Date: 2008-06-13
From: Ridgeline Campsite

To: Bland, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Got up and said goodbye to Cornelius and Dr. Z, as I probably won't see them for awhile. The leg is not too bad, but I'm sure it will get worse as the day goes on. I stopped at Jenkins Shelter for a quick lunch. There was a deer that walked up to probably within 10 feet of me while I was eating. The AT was rerouted to the High Water Route, so I really couldn't tell where I was from my maps. I made it down to a road where a church had left an ice chest of Propel for hikers. I didn't realize at first that we were actually on the High Water Route, so it was kind of discouraging because I though I hadn't made much progress. However, when I actually sat down at compared side trails and landmarks with my map and guidebook, I realized I was only about 7 miles from Bland, which was pretty exciting since my leg was starting to hurt. When I started hiking again, a large stormcloud started moving in, and it did not look very good. Right when I reached the ridgeline that I follow all the way into Bland, it starts pouring. And since I'm on the ridgeline, there's almost no tree cover from the rain. What a Friday the 13th. I pretty much just expected Jason to jump out and butcher me with a machete next. My leg was so bad at this point that I was limping heavily, and my shoes had filled with water so that my blisters were only getting worse. Yet, slowly I begin to hear a sweet symphony of 18-wheelers, which can only mean that I am getting close to Bland. It finally stopped raining and the sun came out, so I decided to stop and put on a dry pair of socks. Well, as soon as I get one sock changed, it decides to start raining again. I just threw my shoe on and kept walking with two different pairs of socks on. When I reached the road, it didn't look too busy; even further decreasing my chances of getting a hitch. Yet, I threw my thumb out and the first car pulled over to give me a ride to the motel. I got to the motel and took a nice, hot shower and threw all my gear out to dry. I walked across the street to the Dairy Queen and order the biggest combo that they have. I get my order, turn around, and what do I see but Cornelius and Dr. Z sitting at a table dying out laughing. After it started raining, they decided to head all the way into town to get out of the weather, so I let them crash on the floor of my motel room. So after my burger and Blizzard, we went to Subway and ate again, then went to Dollar General to pick up more stuff, then back to a gas station for a six pack. We went back to the hotel and watched Reno 911, Young Frankenstein, and rejoiced to find Flight of the Conchords on HBO. Not my favorite episodes, but glad to be able to watch them. We even had to polish off the six pack in celebration. My leg is pretty bad, and since I would be getting off the trail in a few days to go to my cousin's wedding, I'm going to go ahead and head to Roanoke to wait on my flight. I'm not really looking forward to being off of the trail for this long, but it looks like my only option for right now. Better to rest for a few days than do some serious damage to my shins.