Date: 2015-06-07
From: thunder Hill Shelter

To: Glasgow
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: light rain

I slept soundly last night and woke refreshed. The climbs of yesterday created a pleasant exhaustion and the camaraderie of our little group was very soothing. Today we plan to hike 14 miles and then hitchhike from the road to Glasgow. There is apparently an area in town with free hot showers and places to tent for hikers. Yesterday was all up and today is mostly down. Down hill for extended periods of time can be brutal on the feet and knees. D.No, C.Shell , and I headed out before the others and we're making excellent time. The trail was smooth and not too steep for some time. The morning was cool and beautiful, the sounds of birds and the light breeze rustling the tress were the only sounds. I spooked what I think was a pheasant and her babies, in the foliage right next to the trail. The mother jumped onto the trail and ran ahead of me, as if making herself a decoy to lure me away from the babies. The babies scattered in all directions. The mother took a sharp turn back into the brush and started a calling noise. The babies all started calling back. I thought about the few times when my children were young and had gotten separated from me in a store or outside. The panic I got at those times came back to me, and I felt bad about causing this family to flee away from each other. I hope the babies are all found and they are safe.The trail morphed into a rocky down, steep and taxing on the feet. The water was plentiful today though, so at least I didn't have to carry extra and weigh down my pack. We came to a nice creek and soaked our aching feet in the cool water. That feels so good! D.No was starting to limp at this point, his knee taking a battering. He is a super strong uphill hiker and we can't keep up with him, but he hurts on the downs. We came to Matts Creek Shelter and met a couple of VCU college students out on a day hike. It was and easy flat hike from there to the road. I almost stepped on a venomous snake on the way out from the shelter. It was right on the trail. It was grey, but two locals told me it was a copper head with a different presentation of color. Check out my scary snake picture and tell me why you think. The trail went next to the great James River for a like or two, then over the longest Foot bridge on the AT, named after a guy name Foot. No kidding. We caught a ride to Town with a group of guys from PA who go on a canoe trip every year together. I successfully yogi'd beer from them! They also gave us an apple cider kind of beer that they brew- called Early Man. It was fantastic! Google it! Glasgow was a small town with a gas station, a grocery, a pizza restaurant, a laundromat. Like all small American towns, it also had a volunteer fire dept. and a baseball field. Inexplicably, a gigantic dinosaur was placed right next the main road. The grocery clerk told me that it was because this is the town that time forgot. We watched a few drunk people try to climb it during our time there, and I wanted to climb it too. But is was too fragile. Free shower, pizza, laundry. We sat around and ate ice cream and had a couple of beers in the town that time forgot and it was swell.