sorry, I've got your and your dad's trail names mixed up), their daughter, and her boyfriend Brian, who went to school in upstate NY, are hiking right now in South Carolina. Later on Christine and Brian may hike in NY. Be sure to tell them they¢ve got use of a cabin at Sears Pond in Sherburne as a base for hiking a section of the FLT. Or as a stopover on their way to the Adirondacks.The Papa Bear room is decorated with a dancing bear border. Beds are comfy. Plenty of room. Every necessity, many luxuries. A welcoming place.Memere, Gray Feathers and Amoeba eat in, finishing up their food.