Date: 2004-06-01
From: Helveys Mill Shelter

To: Trent's Grocery and Campsite
Miles today: 16.3

Wow! No thundershowers last night. And Burnie arrived last night at 9:20 PM. All's right with the world. I was worried about her all day. I was afraid she would not take the high water trail but she did. I was afraid she would camp near the road but she didn't.The sun came out this morning with wonderful blue skies and a cool northwest breeze just perfect for hiking. Rainbow and I left camp about 8:00 AM. Burnie wanted to sleep another hour and Pokey needed to fuss with his gear a bit. The trail was mostly easy with a wide path along old logging roads that was mostly graded. We were able to make good time traveling 10 miles to Jenny Knob Shelter in 4.5 hours including a 1/2 hour snack break and a 15 minute break to change socks. We spend 2 hours at Jenny Knob. We empty our packs setting up a clothes line to dry all of our clothing and gear in the sunshine and dry breeze. I took a short nap after eating a good lunch of tuna fish and crackers and Gatoraid.We left Jenny Knob Shelter around 3 PM heading 7 more miles to high 606. This was a little tougher because the trail eventually narrowed and went over rocks and became steeper. There was a lot of poison ivy on the sides of the trail which was impossible to avoid. I'm hoping the shower I am about to take will wash the oils off soon enough to prevent a reaction. It is not fun to hike with a rash.Just before VA 606, is a long suspension bridge over a river. On the middle of the bridge was a young local couple drinking beer and watching the water pass under them. They asked where I was from and where I was going. He wanted to know what kind of gun I was carrying to protect myself from the bears. She said she wanted to hike the AT but figured she would never get to do it. Too bad. It is a life time experience that cannot be rivaled.Burnie came out of the woods and headed across the bridge. We said good bye to the local couple and walked up to the road. We needed to hike .7 miles to Trent's Grocery for food and a campsite with shower and laundry. Burnie stuck out her thumb when a pickup truck heading in the right direction came by. The driver pulled the truck over, got out and explained he just pulled over to dump some logs along the riverbank where they could rot instead of in his back yard. I offered to help and began hauling logs to the side of the road and letting them roll down the banking. When we were finished he offered to drive us to Trent's.I stepped off the truck and grabbed my pack only to be accosted by Polly with a big kiss. Pokey was smiling at the action and Burnie was laughing at my reaction to Polly.The driver told us a severe thunderstorm was approaching and should hit within the hour so we headed to the campsite to discover no trees for hammocks so Pokey and I set up the tarp for the two of us while Burnie set up her tent. Rainbow was already set up and now was taking a shower.We had pizza at the grocery/restaurant and waited for the storm to arrive. Fortunately it was a dud moving just north of us so we only got a little rain. We are now in the laundry washing the stink out of our clothing. I'm about to take that shower I was talking about.Can you believe that tomorrow we will reach the 600 mile mark. Seems impossible to me.Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman