Date: 2003-05-24
From: Knot Maul Branch Shelter

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 60: I'm over a quarter of the way for Katahdin!! We hit 1/4 yesterday but I was hiking fast and I missed the sign. We rolled into camp after dark tonight for the second night in a row! I didn't have time to write yesterday because we got to Knot Maul shelter around 10:30PM in a complete downpour.I guess I should mention that the group I'm hiking with is an interesting crowd. Lets just say there is never a dull moment with these people. Yesterday was Pipes' birthday so we stopped at the Barn Restaurant on our way out of Atkins to buy her breakfast. Of course we got a late start and then spent a long time eating so by the time we got out of there is was almost noon. Moxie and Crazy Talk's aunt drove down from Long Island, NY to hike for a few days so she was there as well, and she is hilarious! She had a car so of course we set up a way for her to slackpack us about 12 miles where there was a road and then we planned to get our packs and hike about 2 more miles for a total of 14 miles that day. It was funny because she had a VW Cabrio and there were about 12 of us who wanted to get in on the slack pack. We couldn't fit all of the packs in so some people just threw in their food bags to lighten their packs a little and save space in the car. On our way out we saw Moo and 42 at the Dairy Queen so of course we had to stop and say hi. By the time we got out of there is was almost 1PM! We finished hiking the 12 miles without our packs around 5PM but there was a little pavilion which sheltered us from the rain so we cooked dinner there and had a little b-day party for Pipes. Complete with cheesecake and beer (the beer was courtesy of Moxie's Aunt, her trailname is South Hold Bana and the cheesecake was dehydrated of course!) We didn't leave the pavilion until 9PM and we hiked in a downpour to arrive at the shelter around 10PM!Today we got a late start because we were tired and everything was wet from last night. We all planned to do the 19 miles to Jenkins but the last time we saw Pipes, Moo, 42 and the rest of the gang was back at Chestnut Knob shelter 10 miles ago. The hiking was tough today, there was a huge climb up to Chestnut Ridge and then a bunch of ridge walking after that. The ridge walking kills me because there are so many steep uphill sections but you never really gain much elevation to get any good views. Chestnut ridge was awesome and I'm not sure if Pipes and the rest of the gang ever even left there!I got in to the shelter tonight with Sleepy Floyd and Superman? and Torch weren't far behind. When we were hiking after dark I thought I heard water nearby like a stream or something so Sleepy and I stopped to listen. It turned out to be an animal rustling in the forest about 50 yds away. It was definitely a big animal, either a deer or bear. It totally freaked us out but we couldn¢t see what is was in the dark. We hiked the last few miles pretty fast after that! I'll try and do a quick 12 miles into Bland, VA tomorrow to meet Opie, Colleen, and Laura at the motel. They are all visiting me and are going to hike with me to Pearisburg.