Date: 2006-10-20
From: the village motel....atkins, va

To: the village motel
Miles today: 0.0

(a brief note on this february 16, 2007, before i begin my transcription for the day.....i¢m thankful for ¢trail journals¢ and the good work leif and zipdrive do managing the site.....i¢m especially thankful today as february represents a little bit of a ¢bittersweet¢ time for me when i remember the anniversaries of the beginnings of our hike at springer....if not for this opportunity to post and ¢re-live¢ 2 wonderfully memorable trail experiences, i think ¢springer fever¢ might completely consume me!.....thanks, leif!...thanks, zipdrive!.....now on to the memories....)======2003====== tuesday, april 8, day 46(a.m.)i see my ¢babies¢ today!...YEA!....we¢re here at the ¢village motel¢ in atkins, va.....it¢s....clean......(that¢s about all i can say).....but never have i been so happy to see a destination!because of how the weather turned out yesterday afternoon, we decided to come on in (instead of camping 7 miles out of town)...that made for about a 22 mile day!...our most yet!....i barely remember comin¢ in here last night...i was so tired i couldn¢t think!.....the first part of yesterday went fast!....the trail was good and we were fresh.....AND we had ¢heaven magic¢ again!...that is, even though it had been pouring rain the night before (and even yesterday morning), it stopped as soon as we got out and started hiking (we had to stop and get rid of all our rain gear!)...after a little while, we came out of the woods and into a ¢spring wonderland¢ of verdant rolling pasture....the grass was washed and ¢kelly¢green.....the wooded ridges loomed a dark, ¢scrubbed¢ mauve....and the distant mountain peaks in deep charcoal blue smiled clean, clear faces under a white ¢bath towel¢ sky....the fog had lifted just enough to unveil this beautiful post-shower scene.....a few straggling wisps still hung like fine, wet baby¢s hair across the shoulders of the mountains...and the hollows held a few lingering clouds, like a washtub with suds still clinging to its sides..........plum trees (i think) and apple, too, were putting out fresh new leaves....the damp, dark hillsides were speckled with serviceberry, ivory white against the wet woods....there was the surprise of an old, yellow, bright-as-sunshine school bus abandoned up on top of one of the green paddocks....it was as cheery as the forsythia that bloomed here and there among several weathered out-buildings.....once again i felt as if i was far from home....wandering the pages of a book....exploring a different world....walking through the scenes of a movie...(perhaps a european travelogue?)....only we were really THERE!....we could FEEL the damp grass and SMELL the freshness of the after-rain!.....we were HEARING the birds sing their enthusiastic songs of new life!....made me wanna jump and dance and run!...(and i might have, had it not been for the 30 lbs that kept my feet to the ground!)....how good we felt!....especially after thinking we¢d be trudgin¢ through the rain and fog all mornin¢!....God is good!....later on, though, as we began to ascend the ridges, the trail grew rockier and the wind picked up.....the fog got thick as pea soup....the damp woods sent an aching chill that edged its way through our gear and into our bones.....when we finally reached partnership shelter*, we were FROZEN!....(you¢re supposed to be able to order pizza here, believe it or not, but we were too cold to hang around and wait on that!)....as we tried to warm up a little there, however, huddled in one corner and longing for sunshine, a hiker dropped in and chatted with us a few minutes....her name was pat and she did much to take our minds off our shivers....after a short visit, we said goodbye to pat and dug into our packs to see if we could find anything decent to snack on (some calories to help fight the cold)....in a few minutes, pat rounded the corner again and in her hands she held a thermos of coffee!.... ¢here¢, she said, ¢i had this little bit of coffee left over in my car....thought you might appreciate it¢.......well, i¢ll tell ya!...we¢re not too big on coffee, but that was the best warm drink i¢ve ever had in my life!....grounds and all! ha ha! (she also gave us some oreos!....we must¢ve REALLY looked pitiful!)