Date: 2005-05-26
From: Keffer Oak

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: clear sky

Last night Free and I decided to a fairly big day. We wanted to put ourselves in a good position to hit Dragon's Tooth and Catawba Friday morning. By going to Pickle Branch we would have a 12 mile day on Friday. Six to the little Catawba store for a minor resupply and six more to the road where we were going to hitch to The Homeplace. I left at 7:30 and was immediately greeted with an up. After the up I got to the shelter path. Sarver Hollow Shelter is a beautiful shelter but, and this is a big but, it is .25 off the trail, straight down the hill. I would rather have taken a hammer to my kneecap than make that climb down and back, but, water was necessary and it was the only source for the next six miles. Anchor made the most sensible comment, "Is this someone's sick idea of a joke"! Free and I left there and our next meeting was going to be at the Niday shelter, for lunch. The rest of the morning hike was uneventful but the weather was perfect. The sun was out and the temps were in the 60's. Makes up for the cold, rainy day we had. At Niday Shelter we had lunch and rested awhile. The afternoon was going to be rough. We had a 2,000 foot climb over 3 miles ahead. Free took off around 1:00 but I wanted to finish up some journaling so she said she would see me at the shelter or a good rest spot. Some people have asked how I keep my journal pretty current. This is one way. I will stop at lunch or on a break and type some stuff into the Pocketmail. I try to finish it up at night but some days I am to tired to think so there are times I have to play catch up. Whenever I get near a phone I transmit the entries to my transcriber and they are posted. I left the shelter around 1:30 with 10 miles to go. The uphill took its toll and I was pretty tired at the end of it. I reached the top of the ridgeline around 4:00 and sat down for a small break. I will re-verify, Virginia is not flat nor is Pensylvania the only state that has rocks. Virgina has plenty and the bottoms of your feet know it at the end of the day! I moved on. Stopped at the Audie Murphy Memorial for a moment. Murphy was the most decorated soldier in WWII. he received 24 citations including the Medal of Honor. He died in a plane crash near that spot in 1971. From the memorial I started downhill and finally reached the road where I saw Free. I told her I wasn't going on till I had a rest and something to eat. So we sat down and had a tortilla covered with peanut butter. A quick calorie producing snack! Up the hill we went for the last mile of the day. Pickle Branch is a half mile off the trail so we only went part way, found a good spot and threw out the sleeping bags. Tonight was a cowboy camp kind of night. We ate and just as it was getting dark we got a surprise when Gypsy pulled in. She had done a 22 miler to get there. It was great to see her again. She always seems to have so much energy and her laugh is infectious! She brought us up to speed on the whereabouts of the group and other people we know. As we suspected, they aren't very far back at all. By now the stars were out and talk turned to The Homeplace. The Homeplace is an AYCE but it is served homestyle and not buffet style. Not to mention they serve, biscuts, chicken, roast beef, veggies, and cobbler. Word has it that it is one of the best meals on the trail. We wil find out tomorrow! Random musings; Free is still on a mouse rampage due to her being et. Free also can't get over the fact that I beat her 3 times at Yahtzee. My stomache is contantly chewing on my backbone during the day. I have lost 37 pounds so far. Between Scholar and I we are carrying a small library with more books in a bounce box waiting at Waynesboro. Where is Scholar? She has disappeared again. We are under 1500 miles to go. Break is two days ahead and it sounds like Linux is getting off for a couple of days. It is time for bed.