Date: 2013-05-15
From: Garden Mountain ridge stealth camp

To: Stealth Camp @ Views to the west
Miles today: 14.2

Happy 2 months on the trail! Yeh! I celebrated with a wonderful night's sleep. I woke up around 6:20, but I stayed in my pack until 6:30. It was really light outside so I got up. Dreamer was already awake. I got up to "do my business" and to see the sunrise, but it was already high in the sky showing off between the clouds. The wind was blowing all night and continued through the morning routine. It took several tries to get the stove to work. At one point, the water tipped over and poured out. I started over from scratch. Must have coffee and hot chocolate/granola.We got moving around 8:20. It was cool with the wind, but there was plenty of hills to climb and rocks to stumble over to keep me warm. We stopped on a rocky outcrop ridge and booked a room at Wood's Hole Hostel for a couple of days from now. Neville was super nice and said they would leave the door open for us, as they were going to gone to Damascus for Trail Days. There seem to be lots of hikers moving towards that direction. It's been so quiet on the trail as of late, I guess that's why.It was a dry morning. There were lots of rocks and rocky outcrops and various rock formations. I never realized Virginia was so full of rocks. Or perhaps all the rocks in Virginia were collected and distributed along the AT for hikers to get to see and experience each and every one. That's secretly my theory. We were passed by a couple of German AT thru-hikers. Fortunately, there was no discussion of US public transport. We did discuss the lack of water along this stretch of trail. After trudging through so much water, it's strange to have such long stretches of trail devoid of moisture. Dreamer and I made a pact to stop at the next water source and have a good soak. Not 100 yards later, we rounded a corner, and there was the perfect stream with a deepish soaking hole and easy access to the water. Yeh!We ditched our sweating packs, stripped down to our skivies and climbed in. It was cold so you have to get in while you are hot. It felt so good. Another hiker, Turtle Tracks, came around the corner. He took one look at the two of us frolicking in the water (actually, I think we were both washing under our armpits) and decided to stop, too. We spent at least an hour, bathing, washing some clothes, having lunch and basking in the sunshine. Finally, we conceded that it was time to move. It was after 1:30, and we had only gone 5 miles. We got dressed and headed out. I set out ahead and climbed up, up, up. Within a few miles, the terrain leveled out, and I made some good time. I got to our meeting point in two hours. Much to my delight, there was a high bridge, spanning a cascading river. I crossed the bridge, and came down the other side. I dropped my pack under the bridge and shed my shoes. I had drunk all my water (a rarity for me), so I replenished my reservoir and mixed up some sports drink. By the time Dreamer got there, I had consumed about a gallon of Powerade. I was thirsty! Hog Greer came along. He was waiting for Turtle Tracks, and they were hitchhiking back to Trail Days. I decided to cook an early dinner there by the river and give Dreamer a chance to enjoy the rushing water. I ate until I was sick and gave the rest to Hog Greer. With a full belly and a fully bladder, we decided to continue on. We hiked for another hour. Suddenly we heard some crashing and smashing through the woods. I couldn't see what it was, but I wouldn't be surprised in the least if it were a bear. The stride pattern definitely wasn't that of a squirrel or chipmunk or deer. It was too loud and too violent. At 7:30, the sun was still pretty high in the sky, but there was a concerning lack of places to tent along the trail. The hill side was too steep and there were too many trees. At a tiny scenic overlook, we found a postage stamp size place to set up our tents. With out tents clinging to the side of the hill, we set the tent stakes, changed into out p.j.s and sunglasses. I grabbed my beat up water bottle of Chianti. We sat on the ridge and bid the sun goodnight.