Date: 2007-05-26
From: Niday Shelter

To: Catawba, Virginia
Miles today: 22.5

Today was a long day... with an excessive amount of climbing uphill. I am reminded of something "Orange Hat¢ said way back in Georgia: "It's like they intentionally made this hard. I mean, it's all peak to valley, peak to valley." Back then, I thought the guy was silly, of course it's peak to valley, we're hiking along a mountain chain! Now, I see his point more than I did then! We woke in the morning to nice weather and the knowledge of a climb from our shelter elevation of 1800 feet to the top of a ridge at 3,080 feet. Luckily the climb wasn¢t very steep, but it was one of those that messes with your mind and it seemed never ending. I was worried about the heat and how Bailey would manage, but she was happy to chase a squirrel and stayed right by my side the whole way up. Some good hearted person had placed a bench at the top and we rested there until Kevin caught up, both chugging a lot of water. A few hundred yards from the bench we came across the Audie Murphy Memorial in honor of the most decorated war veteran of WWII. Apparently he died in a place crash in the 1970¢s near this spot, so a granite memorial was erected there in his honor with American flags in front. After a downhill that seemed endless, I was at a much lower elevation once more of 1,500 feet and stopped for lunch with the group at Trout Creek. Bailey swam and we dunked our sweaty feet in the icy water before eating. While I was cooking Ramen next to the stream bed, I noticed a Copperhead criss-crossing his way past me along the surface of the water and on downstream. Before now, I had no idea they could swim and it cracked me up to see it wind it¢s way right over the small waterfall downstream. People watched the water a bit more closely after that, making sure they weren¢t snuck up on. A Copperhead encounter could mean a good day would turn very bad and I kept an especially close eye on Bailey. In the muggy and stifling heat of the day we climbed once more, out of the valley and back up into the hillsides. The insects were buzzing and humming boisterously and I was reminded of hazy days in August back home. No breeze graced us with it¢s presence, just the steady vibrations of a forest bursting full of life under the sweltering sun. After an initial rise, we crossed a green field and plunged back into the woods and a shady pine grove before switch-backing our way up the hillside. From there, the climb was continuous and led us over rocks and ridgelines. It took longer to make steady miles because of the rocks, but I continued to make progress and eventually made it to a rocky vista just past Cove Mountain. I rested and waited for Kevin, then we went to explore the Dragon¢s Tooth. Luckily General Tso was there and offered to keep an eye on Bailey so that we could climb up and see the view. This was a dangerous place for a dog because the rocks were very steep and we were worried she might get hurt. Kevin climbed up to the top of the tooth and perched for a cool photo and then I had my turn. You could see 360 degrees around and it was incredible, farms and fields and the town of Catawba all spread out below us. This was a nice treat near the end of a long day. After one more hill, that seemed like a pointless climb on account of having no views or remarkable features, we made our way to the road that led into Catawba and headed to the gas station. We quickly guzzled some Gatoraids and spent some time with friends before heading two miles down the road to the Home Place Restaurant where Kevin and I were meeting up with the rest of our convoy. The restaurant is legendary on the trail as the place with the best food, all you can eat home cooked food. Unfortunately they were closed and it was late by the time we arrived (9pm) but the owners were kind enough to let us all sleep out on their gazebos! At 11 o¢clock the next day we were first in line when they opened. It made me laugh when they led us hikers to a back room separated by the rest of the restaurant by a partition. I guess hungry, dirty hikers don¢t make for good restaurant ambiance! Plus, everyone else there seemed to be arriving after church and were wearing stylish hats and fancy clothes... the contrast between us was laughable! We ate enough food to feed a small country: fried chicken, roast beef, green beans, corn, biscuits, beans, cole slaw, sweet tea, lemonade, and blackberry cobbler. It was amazing but I definitely had a stomach ache afterwards! Dan¢s girlfriend Caitlyn was driving down from upstate New York to pick him up for their big road trip across the country, so we hitched to Roanoke where she was arriving to celebrate one last night with him. We ended up going to a terrible restaurant for dinner adequately named Awful Arthur¢s Seafood and then stayed up late telling stories and reminiscing about the past 700 miles. It¢s going to be very hard to see Dan and Maximus go. We¢ve become this little family out here and he¢s been here since the beginning. Plus, Bailey and Maximus are pals and I know she¢s going to miss him.