Date: 2006-10-30
From: campsite just past wind rock

To: laurel creek shelter
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: clear sky

======2003====== Good Friday, april 18, day 56woke up to rain....LOTS of it!.....it rained all night....one corner of our tarp let go in the wind....we managed to get it fastened back down again.....not too much ¢damage¢ done....(our shoes got a little damp).....it just continued to keep on raining, so we decided to wait it out a little while.....we laid there and laid there, but it didn¢t let up until about 10....i think we finally got up and out about 10:45!....we were FREEZING and definitely ready to get hiking!we walked in a drizzle all day....a COLD drizzle!...but i guess it was ¢perfect¢ weather for Good Friday....plenty of ¢suffering¢.....had thought we might duck into a shelter for a break....i had wanted to write a little something for this special day...but we passed 2 shelters, neither of which had registers...we were SOOOOO happy to get to this shelter (laurel creek)......malcovitch and a new guy (¢lunchbox¢) are here with us for the night.... ¢lunchbox¢ is from buffalo....we have had lots of fun chatting with these guys (mostly about food!...what else?!!!)people are beginning to catch up to us now....we are just so slow!....(i¢m eavesdropping now a bit as i also try to fulfill this duty of journaling....lunchbox is relating his adventure of night hiking up roan mtn. at 2 in the morning to catch the sunrise!....now THERE¢S a hiker for you!....i could barely get up roan in the broad daylight!)anyway, we are hearing that the forecast doesn¢t look too good for the next couple of days....i had sure hoped for a sunny Easter......i guess i¢m a little disappointed that there seems to be little opportunity to celebrate....no registers...no church house.....AND we¢ll be at catawba on the WRONG day for the AYCE, for heaven¢s sakes!...guess you could say i¢ve got the ¢mullygrubs¢....(i¢m gonna hafta give myself a pep talk!)....(NOW they¢re talkin¢ about icecream cake from the DQ!.....don¢t they know what they do to folks?!!).....well....i¢m prayin¢ for a good night¢s sleep and that the Lord will help me keep my spirits up......hope our wet stuff can dry out a tad.....======2006====== saturday, april 8, day 56 (from lambert¢s meadow to the home of our excellent ¢angel/hosts¢, homer and teresa witcher and children, about 9.1 miles, i think, to where homer picked us up in his car)a.m......(i wanna just jot down this poem i composed yesterday coming over one of my favorite ridges, before i forget it!.....here goes...)i have glimpsed the Highways of Heaven      and by my reasonthey outshine the purest gold!for they are at my feet the holy Mountain¢s Shoulders,      a Pavement laidby the Hand of God Himself!level now, they are warmed by light       from east or west, no one knows.the hour is not measured here....and i have seen His Portals overarching :      serviceberry, virgin white and whispering      praises to the sky!no wedding has ever been more lovely!His true Foundations have i heeled,      the Ancient Cleft of Petra....His Gardens held me, humbled, among      fetterbush, moss and pine!and the Trees on either side WERE life to me,      their leaves in healing for my body, my spirit!i climbed the Highest Mountain!i rested at Zion¢s Throne!i opened my eyes and beheld the River of God!but my waking was in thunder....the west shook in foreboding grief.the sky grew dark.creation groaned.i bowed my head in longing....then the passing morning met me running      while calling wildly down the path :¢more than a glimpse for the Redeemed,       Earth Traveller!....more than a glimpse for the Redeemed!¢(written coming over tinker ridge with the river and roanoke to the east)we have stayed the night with homer and teresa witcher, the ¢odd couple¢, and their 2 children, ¢cascade¢ (taylor) and ¢rockslide¢ (bennet) .....all 4 hiked the trail together as a family in ¢04 (i think)...pretty amazing, huh!....how did we happen upon such a blessing?....well..., homer was coming up the ridge yesterday as we were coming down (he was doing trail maintenance).... and after chatting a bit, he invited us home!.....what an answer to prayer!....we were in special need of at least getting our clothes washed and they obliged us this and much more!the best treat this wonderful couple offered us was a trip to floyd last night....we bought their dinner and then they took us to the ¢country store¢!...no...it¢s not a mercantile....it¢s a dancehall!....complete with live bluegrass music!.....it was like a trip back in time!...the old store still had its shelves....vendors sold icecream and ¢sody pop¢....folks from 9 to 90 were buck dancin¢ (some in very ¢colorful¢ square-dancing garb!)....the witchers tried to get us to dance, but shy paw-ee declined....i wasn¢t sure if my knees would hold up to the rhythm, either....but we sure did have fun as spectators!.....thanks, witchers!we¢ve had a wonderful stay here while some very strong storms passed through the area (the drive home last night was a bit scary!)....but we were safe and sound (and DRY) in the comfort of teresa and homer¢s nice home! God bless¢em!we¢re trying to figure out where we might be headed tonight (as well as the next few days), but the witchers have helped us with a tremendous head start (clean clothes, rest and clean bodies, too)....i sure do hope paw-ee and i have the opportunity to do the same for someone else some day!p.m....we are here (i think) at the second overlook on the blue ridge parkway....came across the road (just off the trail) up on a little hill and out to a level, wooded area....still not too far off the road, however, and that makes me a little nervous even though we¢re fairly well hidden....we were just so exhausted and since it was raining and colder we decided to turn in here for the night......we were supposed to go to fullhardt, but passed it by....and then we even passed wilson creek...(we¢re trying to fit our schedule together so we can stay at the bryant ridge shelter this time)it¢s supposed to get really cold again tonight (after being in the 80¢s yesterday.....yeah! we had an ice cold frosty at wendy¢s to cool us off!).....here tonight, though, we can already see our breath!we sent back a few piddly things in the mail yesterday, but still have most of our winter stuff which feels REALLY good tonight!we walked under ¢brollies¢ much of the day (and now it is raining again.....we thought it might clear off after those storms)....but the rain was a ¢good¢ rain....straight down....no blowing....a real pleasant april shower!we saw rubin this morning as we headed out....we passed him going SOUTH! (beats me!)....he said he had to go to roanoke and would see us later....he seemed fine...i hope it¢s not the last time we¢ll see him....we saw some more of that pretty purple polygala today....we did not see margaret* at either of the shelters, though (which i anticipated)....i wonder where the poor soul has gone?....when we asked homer about her, he told us that last february he had to go rescue her (he calls her by another name) from 8 degree weather up at one of the shelters....i¢m glad he was willing to go up there for her, else she might have died....i hope poor margaret is somewhere warm on this frigid night!well, it¢s getting dark and we don¢t wanna turn on our lights here by the road....besides, i¢m pooped!....goodnight!*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS* ¢margaret¢.....you can read more about this rather colorful woman in ¢day 63¢ of our journals...