Date: 2004-05-10
From: Four Pines Hostel, Va. 624

To: Campbell Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: few clouds

Monday, May 10, Catawba ¢ I¢m by no means the first one out the door this morning, though I¢m almost the last. I waited around for the last of my rinsed-out laundry to dry, then packed up and said my goodbyes to Sweaty Pig, off to 311 to hitch down to Damascus for Trail Days, the True Tree Huggers, headed up the trail. Then I walked down to the convenience store for snacks and use the phone.Love those convenience store shopping runs: poptarts, candy bars, snack crackers ¢ it¢s like a hallmark of Bad American Food.Another crap-out on the phone; left messages. Got to the trailhead about 1p.Somewhere on the Trail, 2:30p ¢ as usual for this section, the descent down to 311 had an awful lot of ups. I stopped at one of these uphill downhills for lunch, some sun, and the view. Trying for Campbell¢s shelter, another 4 miles past the highway and on the other side of McAfee Knob. That leaves 15 miles to I-81 tomorrow, where I can hopefully e-mail Greg at the outfitters and connect with Patch.Campbell Shelter, 5:15p ¢ the section between 311 and I-81 seems pretty heavily used, so the trail¢s all graded and maintained, which meant a nice hike up to McAfee Knob, which turned out to be pretty cool, with great views and big, squarish blocks of rock scattered all about. And I was feeling good coming up so I got to the shelter in good time, despite my left knee, all my toes, and my left toenail continuing to pain me ¢ a little surprised to find the shelter empty, so Mainesail and Stumblebum must either be camping out or went on to Lamberts. I kept running into the True Tree Huggers all day, and I saw Tailwind at the knob, heading off to soak in the view. Hope he enjoyed it while he could, because as I write this it¢s clouding up and thunder is rumbling in the not-too-far distance. Because of all the Orlanth activity ¢ not to mention that there¢s also no one else here ¢ I set up in the shelter instead of tenting out on one of the many lovely-looking spots.Hope somebody shows up tonight ¢ staying here alone would just be too weird!A little later ¢ Cripes! I just ran out of Potable Aqua. Good timing, Courteau! Now I really hope somebody else shows up, or I¢m screwed.A little later still, about 8p ¢ Tailwind, the True Tree Huggers, and an older couple from Hawaii all showed up. I¢m pretty certain that this is the first time Islanders have outnumbered Mainlanders at an AT shelter. They¢re both hiking to I-81, then he, Big Kahuna, is going to continue hiking while Hula Bug drives the support ¢bago. Stylin¢!Pretty much winding down now, having eaten and gotten water courtesy of Big Kahuna¢s filter. Very funny register note about a hiker trooping over to the spring, only to find a naked sweaty guy cooling his ass is the water! I¢m very happy to report that that was some pages back.I¢m toting a disposable camera on the trail; to save weight, for one thing. Even though my digital camera is tiny, it and all it¢s battery-charging, protective components are kinda heavy. Plus, I know how I am with my pack, and putting delicate electronics in a bag I throw around just didn¢t seem like a good idea. But I¢ve been taking snaps with the disposable like it¢s a digital, so it filled up pretty quick. At Four Pines Sweaty Pig said his wife reminded him to take pictures of people, not the scenery so much ¢ something I¢d like to remember, too. It would¢ve been nice to get a picture of the Pig, as he was quite a character. Well, live and learn.