Date: 2012-05-11
From: Sinking Creek Valley - Hwy 42

To: Craig's Creek Valley - Hwy 621
Miles today: 11.3

Trail Mama had a very relaxing day today. We drove to the start spot with one stop to buy oranges at a small, very neat and tidy little store at a cross roads along the way. I headed back but was determined to find a spot to spend the day because there was NO way I was driving back to Christiansburg. This town is very close to Blacksburg which is the home of Virginia Tech. First Lady Michelle Obama was going to be the speaker at graduation which was today...so I knew that traffic would be bad in the area and I wanted to be far away from it all. So I just drove back a few miles to the little, almost not there at all, town of Newport. It does have a city park right by a flowing stream. I parked in the shade and rested, read, knitted, sorted, cleaned, and ate lunch all in peace and quiet...only me and the birds for 4 whole wonderful hours. AAhhh now that was heavenly!! It was 18 miles to pick up SOS down a 3 rated road (paved but no lines if you don't remember my rating system :-)so when I got there early I decided to hike a bit. Of course I didn't know which was to go so I just went 1/2 mile one way and back and then 1/2 mile the other way and back. SOS was no where to be found on either side so I hiked it all again and loved the peace and quiet of the woods. The trail was pretty much level and on one side there were two bridges..one small and just boards with no rail and the other big with steps and railings. SOS was late so sat in the car to knit a little more when a car drove up and the people got out and started talking to me. We talked and talked and then SOS showed up. They asked him where we were staying tomorrow night and offered us their house. They repeated the offer several times and gave us their phone numbers...so we will see if that fits in the plan or not. Back in town, SOS showered and we headed for Barnes and Noble to catch up the journal. A favor to ask: Would all the praying people reading this please pray for our friend Rebecca who unwent surgery yesterday? It would be much appreciated. The ROAD of the DAY: BLUEBIRD LANE No particular reason except I so much enjoyed the birds today and it just sounds pretty!SOS here.There is nothing more frustrating in writing the blog than to lose several paragraphs in cyberspace, which is exactly what just happened to me. Hopefully, I have learned that lesson for the last time and will type it in Word first and copy it over.The very first thing before leaving for the trail today, was to be sure that I had an orange to take with me. There is nothing better on the trail than a succulent juicy orange to eat. I save it until the day is almost 34 ¢s over as a bonus for making it through most of the day. Waiting to eat the orange later in the day only makes it taste even better because of the anticipation. The juice from the orange is so refreshing and uhm uhm good. I also make sure I have a candy bar to eat about an hour before the day is through ¢ it is usually a snicker bar. I rip the wrapper off the bar - take a bite and let the chocolate melt in my mouth then I slowly eat the caramel and nuts savoring every chew. I try to get about six bites out of every bar. Eating is a pleasure. Every thru hiker loves food and spends most of the day visualizing food. Most thru hikers especially love candy bars and snickers tends to be their favorite.Just like the last few days, I have seen Brownie, Wallie and Brownie¢s dog Diesel on the trail. We leap frog each other several times a day. They hike faster than me but take more breaks so I pass them during their breaks, only to be passed up later by them, when they start hiking again.Today was an extremely tough and exhausting day, because I had a two mile stretch where the mountain sloped down to the right. Hiking this stretch was like hiking with the left foot on pavement and the right foot in the gutter and hoping you did not fall over. The bonus for hiking this way was the panoramic view of the valley that stretched for miles below you. The other bonus I had today was the brilliant blue sky shining all day long. I learned later today that this kind of hiking is called slab hiking. Ugh it was tough.Passed two significant points today ¢ the first was the gigantic Keffer Oak and the second was the Eastern Continental Divide.I did not estimate my hiking time properly and was late by about 40 minutes. The main reason for being late today was that I thought I was hiking 10.3 miles. If only I would learn how to subtract ¢ it was actually 11.3 miles. Trail Mama was there to greet me with a big hug and a million dollar smile. We are having an adventure of a lifetime.