Date: 2003-05-02
From: Helveys Mill Shelter

To: VA 606, Trent's Store
Miles today: 16.3

The next morning was cool. The White Brothers, early risers always, walked past my tent and I spoke to them. Since the Smokies, we seem to be keeping a similar pace, though we might lose each other for a few days here and there.Notes also was off early. He decided to race on ahead and do some miles ahead to hwy. 606, then hitchhike back to Bland to meet his girlfriend. He was like a little kid, he was so excited at the prospect of seeing his beloved. It was sweet.I packed up quickly, and started down the Trail. I had some miles to cover today, and I wanted an early start. The first half hour was an easy downhill - really nice, first thing in the morning. My mood was jolly until I came across some water jugs by a creek - the same water jugs I had spied last night! Grrrr!Because I had walked into the shelter well after dark last night, this morning I got all turned around and started off the wrong way. Little aggravates a thru-hiker more than wrong-way miles!Despite my annoyance, the day was sun-dappled and breezy. A sweeter path I have not yet met on the AT. Much of it was ridge-walking, rolling or flat, a minimum of the Virginia ankle-rolling stones. I walked slowly, at a very comfortable pace, to ease my feet.The flowers are out in profusion. For the first time, we see the elegant pale pink azaleas, their striking salmon stamens spilling out like a graceful stretch. The tiny iris cristata dot the trailside, often in the company of the fuschia gay wings. Sometimes the flowers occur together, and vie for the eye in vivid gaudiness.Another splash of color in the green woods is a fire-engine red-orange bird, head, neck, body and breast entirely bright. The wing was black. I wished for binoculars, as this bird flitted from branch to branch, showing off. Is this a scarlet tanager?Walking on my feet feels like walking on broken glass. I can't get comfortable, so I just grit my teeth and walk through it.I take a three hour break at Jenny Knob shelter, and dry my sleeping bag and tent, which picked up condensation in the night. The water was a quarter mile away, and I felt like Alice in Wonderland going for water, winding through rhodo tunnels and down dry creek beds. Once there, however, the water was icy and good.This shelter has interesting mouse hangers, very innovative. They are tack hooks, four-way prongs like grappling hooks, the kind used to hang horse bridles for cleaning. Above them are fan or chandelier covers as mouse deterrent - mouse runs down the rope, hits the tippy cover, slides off to the ground - food safe.After a cooked lunch, I reluctantly shoulder my pack again. Though the heart and lungs are stronger than ever, my stride is shorter than normal. It's frustrating to move so slowly on this lovely flat ridge.Nonetheless, I keep trucking. Before dark, I am at 606, and plan to keep on walking across the road to camp at Dismal Falls. Most went in to Trent's store, where food and a $3 shower beckoned. I planned to cross and camp a mile or so in.But the Trail has other plans. Enter Chief to the rescue. Remember Chief? He was a friend back in March. Chief had thru-hiked last year and got as far as New York. This year he went out with us at Springer to make new friends and keep a base of fitness to finish up his thru-hike. He plans to get back on next month, to go to Katahdin. For now, he was out doing Trail magic for his friends.It was great to see the big lug.He showed up with his shiny new pickup truck, and Zapman and Sparky, and whisked me down to the store for some fried mozzarella sticks and an ice cream.There were The White Brothers, Swift Sandal, Apricot and Load Runner, Raisenette and Two Dogs.The White Brothers handed me a box of blister dressing."A man dropped these off especially for you."Who?"He said he gave you a ride yesterday,"George Fisher! Was that you?I'm thinking it was.I swear, I am moved by the care of folks, some of whom I hardly know, some of whom I've never met. Much Trail magic in Virginia!