Date: 2016-04-22
From: Wilson Creek Shelter 

To: Buchanan, VA via Bryant Ridge Shelter 
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: moderate rain

Palindrome and Rabbit continued their hijinks of waking up other hikers at 5:30 which I find not particularly funny. I went back to sleep and was up around 7. It was drizzling out, and I was not hugely motivated to get going and took my time. I was out by 8 behind Audubon and Quixote. It rained lightly all morning as I headed up and down pretty easy terrain. I did about 10 miles to Bearwallow Gap before even eating. The trail began to intersect and cross with the Blue Ridge Parkway, which provided a number of breaks and pretty spectacular views into the fields nearby and away to mountains, specifically the very recognizable tops of the Peaks of Otter. I was given a great deal of joy for some reason by the passing of the very occasional car along the wet and rainy pavement. I ate lunch at Cove Mountain shelter and met Jim Martin, a 74 year old who is a hundred miles or so from completing his goal of sectioning the AT through Virginia. I then made my way down to Jennings Creek, where the weather finally cleared into a sunny day. All along Cove Mountain i could see the fog rising off the ridges in a mystical and beautiful way. I went up and over Fork Mountain and found myself in a valley with trees and streams all around. And then it started to drizzle again, and I threw on my pack cover. Then it started to rain. Then i saw a flash in the sky and heard the boom of thunder. And it started to really rain. I had been taking it kind of slow, but I only had a half mile left to the shelter, and I kicked myself for not walking faster. Had I walked a little faster I might've showed up bone dry, but as it was, I was soaked. Bryant Ridge Shelter is astounding, a labyrinth of wooden posts and sleeping areas and porch over two floors. And there to greet me were Palindrome and Rabbit, as well as Polar Bear, Seaweed, Hootie, Bolt (whom I haven't seen since Hot springs), Babbit, and a number of day hikers, all staying out of the rain. I had about 45 minutes to kill before I pushed on along a blue blazed side trail nearby to meet up with my dad and brother at 5, so I tried to dry out and snacked. As the rain subsided, most of the hikers pushed on hoping to get to the next shelters, and Audubon and Quixote showed up. Palindrome set up his tent in the rain just to test how waterproof it actually is. He's a bit of a nutcase. Then 4:45 rolled around and I threw on my raincoat for the first time all day and headed down the trail.The blue blaze came up quickly and I climbed up and over a little ridge and found myself at a dead end dirt road trailhead. It was just past 5, and I hung out for about 20 minutes waiting for my dad to show up. I figured they were just late, but decided then to start exploring around the area to see if I missed a trailhead. I ended up intersecting them a little along the road at a strange place, but happily clambered into the car and tried not to smell too bad, to no avail. I felt ecstatic to be being whisked away somewhere warm and dry and in the company of family. We drove to an Airbnb stay in Buchanan where I got cleaned up and put in a load of laundry. We then headed out for dinner, and (unsurprisingly, knowing my family) ended up back at Three Lil Pigs BBQ. The ribs were even better than the pulled pork, and the hush puppies were still amazing. I even got a second serving of free banana pudding. We picked up a few cases of soda which my dad is going to leave as trail magic and headed back. Tomorrow, the plan is for an early wake up and for my dad to drive my brother and me to the trailhead where the two of us will start hiking north. My dad will drive up to another road crossing further on and will then backtrack to meet us and we'll all go together to the car, then we'll probably repeat the process once or twice through the day. Unfortunately, the afternoon is pretty devoid of road crossings, so we will have to choose between 15 and 25 miles tomorrow! We'll see how we're feeling! Great to be having this special treat on the trail!