....anyway....God bless pat!.....God BLESS pat!......on our way out, we checked at the ranger¢s station there to inquire about the weather and the trail ahead (whether or not we should continue on)....they reported more cold and rain, so we set our sights on atkins!...it ended up bein¢ a little more difficult hiking (rocky trail) than what we had experienced for the morning, but we made it, happy to be in a room for the night instead of in cold wet woods!...the landscape coming into atkins was beautiful, though slightly drizzly....it was about 6:30 as we approached ¢town¢, so the cloudy skies were bringing the evening on fast....a good mist was beginning to fill the air which produced an atmospheric perspective that made the horizon look like a watercolor!.....the wet hills were stippled with rust-colored hawthorn trees and emerald wild rose....straight, narrow cedars were bleeding their appalachian textures through the fog....i was amazed at the amount of color shining out of the dusk on this dreary , early-spring evening....we saw skunk cabbage for the first time in the ¢wild¢ there as we walked on down to where the marshes bordered the train tracks.....we made our way on railroad ties that were sometimes submerged in puddles.....we finally came on out to the highway here, crossed on over to the motel and fortunately got a room.....after getting clean and warm and dry, we grabbed our umbrellas and headed up to the ¢red barn diner¢ to get some supper.....the smiles were returning to our very tired faces!......¢vagabond¢ showed up here tonight also....it was nice to see him briefly again ....(he looked almost as beat as us!)......i can¢t wait to see my ¢babies¢ when they roll in here after while....guess for right now, however, we¢ll just rest and watch the weather channel....(p.m.)indeed! i DID GET TO SEE MY BABIES* (and hug¢em and kiss ¢em and squeeze¢em!).....all my deepest ¢grandma longings¢ were satisfied!....touching mckenna¢s soft, dark hair.....gazing into bright, sparkling eyes......listening to an abundance of giggles!.....snuggling philip¢s chubby little 3-month-old body....stroking his baby soft head....watching his wide, toothless smile.....oh!....how i hated to see them go!.....it was good to hear all the news from home....shea informed us that he got a job teaching science this fall at hixson middle ......yahoo!....i¢m glad we¢re not the only one¢s for which God is pouring out His blessings!.....we got a little sad news from carli over the phone here a while ago that our kitty cat had gotten run over on the highway....i felt worse for carli than for the cat, though....she seemed to be crushed with guilt that it was her fault.....i tried to reassure her that she was in no way responsible and not to worry....these kinds of things sadly happen.....carli¢s a very compassionate kind of girl...always ¢feelin¢ responsibility¢ for that one who might be a little down....i was a kind of surprised, however, at the huge amount of ¢tenderness¢ she seemed to reflect for our cat (she does NOT enjoy the company of animals!)....i wondered if she might not have become ¢attached¢.....she made it clear, however, that though the entire event was definitely sad and most unpleasant, it was her MAMA she was grieving for....not the cat!......still....i hated that she had to see it happen ......well, it looks like we¢re supposed to have some wet days ahead......hope we can get some good sleep tonight here in this real bed, so that we¢ll be ready to hike well tomorrow.....i¢m sure everyone will be seeking shelter from the cold and the rain....please help us ALL, Lord......you¢ve been so very gracious to me and ol¢ paw here....help us to experience your explicit will for us....to be and to do exactly as you would have it....help us continue to have the strength to ¢go the extra mile¢....on this trail....and for each other.....show us how to think ¢out of the box¢....to have good attitudes through what seems to be harsher conditions....i know You are with us ....please continue to wake us up to that awesome reality!.....and to help us remember, Jesus, that through You, we have strength for all things........... whatever happens, help us never forget that YOU are the Ruler of ALL!======2006====== wednesday, march 29, day 46 (18.8 miles from jenny knob to big horse gap)today was yet ANOTHER gloriously perfect day weather wise..... we were already hiking in our shorts by probably 9:30 or so.....it was supposed to rain, but it¢s been very nice......we¢ve had lot¢s of ¢flat land¢ walking.....first, on a long ridge this morning...then down to several miles of the stream valley before wapiti shelter.....i love the tall, straight pines through there.....they remind me of a cathedral.....