Date: 2006-06-07
From: 1 1/2 mi N of Bailey Gap Shelter, Va 

To: 1/2 m N Sarver Hollow Shelter, Va
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up at 5:30am after tossing and turning quite a bit because of some small rocks under me. I couldn't get real comfortable. I put my coffee on at 5:50am. I had half a bag of some powdered mini donuts along with some sunflower seeds and Starbuck's. :-))) I got packed up and was walking north at 7am. A T and Forrest came walking near my tent last night. I knew they had planned on night hiking, so when I heard voices coming from in the distance about 10pm, I knew it was probably them. When they got near enough to where they could hear me, I yelled out to them to get their attention.They said they weren't going much farther.They were right...I came up to where they bedded down about 5 minutes after I started walking this morning. A T said he came back over to my tent earlier this morning to see if I was OK. There were quite a few coyotes yipping and howling on the other side of me and he said it sounded like they were right at my tent.I like it when I get to hear those buggers and A T, I'm OK. :-))) A mile into my walk this morning, I heard a roosting turkey take off flying and I watched it just go from one tree to the next one...just a little farther away from me. I kept walking on a very rocky, sloping area, so I'm glad I set up where I did last night to sleep because I would have walked for another hour before I found a good tent site. I stopped up at Wind Rock and worked on my insole some more. I just can't seem to get the darn things to give my heel a break. I descended almost 2,000 feet and stopped in at War Spur Shelter. I had a couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, then signed the register.There was an older couple there that were thru hiking, but their names were so normal that I can't remember them. Hummmm... I passed the older couple about a mile past the shelter, then in another mile, I met Bumble Bee standing in the trail watching a box turtle.That's the first box turtle I've seen on this hike and the first time I've met Bumble Bee. :-))) I climbed 1,200 feet to Rocky Gap. There has been trail magic there each year I've walked by and I sure could have used a soda today, but the cooler was empty. :-((( I stopped by Laurel Creek Shelter and signed the register, then walked down and tanked up on water and filled my water bottles.I've started carrying 2 litres of water again since water seems to be a bit more scarce in this area.Most of the side hill streams are all dried up. I stopped at 2pm and set up my tent. I'm not sure what's up with that. I just felt like taking a nap and I didn't want to keep walking.I slept well for two hours, then packed up my tent and started walking again at 4:20pm.I'm falling apart!!! :-))) I walked by a farm field with some donkeys in it, then climbed through another farm field before getting to the Keffer Oak...a huge oak tree with an 18 foot 3 inch circumference...I think. It seemed like a hard climb up to the mountain ridge that Sarver Hollow Shelter is on even though it's only about an 800 foot climb. I've done this climb before and I know it's not that hard. I got to the side trail to Sarver Hollow Shelter after walking by the piles of rocks on the ridge.Someone had made dozens of piles of rocks from about 3 feet high to about 6 feet high.My guess is that it was done years ago to farm the ridge...or, maybe as punishment for Sarver Jr when he was a bad boy. :-))) Anyway, I stopped there at the side trail and sat on a large dead-fall and ate dinner...more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on good 100% wheat bread. I walked another half mile down the trail from Sarver and set up my tent for the night and crawled in about 7pm.