Date: 2005-09-29
From: Grayson Highlands, VA

To: Near Rt. 58, Grayson Highlands, VA
Miles today: 25.5

25.5 miles todayNear Rt 58Grayson Highlands, Va. I did sleep pretty good last night, but I got in the tent almost 2 hours before sunset and I fell asleep while it was still light out, so by 5am, I had enough laying down for one night. I made my coffee and a couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and was hiking by 6:20. I knew I still wasn't feeling all that great. By the time I got down to Rt 603 where I had a food stash, it was light out. I do love walking in the early morning and watching the forest slowly come to life with first light. It's a very peaceful time to walk on the trail. I sat down on the garbage can and looked at all the crap I had bought at the grocery when I was hungry. I took the fried pies for breakfast for tomorrow morning and left everything else for other hikers. I even left the coke!! I left sardines, some snickers, a 12 ounce summer sausage and a whole jar of peanut butter that had jelly mixed in with it. I hiked on and it started raining. I thought to myself, this is just what I need today. :-((( It was a cold, windy, foggy rain. I stopped at Old Orchard Shelter and sat down for about 15 minutes to get out of the rain, but hiked on when I started getting chilled. I finished the 1600 foot climb up to Pine Mountain which was at a 5000 foot elevation. It was still raining, windy and very foggy when I got out into the open area of Grayson Highlands. I walked through The Scales before climbing up to Stone Mountain. That was about 4800 feet high. I walked until I got to Wise Shelter and I just sat down in it for a while to get out of the weather. I usually love walking in that kind of weather, but I would have liked nice, sunny skies today...actually, I would have preferred a nice soft bed with a down comforter and a good book today. I hiked on and by the time I got to Massie Gap, the rain was starting to let up. It was still foggy and windy though. I walked by some of the feral ponies without even saying good morning to them. They probably thought I was stuck up or something. I kept climbing and walking over lots of rocks. I walked through Fatman Squeeze which is where the trail goes through a crevace in some boulders, climbed to Rhododendron Gap and by some campsites just north of Thomas Knob Shelter that I've always wanted to stay at on a clear night, but haven't yet. I climbed more and I could hear talking as I got close to Thomas Knob Shelter. When I walked up to it, the guy that was standing in the shelter said; "Stumpknocker." I couldn't see him well, but I did recognize the voice. It was Grey Fox who I'd met last year on the southern A.T. He came all the way up there to bring me some trail magic!! Well, once again, trail magic showed up when I needed it the most. I had been feeling so bad all day and the miles were long and then Grey Fox hiked up to the shelter and brought me cokes, cookies and bananas. A day hiker had been there talking to Grey Fox, but he left. Grey Fox said his car was 4 miles south at Elk Garden and he could slack me from there. The weather actually started to clear while we were at the shelter and the sun tried coming out a couple times. We hiked together to Elk Gardens and the weather did clear up on the way. I started getting some nice views and it was a real change to actually hike and talk to someone. We saw one doe on the way down to Elk Garden that ran up the hill. The 4 miles went by pretty fast. Grey Fox is planning an '06 thru hike and is anxiously awaiting February so he can start. Grey Fox said he could meet me in 6 miles at Rt 601, so I put my pack in his car and started walking. I was feeling better, but still not real good. I walked by one of my favorite springs on the trail and it was flowing, so I got a drink before walking on to Buzzard Rock. The views were very nice, but it was real windy. I was glad to get back down in the woods again. I saw 3 more deer before I got to Rt 601. One of them was standing right in the trail sideways to me, looking at me. It would have made a beautiful picture. When I got to Rt 601, Grey Fox was there laying down in the sun on his mat. I layed down in the grass and that really felt good. The sun was nice and warm and it felt good to stretch out. We talked for about 40 minutes before the sun started getting lower and I needed to walk because I was chilling down. He had found a campsite by the next road and said he'd meet me there. It took me about 10 minutes of walking fast to start to warm up again, then I was ok after that. I got near the road and Grey Fox already had his tent set up. I set my tent up just before dark and put my mat next to a tree to sit on. We sat there for quite a while talking until I started getting tired. I crawled into my tent and didn't even write my journal entry. I got in my bag and went right to sleep. It was strange having someone else tenting near me. On this hike that's only happened in the wilderness in Maine and one night in NY when Moosie was walking with me. I didn't realize how much time I've spent alone in the woods until I got to thinking about that. Thanks Grey Fox, you have no idea how much you've helped me today.