(or a setting for a fairy tale like ¢hansel and gretel¢ or something!).....we¢ve climbed here now to the top of this ridge which by our calculations seems to have switched back to a location just above wapiti in the valley (wonder why we had to walk so far down the valley to seemingly change directions and walk the same distance back on the ridge? hmmmmm.....i would love to look at a map for a clue)*....anyway, we¢re here at a place called ¢big horse gap¢....there¢s a little dilapidated shack that paw-ee has already explored and says contains a gas fridge among other things...(i wouldn¢t go in.....thought i might fall through the floor!)...there¢s a spring box here (thank you, Lord, for water in the spring!) ....and a privy, too, but it¢s old, so i think it¢ll just be the regular old cat hole for us tonight!).....we¢ll be sleeping under the tarp which we love to do and it looks to be a pretty night...we have almost 12 miles to pearisburg tomorrow so i want to hurry and get to bed so we can get up and ¢boogie¢ tomorrow.....can¢t wait to have a town day!....oooh!....showers!....clean clothes!...FOOD!...yea!.....paw has just reminded me to write about the very ¢good¢ climb up from wapiti.....i had remembered from ¢03 that it was steep, but i don¢t think i remembered it being so LONG and steep!.....we still haven¢t seen any widflowers much to speak of....folks have told us that it¢s been about 15 degrees below normal around here for this time of year.....but maybe spring really is on its way....it has certainly felt like it the last 2 days!we had black beans and rice for supper tonight....i think paw was wishin¢ for some hot peppers to go with it....it would have been better with all the ¢fixin¢s¢....oh well...such are the ¢joys¢ of the simple life!....it¢s 5:19..... time to duck into the tarp...oh.... i forgot to say that i found a piece of insulation here that paw was able to cut and use in his hip belt! *NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS------* ¢i did get to see my babies today¢.......my son, shea, and his family had driven up from chattanooga to visit relatives in virginia ....so we had worked out a visit....it really boosted my spirits and helped me not be quite so homesick!....it was definitely difficult, though, to see them load back up in that car and drive off down the road....that¢s one of the ¢good¢ lessons you learn bein¢ on the trail for 6 months, however....you discover a greater appreciation for home and the people that make it ¢home¢*partnership shelter.....a ¢pipe dream¢!.....for early hikers the out-of-order hot shower just mocks you and the promise of pizza is limited to whether or not you¢re willing to fork out the large tip that is required to get the delivery guy to come out there.....the warm bathrooms at the ranger station are very nice, but locked ¢after hours¢ (5-8).....and unfortunately the easy access from the parking lot makes for late, (and sometimes noisy), after-work or school arrivals .....am i complaining?....probably.....maybe i¢m just partial to sleepin¢ in the woods!* why the long walk down through the valley near the wapiti shelter to only find the trail switching back in the opposite direction on the ridge?......on the google earth map you can see how the ridge above wapiti juts back slightly as a sort of westward ¢peninsula¢, almost (but not quite) parallel to the valley....apparently the trail follows along the rim of this peninsula (i¢m assuming) which makes it seem as if you are headed in a direction opposite of what you should be following.....you travel this ¢backward bent¢ for some time before switching back again (i think) in the normal northeasterly direction towards pearisburg...... this ¢backtracking¢ (of sorts) is a phenomenon that sometimes occurs on the AT as it meanders through gaps and ridges for a generally northward passage.....there are brief moments from time to time when northbound hikers experience the feeling of traveling ¢southbound¢.....this explains the answer to the question : ¢why does the AT traverse 2100 miles when the actual distance is more like 1000?¢....you have to take into account all those little ¢crooks and nooks¢ that tally up more mileage in the long run....get it?