Date: 2009-04-30
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I packed up, cooked my oatmeal, ate it by my campsite, and tried to quietly sneak out to the trail in front of the shelter. Unfortunately, I was recognized, and had to stop to explain why I got in so late last night. Two guys waved to me from inside the shelter. One was Stuffsack, and the other looked like Stickman who I hadn't seen since Hot Springs. I said hello, commented that I hadn't seen them in a long time, asked Stuffsack about his injured knee, and told Stickman that someone was hoping to see him again. "Oh, I don't know him," he said."It's a her," I corrected him. By that time, I knew this definitely wasn't Stickman... Then the jokes started... I had to get out of this embarrassing shelter!   We had a good climb up to Buzzard Rock and I took my time. The fog descended as we approached the bald, but the view wasn't entirely obscured. I got a little bit of reception at the top and called Erik as the wind whipped around me. He said that he got a late start, which disappointed me at first, but allowed me to take my time. I stopped to collect more water out of a piped string and continued along.    Back in the woods, on a hillside, I saw two men bent over in T-shirts and jeans, holding plastic bags. I wondered what they were collecting and called out to them. "What was that, young'un?", one called back to me. They said they were collecting branch lettuce and told me it was good with bacon grease and other ingredients. Hmmm... not something I could concoct on the trail... One of the men brought down a leaf for me to try. Greens... something I have not tasted for awhile! I parted ways and soon came out to the road at Elk Garden. There, I saw a man putting something into the trunk of his upscale car. It was Sandalwood! "Do you want to go into town and get some salad and coffee?", he asked. I told him that I did not have time, as I was to meet Erik in a couple of hours (although having just tasted the lettuce leaf, a salad sounded intriguing). Red Tree popped out of the woods (she is deaf and certainly more courageous than myself!) and I thought she might like a nice lunch. Sandalwood promised that he could get us there in 15 minutes.   Two hours later, after a chicken salad, lemonade, and chocolate milkshake at Jerry's, we returned to the trail. I felt guilty and stressed about being so far from Thomas Knob shelter, where I was supposed to meet Erik. He would have to hike further to meet me than I had hoped he would. Unfortunately, he had no cell reception.      Once back in the wooded area, I saw a deer, who was not nervous about my presence. He frolicked and played like a puppy. Then I entered a pine forest with a beautiful scent. I knew Erik would have liked it. Finally, I came out into the grassy area I had been expecting long ago. I looked into the distance and saw horses and Thomas Knob shelter! However, I did not get the same excited feeling upon seeing the horses as I did when I saw them for the first time in November. Then, I saw Erik coming toward me. He lifted up his hiking poles and then hugged me and we had 'Mudslide', who had been hiking behind me take a picture of us. I noticed that Erik's backpack looked like it did not have much in it, and wondered why... I had a big night planned for us. I wanted to climb the sidetrail to Mt. Rogers, watch the sun set and the animals play, make a fire, and introduce Erik to Braid and listen to him play the harmonica and sing. It was going to be a fun and relaxing evening for once!   However, Erik thought that after petting the ponies, we would head back to the car at Massie Gap, where I could exchange some food and gear, and we would continue on to Wise shelter for the night. Therefore, he did not bring his tent or sleeping bag with him to Thomas Knob... Oh, no!   He did have carrots and apples for the horses, so we had fun feeding them, although I think they were satisfied with licking all of the salt off of my body. One dark brown horse wanted me all to himself, and made sure to let the others know! After licking my legs dry, he took a nip out of my calf. I think it was a love nip!   When we reached the shelter, we decided that I would drop my pack and run back to the car to get Erik's stuff. It was only 3 miles. No problem, right? Then, we could get back and watch the sunset on Mt. Rogers. I could not have been more wrong. This was an extremely rocky and very slow going area. Erik was moving more quickly than I was. I felt tired and wished we were there already, but we weren't even close! He said that I could turn back while he went on, but I said I could do it. We finally reached the car around 6:30! It was not looking good to get back before sunset. Erik had made some massive, hearty, and delicious chicken burritos with eggs, beans, spices, and vegetables, and we sat on a bench near the car and ate them. He then packed up his things and we headed back. I saw a girl thru-hiker, sitting in the grass and petting a white foal. I wanted to pet it as well, but didn't want to disturb her moment, and knew that we didn't have the time anyway. Then we saw 'Goggle' coming up behind us (the one I mistook for Stickman). He was slackpacking back to Thomas Knob and was moving quickly!   At one point, as I climbed over some rocks, I lost the whiteblaze. Erik started looking and said he found one, so we followed it. After a little while, he started wondering why we were going downhill. I was wondering why we hadn't yet come to the lemon squeeze... Maybe this was an alternate path. We were following the white blazes, in any case, so it must be right! As darkness began to fall, we came to another registry sign-in. Hmmm... I didn't recall one in that area as we were hiking out... Then Erik groaned, realizing that we were back where we had started! We had been going south! (I apparently had not learned my lesson!) No!!! It was now 8:11 pm, and we still had nearly 3 miles still to hike! This was horrible! Now nothing that I had hoped to do was going to happen! We moved quickly, trying to cover as much ground as possible before we were in complete darkness with only one headlamp. I was tired, dejected, and my feet were like cement blocks, with no feeling or grip. Then, I tripped and fell forward, smashing my knee into a rock. The pain was immense! I sat down and cried, and cried, and cried. I saw that my good rainpants were ripped, and that blood was streaming from my knee. Nothing like this had happened in the 500 miles that I had hiked alone, and I cried for the loss of control, and this potentially damaging injury. I did not know the extent of structural damage done to my knee. Finally, I got up and kept walking, although I was still not finished with the tears. Erik let me wear his headlamp, but it was not bright enough for me to see by, and I moved very slowly, so as not to trip again. A horse appeared and walked on the trail ahead of us, as if leading us home, but stepped off when she found her offspring.   Finally, we came to the shelter. Goggle was eating his dinner and thought we had camped somewhere on our way back. Everyone else was tucked in their sleeping bags. It was after 9:30. "Braid?", I called out. He stuck his head out. At least he was there, and hopefully we could see him in the morning. I grabbed my bag and we headed over to the nearest area where we could camp. There were no good trees for me to set up my hammock, and given the time, and my injury, we decided to both stay in the SL1. Erik set it up, while I changed, and I couldn't wait to get warm and cozy. Erik had brought a half bottle of red wine with him and I could not wait to have some. However, he didn't think it was the best thing for an injured body. I conviced him it would be fine, and boy did it help calm and relax me! We were both able to fit into the tent and managed to get some fairly restful sleep. Tomorrow, we would access the damage to my knee.