Date: 2017-04-28
From: John Hollow Shelter

To: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Miles today: 18.4

No one else showed up at the shelter last night. I want to thank my husband, brother and sisters for keeping me entertained. They sure do help keep my spirits up while I'm out here. I'm always happy when I have service in the evenings.It started raining around 7, but I don't know if there were storms or how long it rained. I fell asleep at 8 and didn't stir until the rain had stopped. Those on top of the mountain did say they had some good storms. The highlight of the day was definitely the morning. I had a large mountain to climb this morning, so a early start before it got to hot was my goal. I started walking about 7 in the fog. As I climbed up to Little Rocky Row Summit, I slowly left the fog behind me. I must say climbing out of the fog is a wonderful experience! When I arrived at the summit, the views were absolutely stunning. The valleys were still shrouded in fog and the mountains all around me were peeking up out of the fog. The mountain tops looked like islands in a sea of fog.  I continued to climb up to some cliffs and found a pile of rocks to enjoy a snack and some more views. The weather was gorgeous. Warm and sunny is my type of weather for sure. The trail then lost some elevation, but soon started up to the summit of Bluff Mountain, my high point for the day. As I arrived at the summit all I could say was wow the views were worth the work of the climb. There were views in two directions and I couldn't decide which direction to take in first. The remains of an old fire tower provided a great place to perch and just enjoy the day. I shared the peak with a French south bound flip flopper who took advantage of the coverage to call home. I stayed here for quite some time just taking it in. I saw another south bound hiker just below the summit taking a break. Told him the summit was literally steps away with amazing views. He said he'd rather break in the shade. I'm sure I gave him a most bizarre look.  The rest of the day was spent going mostly down. Brief uphill climbs, but nothing major. I made it to Punchbowl Shelter and decided to make the 0.2 mile trip to have lunch and fill up with water. It was really heating up and I wanted to have plenty of water on hand. For some reason I was very hungry and fixed a hot lunch with lots of snacks. Punchbowl was a nice place with a little pond and a nice spring for water. The guide says the pond provides some black flies in summer, but no bugs to speak of today.  After lunch I continued down to the Punchbowl Mountain Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I'm not sure why it is called an overlook as there were no views, but there was a trashcan. Left my trash and continued on down into what is becoming a green tunnel at the lower elevations.  I arrived at Reservoir Rd which has a campsite close by that I had originally thought about staying for the night, but it was still early and all I could hear was the sounds of some machinery around the dam. I continued on as the guide showed plenty of campsites along the way. The trail then followed the Lynchburg Reservoir for quite some time. Surprisingly, several of the creeks leading to the lake were dry. Joker passed me quickly saying he was seriously low on water and needed to find a water source. He soon found one and he was filtering away. I continued around the lake and found a better water source and did the filter routine. When the temperature and humidity get this high staying adequately hydrated is a very high priority. I was soon following the Brown Mountain Creek which provided a lovely walk along it's banks. One spot had a foot bridge and some lovely cascades. The guide called it a waterfall, but more cascades right now. Regardless, it was a very pretty spot. I was seeing quite a few locals and they have taken the campsites along the creek. They sure picked some beautiful places to camp for the night. I decided to just head to the upcoming shelter.  All I could think the last couple of miles was I sure a local boy scout troop hasn't taken over the area around the shelter. When I arrived there was a tent city along the banks of the river with a bunch of men, but no boy scouts. Haha. The shelter was just above the creek and the only occupents were Machine and Joker.  Machine said he had hiked a negative 1.8 miles from Buena Vista to meet up with his friends he got ahead of in Daleville. They soon started to arrive. I lost track, but there were about a dozen of them all slack packing this section. They were a very loud and boisterous bunch while at the shelter, but looked to be having a lot of fun. They snacked, swam in the creek and hung out until everybody in their group arrived. I was glad they were not spending the night. I can only imagine they do not observe hiker midnight. Two other hikers arrived to spend the night Plant and Mutombo. The four of us had a quiet dinner and I enjoyed their company very much. It ended up being a very pleasant evening. It was overall a fantastic day!