Date: 2003-07-12
From: Fish Hatchery Road

To: Tye River
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: few clouds

Today we woke up to the smell of pancakes and coffee. Ahhh....you gottalove trail life! Seriously, the B&B we are at, The Dutch Haus, puts on anamazing breakfast! We ate our fill and Lois shuttled us back to the trailwhere we got off yesterday. Todays plan was to slack pack down to theriver, and then come back to the B&B for one more night.   First things first, we had to climb the forest service road 1.5 milesback up to the trail...and let me tell you, it is a serious up! I wasreally worried about it and figured that it would take me over an hour toeven get to the AT. However, 40 minutes went by and I was looking at the ATsign! I am getting stronger.   We headed up the trail, enjoying the company of a young couple and theirthree boys. They were out for a day hike, and I had a blast watching thekids tear up the trail! The first thing we came to was Spy Rock. It is thisHUGE rock formation that, if you can climb it, offers unbelievable 360degree views. Well, I have been a bit shy of rocks since my fall South ofCatawba.....heck, I have been downright terrified! However, the first partof the climb was just rock scrambling, and before I knew it, I waseffortlessly jumping up rocks headed for the top! Emotionally, I wasovercome. It was the first real evidence that I had seen of just how muchstronger and more agile I have become. I was shocked! Then...I got to thelast 20 feet. This was a different matter! An almost-vertical large rockhad to be climbed to get to the top. The problem was, my legs were to shortfor the footholds! Bumpkin and the father of the young boys took turnstrying to help me up and givi! ng me different ideas to aproach it. I was about to give up when Bumpkinsaid, "Anna, you need to do this". She was right. So, like many things inlife, I approached the rock in my own unique way! I backed up to it andusing my hands and feet, I proceeded to inch my way up the rock on my rearend!! Even Bumpkin wasn't quite sure how I did it! But all of the sudden wewere on the top doing the Dance of the Real Women! It was so infectiousthat several of the people already up there applauded for us! :)   Well, the feeling that making it to the top of that formation gave me wasoverpowering. I felt invincible! And I am no longer afraid of any stinkinrocks!!I am getting stronger.   After conquering Spy Rock, we continued to climb Priest Mountain. Did Imention that out of 11 miles today half of it was uphill and half of it wasdownhill?! There were NO level areas! Well, we still had quite a bit of upto go! The trail was remarkably rocky, and the greenery was spread outwider then it has been. I was surprised to see lots of rhodedendron, whichI usually associate with lower elevations, or at least, with water. The sunwas shining and the wind was blowing briskly, so all in all it was a nicehike!   Lunchtime found us at the shelter eating leftovers from the night before.I'll bet we were the only two thru-hikers on the trail today feasting onpenne pasta with sun-dried tomato pesto and roasted chicken! :) It waswonderful!! After a few minutes rest, we headed up the rest of the mountain. We weresupposed to be picked up by Lois at 5:30, and time was getting a littletight. We were doing fine til it came time to come down the mountain. Thetrail became rockier and rockier and steeper and steeper! There were placeswhere it was like....step on a rock...plant your pole...look for rattlesnakes....plant your other pole...take a step......repeat. Time wasfleeting and all of the sudden we found ourselves 2 1/2 miles from the endand it was 5:15! Well, Bumpkin took of like a flash, and I started hikingas fast as I could. The last miles went by in a blur with me only watchingmy feet. I shredded my knees, as did Bumpkin, but finally got to the bottomat 6:15. Luckily, Lois and Earl were gracious about my tardiness. I willsay that I did the last 1.3 miles in 31 minutes. I am getting stronger.   Warm showers, clean clothes, and a double dose of Tylenol prepared us fordinner. Earl made homemade pizzas and we were joined by the other guests.A mother and her daughter, Jenny, shared our table. Jenny regaled us withstories about rock climbing and the environmental science camp she had justattended. She has to be one of the bravest people I know! I really enjoyedtalking to them both!   Later, a couple there celebrating their anniversary and two young menthat are section hiking the AT joined in the conversation. We all had agreat time as laughter rang throughout the sunroom. The guys, Bumpkin and I,used ourselves as examples of the trail community. We explained to theother guests that we had never met each other but that we had so much incommon through our love for the AT, that we were immediatly like oldfriends. "You mean....you didn't already know each other?", one of thewomen asked incredulously. I rest my case. :) Tomorrow, we are leaving to hike 19 miles into Waynesboro. It will be ahard day, but I am looking forward to it. My knee is throbbing along withabout 10 other places on my body, (I have run out of Advil!!), but that isok. I am geting stronger.Love, Anna aka Mud Buttwww.trailjournals.com------------------------------Local access to PocketMail mobilee-mail now available in Europe, NorthAmerica & Australia http://www.pocketmail.com