Date: 2013-05-20
From: VA 683

To: VA Route 610
Miles today: 9.4

Every path has its puddle. English proverb   Today's hike was brought to us by right, ready, relentless rain, magnificent, mucky mud, fabulous ferns and green growy things everywhere.    We found a restaurant right at I-81 and ate a good brekky. Well, good for hiking....as there was not a single item on my plate that I would have EVER eaten for breakfast regularly before this hike, except for the eggs. I enjoyed fried bologna, two fried eggs, hash browns, home fries and a buttered biscuit. Yum.    We lingered, hoping the weather would clear. Nope. Rain jackets on and a rain kilt for Jolly. The trail went under the interstate and gently up into a meadow. The ups and downs are less severe now, and the trail winds through meadows and forest, and goes by lovely small farms and interesting historical sites. It's wonderful.    We soon found ourselves in a cow pasture so we mooooed. Redspecs mooed in German and Jolly is his best British English. The cows and bulls responded by mounting one another. Great! Enjoy that. We laughed our way through the field. Redspecs is great fun to hike with. He is from the Westphalia region of Germany, loves music, is a professional photographer (as is Jolly) and has a wonderful sense of humor.    The rain continued, but the temperature was warm. We walked a very muddy trail dodging puddles and slick mud, leaves and rocks. This was the first day that both of my boots felt like squishy oceans inside. I hiked in my skirt and the water wicked right in through my socks and liners.         When I started hiking back in GA, and the wet snowy conditions caused muddy trail, I'd step around the mud. Not now--just slop right through, missing the worst bits. What, I might get mud on myself or my clothes? Bahaha. Who am I kidding?   We hiked for hours, never stopping much as we would get cold quickly if we weren't moving. The rain intensified, and we caught some wind on a ridge line. Jolly sang "Singing in the Rain" and I joined him with "Raindrops Are Falling On My Head". Everything on me was soaked. I could not have been more wet.       Finally the rain let up a little in mid-afternoon and we stopped to eat lunch. We'd been joined by Strawberry Donut and Whistler, a delightful young German couple whom I'd first met climbing Whitetop Mountain. Jolly made a ham and cheese tortilla, which he doused in Cholula hot sauce. He was carrying a whole bottle. Everything was so wet that the bottle slipped from his hand and broke, splashing sauce all over him and the rock he was sitting on. It was a humongous mess and we all laughed and laughed. It's so good to be hiking together again.    I was cold and no one really wanted to go much further. I called Bubba and he agreed to come for us at the next road crossing, a couple miles away. The hike there was treacherous downhill rocks and mud. We came upon a cow skull hanging from a tree, inscribed with lines from Hamlet. Only on the AT!!   Had the road in view now, and saw a beautiful red winged blackbird flying around as we crossed the stile. Bubba arrived in a pickup truck and we threw ourselves and our stuff in the back for a wild ride to Bland, VA. We could not stop laughing again as we bounced down pretty country roads, past churches, farms, pastures and homes. It was crazy good.    At the Big Walker motel we found another surprise--Double Dare. He had spent the day on their porch, watching the rain roll in and doing the crossword (OK, and a few beers, too!). We rinsed out filthy socks, stuffed our boots with extra toilet paper from the hiker box and headed to DQ for cheeseburgers. A fabulous day, full of friends, fun, laughter and a little persistent rain.It's all good!Tie DyePS. Extra pix!