Date: 2003-06-09
From: Bobblet's Shelter

To: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

3:30 p.m. ¢ I¢m taking a break here at Jenkin¢s Creek and drying in the welcome sun from my splash in the water. I¢m so thankful for the blue skies today and the temperatures in the 60s (at least). It¢s produced praise of ¢hallelujah¢ from me on occasion, for we don¢t truly appreciate the sun until it disappears. It stormed heavily last night, bringing a big branch of a tree crashing down on the shelter, giving the walls and everyone inside a shudder. The temperature dropped after the storm and it must have been near 40: the fleece bag and silk liner just barely kept me warm enough, but I hunkered down and handled it well enough AND, I slept in again this morning! I could get used to this; this time until 8:30. Again, I had a leisurely morning and didn¢t move out of camp until 10:30. Moose Munch had plans to walk in to Buchannan for lunch, and he planned to take the parkway to do it, rather than the trail. He asked if I¢d like to do a little roadwalking (about 1 12 mi. I think) and I accepted. I couldn¢t think of a better way to get some phenomenal views then to cruise the Blue Ridge Parkway on foot. We did have some awesome views and we also checked out wildflowers and talked about families. When he and the Littlest Hobo split for town, I hit the trailhead north and stopped at the Cove mountain shelter to dry my tent, my shoes and socks and eat lunch. Millipede stopped, too. He mentioned a swimming hole up ahead. This, I hadn¢t heard people talking about lately, so I pulled out my companion. Low and behold, it read: ¢Jenkin¢s Creek: Swimming hole popular among locals and hikers alike.¢ Yippee~! What a perfect way to really appreciate the sun, with a swim! So as fast as I could pack my tent back up and put back on my socks and shoes, I headed off for the three mile hike to my swimming fate, relaxation and a bit of journaling. Sometime that evening ¢ The rest of the afternoon was absolutely amazing. After leaving the creek, I had an enormous climb, but I paced myself and conquered it evenly. After getting to the top the trail ambled down, losing elevation slowly, and meandering through gorgeous pine forests. Eventually, the path took me to a lovely spring, that I followed for nearly 34 of mile, until I reached the shelter. I set up my tent so I could hear the water all night. There¢s a good group of folks here at the shelter tonight. I especially enjoyed the company I had at dinner time: Sleepy Floyd, Two Dog, Sister Sledge, Moose Munch, Indigo and Cruiser. After dinner I washed my socks (and wrung out brown muddy water from them for at least a 12 hour) and dried them by the fire that Millipede had built. Others showed up later in the evening ¢ Stonehenge, Hoops, and others that I can¢t recall right now. Lots of conversation about identifying snakes around the campfire tonight.   I wrote in the Bryant Ridge Shelter register how much today was a matter of perspective ¢ how wonderful and glorious everything looked to me today, and it was all about a positive frame of mind. I think most people who signed in after me, thought I must have been crazy¢¦but that was what I was feeling. I really did LOVE being outside today, hiking, taking in the freshness, newness, beauty.