Date: 2006-04-17
From: US 501 (Glasgow)

To: Johns Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 1.7
Weather: light rain

The first thing I did today was go out for a nice breakfast before calling about shuttle services in Waynesboro.The reason for the NERO (near zero miles) today was that I found someone to shuttle me back to the Trail after parking the SUV at the trailhead in Waynesboro. He is Lyle Kirby and I found his name and number in the Thru-hikers Handbook. (Actually, I called the first name listed first, and no one answered.) Lyle is great. He charges one dollar a mile (one way) which is the same rate I paid on the Ouachita Trail in January. He was friendly and flexible¢¦so what more could you ask for? This way I¢ll have my own ride waiting for me next to the Trail no matter when I get there, day or night. Waynesboro is quite spread out and the motel, outfitters and good places to eat are all several miles off the Trail.Before meeting Lyle, I visited the post office, outfitter and library. I wasted twelve dollars or so mailing drop boxes to both Glasgow and Waynesboro when all along I could have just kept my supplies in the SUV¢¦but who knew.At the outfitter I looked at some shoes and finally bought one of those ¢Hiker to Trail ¢ Trail to Town¢ bandannas.The library here is nice and they let you have an hour on the internet¢¦longer if no one is waiting.I had to eat lunch at the Chinese buffet in the plaza next to Kroger¢s. It was only $5.72 tax incl. The food was as good as everyone had said¢¦fresh¢¦hot¢¦tasty¢¦well prepared¢¦and lots of variety. I especially liked the breaded scallops, General¢s chicken and the oysters. The hot and sour soup was excellent. I don¢t think I¢ve ever met a hiker that was in town for lunch or dinner that didn¢t eat here. I¢ll bet they love it when these starving twenty year olds arrive. You can¢t tell me they make any money off of hikers.On the news I heard about the unfortunate bear attack near the Trail where a young girl lost her life and several family members were mauled. This is rare as the black bear normally fears and runs away from people. I think more hikers have died from homicide on the AT than animal attacks. I liked Soleman¢s response back in ¢02 when someone asked him what he thought about the possibility of being killed by a bear. He said something to the effect, ¢If it happens, I just hope he (the bear) enjoys it (eating me). Unfortunately, Soleman died unexpectedly of unknown causes one week before he was to begin his thru-hike. He was so looking forward to it.At the time I retired early to hike the AT, I decided that I¢d better do what I love to do while I¢m alive and able. If something unfortunate happens to me on the Trail, at least I¢ll have been doing something I love and wasn¢t sitting at home dreaming about it. So shed no tears for me when I go¢¦instead cry for the babies dying of cancer and save your sorrow for our beautiful young people dying in Iraq before they¢ve had half a chance at life.Kind of got side tracked there. I arrived at the first shelter around five and no one was around. It was cloudy and had rained some earlier so I just set up in the shelter. Then a young thru-hiker called Sunset who had left his pack at the trail dropped by to get water. He wanted to hike on to position himself for a free lunch at a hostel down the trail.Towards dusk, three young men came in for the night with their handsome hunting dog¢¦not sure of the breed¢¦some type of retriever. They and the dog weren¢t bothersome at all, but since the sky was clearing I decided to set up my tent and move out back. I¢m usually up and out before the young people and this way I won¢t bother anyone while packing up in the morning.