Date: 2008-04-11
From: Relax Inn near Atkins, VA

To: Knot Maul Branch Shelter (2280')
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: clear sky

I woke up kind of early and just hung around in bed and watched the weather and morning news. All the national morning shows like Good Morning America and the Today Show are so unbearable and uninformative. I'm a little out of the loop on news so I was hoping to catch some but instead I learned stuff like tips to impress your boss (come in early and stay late? who would've thought!) I was out of the motel around 8:45 and stopped at the gas station to buy breakfast and replace the candy bars I ate last night. I ate a double decker oatmeal creme pie, an apple pastry, and two banana nut bread muffins well over 1000 calories. It wasn't long to the first shelter and I saw in the register that Dropkick had made it there last night. He didn't say where he was headed but it seemed the whisky took its toll on him and he left a bottle at the shelter for someone else. I saw a large wood pecker at the shelter and it was the kind that had a white spot on each of its wings as it flys away from you. This time I got to see it while it was resting and it was pretty big, mostly black body, with a red head that had feathers sticking out like a mohawk. Very woody the woodpecker. The rest of the hike continued to be gradual and crossed some private land and pastures with cow manure and cows. At one point about 10 were just standing still staring at me, kind of creepy. I saw another deer today and that evasive colorful bird from yesterday. It was on the trail for a second before flying away and I think it might have been an oriole. It kept chirping this short tweet so I could tell where it was. I found it hidden in a bunch of thorns and I couldn't really get to it for a picture because I would have to walk through thorns. I wish it knew I just wanted it to pose for me or even just stand in the open so I could get a good look and maybe figure out what kind of bird it was, but absence makes the heart grow fonder. There are these other birds I've seen recently that look like big brown mocking birds. They could be the same as the brown bird I saw in the smokies but couldn't identify. Not as many Dark-eyed Junkos today so maybe their time with me is ending as I get further north. I used to see 10-20 a day but none today. I got to the shelter around 2:30 and Shep was there. I had considered camping further up the trail to make for shorter days later toward Pearisburg but I decided to stay due to impending thunderstorms in the forecast although today was beautiful. Its also another 9 mi to the next shelter which I could do but I'm feeling a bit lazy and I can still make it to Pearisburg when I planned to even if I make today short. I do want to camp more now that the weather is nice and I'm getting a little tired of shelters. If I camp I can just hike till I feel like stopping plus I always sleep better in my tent and there is a lot better firewood at campsites. I did make a fire tonight and it got pretty hot quick. I burned all the wood I gathered and boiled a bunch of water over it. My Steripen was working well as long as I let it dry out for a while in between each use. If I get the new one working well then I can just drink a liter of water at every stream crossing and carry less water throughout the day. I ate a beef stew mountain house meal and saved everything else for later. I also only ate a king sized butterfinger crunch and reeses nutrageous bar to save more food for my longer days. Both bars are new to me but very delicious. The Reeses one is like a peanut butter cup snickers. After I had finished eating CJ showed up. He had hiked 25.5 mi from the visitors center where we ate pizza and last saw Dynamite. CJ didn't see Dynamite at all so Dynamite might have zeroed in Marion. Its a couple big days until resupply and then one more night before Pearisburg. I'm getting about 100 packages sent there so I'll need time to go through them all which means I'm going to try for a short day into Pearisburg. Its supposed to storm tonight and the clouds have moved in compared to how clear it was today. Rain tomorrow morning is also in the forecast but it should clear up in the evening so I might tent. We'll see what happens.