Date: 2007-11-24
From: Catawba Mountain Shelter, VA

To: Pickle Branch Shelter, VA (near Dragon Tooth)
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: broken clouds

It got down to minus 3o C this morning. My 0o C-rated Phantom 32 sleeping bag (Mountain Hardware) is going strong with a bit of help from handwarmers and a fleece blanket that I bought in Dollar General for $5. I sewed it up the side into a bag and, although it is very light (290gms), it seems to be adding a lot of warmth. I notice Dave is walking around the shelter bent almost double even though this shelter has a high ceiling. Most (many) shelters have overhead hazards that will catch the unwary. We¢ve seen so many people bang their heads on these hazards, especially if using a head torch. We¢ve learned and walking bent double is what we are both doing, even when unnecessary. We blue blazed into Catawba P.O. and picked up our food drop. It was only 1 mile along the road but no one would pick us up although there was plenty of traffic. We dropped into the general store where there were about 4 old geezers just sitting around shooting the breeze. They were not all that friendly. I guess we were from just too far out of town. Again, getting back to the trail, no one was interested in giving us a ride. Oh well . . . It was a fairly stiff 400 metre climb up to Dragon¢s Tooth which is a spectacular rock sticking up from the ridge.Being Saturday after Thanksgiving and a beautiful but cool day, there were quite a few people about, especially going up to Dragon¢s Tooth. The ridge was rocky going, made slower by piles of wind blown leaves up to knee deep. It took longer to get to Pickle Branch Shelter than we had anticipated but being a fairly short day of 14 miles (plus whatever we added by going into Catawba) and 919 metres climbing (980m down), we arrived before 3:00 p.m. Tomorrow is a much longer day. We saw several deer today, but don¢t tell the hunters! Judging by the number of shots we hear, they do not need any help. Photo by BOO-BOOIt was my turn today to take a headlong fall off the side of the trail. I caught my foot in something and it would not let go. No damage done however, although I couldn¢t focus for a while, and my right foot had a few nasty spasms before coming right. It was lucky there was no drop off the side of the trail, just piles of leaves which cushioned my fall. The profile (shows trail ups and downs) did not match the map today, and neither matched reality. I suppose this is largely due to trail relocations but it can be disconcerting. Pickle Branch Shelter has a lovely stream ¢ no water problems here! Pickle Branch Shelter photo by Marta/Five-Leaf This is an interesting description written by Marta Five-Leaf (SOBO thru hiker of 2006) of the area south of Daleville, November 2006:I noticed this yesterday when leaving Daleville. I had been walking for more than an hour, having climbed and gone down and climbed back up again, and I could look down on the high school that was less than half a mile by road from the motel I had slept in.Same deal today. Up and over rock after rock after rock, all along the spine of the hills. The map looks like rickrack. We walked three miles to progress one mile closer to Springer.The rain stopped midmorning and the sun came out. With the sun shining, the vagaries of direction became very obvious, as we went north and east and west and south, taking miles to cover a short as-the-crow-flies distance. I felt as if I were walking on a Moebius strip of rocks.The ground was completely saturated with water. Like walking on a sponge. Every step was more work than usual. During the walk across a cow pasture and hayfield, the tips of the trekking poles had to be yanked out with every step, fighting the suction of the water in the soil.Then there was the clamber up the north side of Dragon's Tooth. It would be a fun day hike, carrying a bottle of water and a candy bar. But carrying a full pack and after ten miles of PUDs...Rules for long-distance trail designers:1) They must be carrying a 60-pound pack.2) They must be at least 50 years old and have bad knees.3) They must hike the "fun" section in a cold rain, with high winds and poor visibility.4) They must have done at least ten miles already that day. Marta