Date: 2005-09-21
From: On a ridge near Catawba, VA

To: South end of Sarver's Ridge, Va.
Miles today: 26.3

26.3 miles todayStealth tentingSouth end of Sarver's Ridge, Va. I woke up at 7:15 after a great night's sleep. I didn't get done journaling until 12:30am. I didn't make coffee and only had one breakfast bar because I was only 3 miles from a store that would make my breakfast for me. :-))) I was packed up and walking at 7:45am. I came off the ridge and walked through a cow pasture. There were quite a few cows and off by the woods, I saw a deer watching me. The grass was wet, so were my shoes by the time I got back in the woods. I got to Rt 624 where Four Pines Hostel used to be and went to the right about .4 miles down to a small store. I got coffee, a quart of chocolate milk, a coke and 2 egg and sausage biscuits for breakfast. I sat out front and finished all that off, then went back in and resupplied with enough food to get me into Pearisburg on friday. I also filled my water bottles and this time, I even filled my 2 litre Platapus. I'm tired of running out of water and walking thirsty, so until the water situation gets better, I'll carry 4 litres. I called and made reservations at the Holiday Motor Lodge in Pearisburg for friday night while I was there and also sent in my journal entry. I was at the store for 70 minutes and got back on the trail at 9:50am with a heavy pack. My first climb was 1300 feet up to Dragon's Tooth. I just took it slow and enjoyed the rocky edges that I had to climb on. I ran into Blaze, a sobo that has been ahead of me. We sat there on top of Dragon's Tooth and talked for a while. There aren't many sobos in this area, so it was nice running into one. I think I've only seen 2 since before Duncannon, Pa. I hiked on and thought I'd see him later, but never did. In about 3 miles I came to the side trail to Pickle Branch Shelter and saw a doe there. I kept on walking without stopping. I found a little spring about a mile before the shelter and filled up my 2 water bottles. I ate the 2 extra breakfast sandwiches that I packed out while I was there. I walked on down to Trout Creek and crossed that and climbed about 1500 feet up the next bump. That mountain is where the Audie Murphy Memorial is. A plane he was riding in crashed there. The walk was fairly flat for a couple miles before descending 1500 feet to Craig Creek Valley. I had found some water and filled up my 2 bottles. The water wasn't flowing, but I can't be real picky right now. I hiked on up to Niday Shelter and sat down and ate dinner. Dinner was 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I haven't had that for a while and I liked it. I had a 2000 foot climb up to Sinking Creek Mountain. The next 5 miles were fairly flat, but I was walking on a ridge where some of the rocks were on a 45 degree angle. I got careless and fell for the forth time on this hike. One of these days I'm going to get this walking thing down. :-))) I didn't hurt myself. I just fell on my right butt cheek. The trees are starting to show more and more color, but still the majority of the trees haven't started changing their color yet. There are a few trees though that are in full color. I passed by Sarver Hollow Shelter without stopping because the sun was setting and I wanted to get a tent site in about a mile. I saw 2 deer right after I passed the shelter and then saw another one right about where I set my tent up. There's a nice breeze still blowing up here. That was the reason I stayed on top of the ridge. Tomorrow morning, I'll start a descent first thing to get down off this ridge.