Date: 2008-09-25
From: Helvey's Mill Shelter 

To: Ridge Above Lickskillet Hollow
Miles today: 11.5

10 hours of sleep does a body good. I got up a bit late but pretty rested and got off to the trail by 8:15.It was a nice, pretty easy trail today with large sections of level ridge walking amid very short ups and downs. This part of Virginia is kind of the long green tunnel over quite a number of mountains often named Brushy. The views are obscured by trees at this time. Winter hiking would have views. There is not too much fall color generally but every now and then there is some brilliant red or orange shining vividly against the green of the rest of the trees. It brings a smile to my face.An hour or two after starting I ran into Land Surfer (young) and Singer (more mature) who were walking southbound (SOBO). It would have been fun to get to know them but I am heading northbound (NOBO). Fun to meet them anyway.I saw 6 deer on the trail today, 2 singles and a family of 4. Neat.I moved not too fast but steadily. It was good to have less water to carry today. I enjoyed stopping for breaks and lunch too. I put the MP3 on after lunch and that helped me move along to the rythm of the music. And I arrived at Jenny's Knob Shelter about 3:30 wtih Ron from Israel and his dog Toby right behind me.We sat and chatted for a bit. He has done the whole AT a few years ago and a number of sections of the PCT. I was planning to go onward another couple miles after getting water and having dinner and he wanted to go farther and take a zero tomorrow as it is supposed to rain. So I headed down the hill to find the water and he went on.The water was half a mile down a blue blazed trail. (The AT has white blazes and side trails are blazed blue or sometimes other colors.) I would have doubted there was any water after passing a number of dry streambeds but Land Surfer and Singer told me it was there, just further down. I eventually came to a standing pool of clear water and happily filled my camelback and water bottle. That should last me until noon tomorrow and the next water source. This area of the trail has a number of very dry sections, made me think of the desert sections of the PCT although it is, of course, much greener. But paying attention to water sources is pretty important on both trails.After I got back with my water and was thinking about dinner, Gary and Jeff walked in. They are from Michigan and on their very first backpack after reading Bill Bryons's "A Walk In The Woods." It had started raining when I walked back with the water and I decided to stay in the shelter for the night.I chatted with Gary and Jeff and ate my dinner. Then I got the urge to try to get in another couple miles to make tomorrow's mileage more reasonable. It was getting a bit late and I was back on the trail at 6:17. I knew I was really pushing it as it is getting pretty dark by 7:30. So I zoomed down the mile .3 to the road at Lickskillet Hollow. (Yes, it really is the name.) Then went as quickly as I could up the climb to the ridge. It was sprinkling off and on but not seriously yet. But it was also beginning to get dark. Just as I got to the ridge there was a campsite just big enough for my tent and it also started to rain.Thank you, Henry Shires for making a tent I can quickly put up. I got it up and crawled in just as the rain got serious. That was cutting it a bit close both rain-wise and daylight-wise. But I am unpccked now and in my bag and all is dry. Thank you, God. And I got an extra mile and a half in.Now I will sleep and see what tomorrow on the trail will bring.