Date: 2008-04-04
From: Relax Inn - Atkins VA

To: Campsite just past Knot Maul Branch Shelter VA
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: light rain

Day 47 ¢ Friday April 4 ¢ Campsite just past Knot Maul Branch Shelter VA ¢ Miles Today: 14.3 Total Miles: 550.7Today we had a leisure morning around the motel. We got up about 7:30, had leftover pizza for breakfast, two pieces each - a vegetarian and supreme - followed by oatmeal, a Lara Bar and some Pringles. Such a delicious healthy breakfast. We finally checked out about 10:30 and were hiking underneath Interstate 81 about 10:40. Since yesterday we had a pretty fast hiking pace doing 22 miles in 9 hours, we decided today to slow it down a bit. Going up and over a dozen stiles today forced us to do so. The stiles, which are normally on private farms, are used to keep the cattle out of the trail area. Either that or to slow hikers down.We walked through, we believe, three private farms today. The first one, although it didn't have cows in the immediate area, you could tell by the evidence that they had been there recently.   The second pasture had neither cows nor evidence. Life was good, but it was about ready to drastically change. The third pasture we walked through was an adventure. Grasshopper likes to tell the story this way: Let me just start by saying that the third pasture we walked through with probably 50 cows was an experience that I will never forget. You often think of your husband being your Savior, your Guardian Angel, your Protector. It's always something you dream about. Well, let me tell you today's experience was nothing like any of the dreams I've had about my ¢Knight in Shining Armor¢.   He was anything but my Protector. Here¢s how our journey through the cow pasture went:We entered the pasture walking the same path as the cows. Yes, the Appalachian Trail and the cow path are one in the same! Upon realizing that we were soon to be surrounded by a heard of cattle, Brakeman has the same reaction he always has upon seeing wild animals.Brakeman: ¢I have to go pee!¢Grasshopper: (laughing) ¢You ALWAYS have to go PEE when you see wild animals!¢Brakeman: ¢Don¢t just stand there looking around, start hiking or I¢m going to leave you behind for these cows to eat you alive! You go first and I'll be right behind you.¢Grasshopper starts down the trail and already has the giggles.Grasshopper: ¢What are you doing behind me if you are my Protector? How are you going to protect ME from BACK THERE?¢Brakeman: ¢Just keep going and don't make eye contact with them - they could charge you.¢ We hike for a bit and then I look back at Brakeman to find him looking all around - to the left and then to the right. He¢s not even looking at where he is walking. Grasshopper: ¢What are you doing? Are you looking for an escape route?¢Brakeman: ¢Yeah. I think I'm going to climb a tree if they start charging." We continue to hike along the AT, a path that continues to be shared with the cows!   After a few yards, I turn around to see what Brakeman is doing now. He is no longer behind me! He has now positioned me between himself and the 50 cows! He's taken the path to the upper side so that he's got me in the middle for them to charge so that he is safe. Once again, my so-called great Protector. Grasshopper: ¢What are you doing up there?¢Brakeman:   ¢I¢m moving further away from them.   There¢s a group behind us now, too. Keep walking but follow in behind me!¢Although Brakeman is walking up this steep hillside on an angle, and I'm walking on a flatter path that's smoother and quicker, I fall in behind him and we trudge along. It was rough hiking on that hill and I wanted to go down to the smoother, more level path. At this point, I got the giggles, serious giggles. So much for my Protector, he had me laughing in stitches. Just let me say that after 13 years of competitive swimming, I still could not swim and laugh at the same time. I would drown if laughing overtook me. So now I was trying to hike with 50 beasts coming at me from either the side or behind me and I'm laughing. The hiking part was not going well. I could barely walk. We continued along, Brakeman at his breakneck speed, me just trying to keep up with my giggles hindering my efforts. We still had some to the left of us, staring us down and we still have some behind us, following us. Now we had one in front of us. She would run ahead of us, stop, stare us down and challenge us to get closer. We did. Luckily she did not charge. Instead she ran ahead, stopped again, stared us down and challenged us to get closer. We did. The routine continued. She ran ahead, stopped, stared and then moved up the trail. It makes both of us a bit nervous, one more so than the other based on the lack of laughter coming from one member of the party. Luckily, we eventually reached the end of the pasture and found a stile to put us on safe ground! We are up and over and safe! Grasshopper still had a serious case of the giggles for the next 15 minutes. Brakeman felt nothing but relief! He was not amused.One other event that we wanted to do today, but my Protector, that would be Brakeman, would not participate in was the cow-chip-tossing contest. My goodness, I never realized cow chips were so huge. I thought they were about 1/10 the size. But he vetoed the idea so onward we hiked towards Maine, without a cow-chip-tossing contest. So sad. END OF STORY. Stay turned for the upcoming movie!On another part of our hike today, we were coming down a hill overlooking a cow pasture and could hear all the cows seriously mooing. They were obviously very upset about something. Well, it turns out there were two geese in a little creek that's on the other side of their fence and they are having a territorial dispute! Yep, cows and geese having a territorial dispute with a fence separating them! There was all kinds of quacking and all kinds of mooing. It was quite funny to watch and hear. Eventually the geese allowed the current to carry them downstream out of the cows view. The cows stopped mooing, but the geese kept quacking. Quite funny.More about the weather now. The weather channel showed a big band of clouds, storms and rain, so we headed out this morning in full rain gear. The skies were quite gray but the temperatures were pretty warm. Slowly during the next hour as the rain never materialized, the rain gear was removed. First the jackets came off, then the rain pants came off, and then the seal socks came off. We must have stopped 16 times today to adjust the rain gear either adding it or subtracting it. It rained some, but never actually rained very hard as the insides of our shoes are still dry. That was not the case yesterday. A gorgeous day today.We arrived at Knot Maul Branch Shelter to find a 3-generation family out for a 3-4 day section hike! There were two young boys, aged 9 and 13, plus Dad and 70-year-old Grandpa! They are keeping track of all the sections they have done on the AT and are slowly trying to accomplish the whole trail. They're from Kentucky, just below Cincinnati, about a 5 hour drive from here. They had a huge bonfire going and had a hot dog dinner planned. We were offered a spot at the table, but had to move along.We had already decided to hike an additional .4-mile, where there was a spring and camping area, so we left them alone with their hot dogs and continued on. We arrived at camp at 6:00, quickly filtered, cooked and set up the tent. By the time we got into the tent a little bit after 7:00 more sprinkles had arrived. Great timing in that regard. It's 8:00 and 60+ degrees in the tent, probably in the 50s outside. Slave driver Brakeman has big plans for the next few days - nearly 19-miles tomorrow, followed by a 23-mile day and a 22-mile day, I believe. We'll wing it and see how our bodies feel, but this Virginia terrain is hiker friendly so far. Goodnight from Virginia.