Date: 2014-06-01
From: Roanoke via VA501

To: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up this morning feeling both sad and excited. Sad because I'd be saying goodbye to Tor at the trailhead in a few hours, and excited because I felt rejuvenated and ready to tackle the next section of trail. As of this morning there were three major climbs remaining between the James River and Waynesboro, VA, the next resupply point for me 80 miles to the north. Having been off the trail for almost two whole days, I knew the mini-bubble of thru-hikers I'd been with, which included AZ and Skittles, was far ahead of me. But I suspected I'd be bumping into some people I'd hiked with in previous days or weeks plus would be meeting a few new hikers for the first time today. That's one of the appeals of the AT for me: the sense that you never quite know what each day will bring.Sure enough, almost immediately after pulling into the James River parking lot, along came Space Blanket, a thru-hiker I'd first met at the hiker room of the Holiday Motor Lodge in Pearisburg and again at the Four Pines Hostel. Helen offered him cookies left over from her trail magic of a few days before, and he gladly accepted while commenting that he approved of the idea of eating cookies for breakfast. A few minutes later, I said goodbye to Tor and Helen and set off north up the AT with Space Blanket.I picked a great day to be getting back on the trail: sunny, cool, and dry with a slight breeze. Hiking the AT would be far easier if every day were like this. I encountered another familiar face at the top of the day's big climb, Bluff Mountain. Thor the Red, whom I'd last seen four days ago in the supermarket parking lot in Daleville, was finding that the new shoes he bought there are not as comfortable as he'd hoped, so it's now back to the drawing board.Around the time Thor left Bluff Mountain, a man and woman arrived who took an interest in my thru-hike. They asked all sorts of questions including whether I mostly tented or stayed in shelters (about 50/50), what my favorite places were so far (Max Patch, Roan Highlands, Damascus), how long I'd been planning this trip (decades), and when I expected to reach Katahdin (early September). All this time I was trying to figure out their relationship, as he looked to be in his late 60s, while she was in her early 40s. When I asked them their names, they replied Dallas and Andrea, and she added that as day hikers they don't have trail names, but if they did hers would be shadow, as growing up she always followed her dad around, at which point she gave him a hug. Before leaving, they wished me luck and both shook my hand. I found it heartwarming to see a father and daughter, who drove all the way from Tennessee and Maryland, respectively, to hike together on this Virginia mountain, have such affection for each other.After Dallas and Andrea left, I called my brother, Tom, who lives in Philadelphia, to formulate plans for him to join me for a stretch when I pass through Pennsylvania starting in a few weeks. It appears that, in addition to Tom, we may be hiking with one or both of his sons, John and David, some time in July.With a fairly late start this morning and 90 minutes spent on Bluff Mountain, I needed to hoof it the last 12 miles, mostly downhill, to the Brown Mountain Creek Shelter, site of an abandon community of freed slaves dating back to the early 1900s. Just before reaching the shelter, I passed the 800-mile mark, where a set of sticks forming that number, plus an AT symbol, lay on the ground along the path. Space Blanket and Thor the Red are staying here tonight, as well as Scout and Chinook, who rolled in after dinner and are fully recovered from the stomach bug they had in Daleville.