Date: 2007-06-03
From: Knot Maul Branch Shelter 

To: Jenkins Shelter 
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: light rain

When I woke up today it was raining. It continued to rain for most of the day. It was one of those raw rainy days, and the hike today took me over some high pasture land exposed to the wind. I started out hiking with my rain jacket on, but soon took it off since I was generating too much heat and eventually couldn't take advantage of it to keep me dry because I was sweating with it on. Hiking today was a wet affair but not too strenuous. The elavation gains / losses were moderate and the trail fairly free of rocks. What I have liked about the Virginia section of trail so far is that it traverses both the usual wooded ridgelines and low areas and will also occasionally come out of the woods and wind it's way across high pasture land and lightly wooded fields.After about 6 miles the trail came out of the woods into a field and for the next 3 miles I hiked up and down these hilly fields with the wind blowing and the rain coming down steadily. I was anxious to reach the first shelter and take a break from the rain. Just as I came over a hill, the shelter appeared. I was surprised since I did not expect it to be in the open here, but in the woods. It was also not the typical shelter. This one was completetly enclosed, with windows and doors and had whitewashed concrete walls. In this location, it almost reminded me of a country cottage, in the English countryside.I opened the door to Chestnut Knob Shelter, walked in and immediately put on a dry shirt and jacket. There were two other hikers there, Sled Dog and Tennis, both trying to warm up. I soon made a cup of hot coffee and had some lunch, as I listened to the wind howling outside and the rain beating on the shelter's metal roof. I was relieved to be here and laid out my sleeping bag to catch up on some journaling and maybe take a nap to wait out the rain.The original plan was to keep going to the next shelter 10 more miles, but I started to think it would be nice to just call it a day and stay here. I almost finalized that plan before a few other hikers came in out of the rain. I was happy to see Snake Charmer and Slick who I last saw in Damascus, VA. They were with another thru hiker called Rider. I learned, they were the hikers that came to the shelter last night after midnight. They were planning to only stay for lunch and continue to the next shelter, and asked me to join them.Well as much as I liked the idea of staying where I was, their idea sounded good since this would allow me to take a short hike on Wed. into Pearisburg, VA and be able to stay there most of the day and overnight. So I packed up, hoisted my pack, and headed down the trail. I enjoyed the conversation with these guys, for the remaining 10 miles. We arrived at Jenkins Shelter at about 8:15 and set up our tents for the night. As we were making dinner I asked Slick if I could borrow his knife, since I had lost mine back around Erwin, TN. Well when he handed me the zip lock bag the knife was in, I was amazed. The knife he had, was my knife! He said he found it in the hiker box at Uncle Jhonnies Hostel in Erwin, where I must have lost it. I would almost consider it an amazing coincidence, but this is just another example of what is referred to as "Trail Magic" out here. We built a small fire to dry out a bit from a very wet day, enjoyed some conversation, and called it a day.