Date: 2006-10-18
From: old orchard shelter

To: trimpi shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: clear sky

======2003====== Lord¢s Day, april 6, day 44(a.m.)what a glorious morning!....the wood thrush (my favorite songbird), though hidden away somewhere in the secret halls of the mountain, was flawlessly ¢playing her pipe¢ .....i have always considered it an honor to be in her company as she is only known to perform her artless song before an ¢Audience¢ of but One..........we didn¢t get rained on last night (as we thought we might)....in fact, the wind settled down and the stars all came out blanketing the sky with the most crisp and twinkling midnight calico!....we were fortunate enough to both be awake to actually see this quiet and beautiful spectacle.....as we lay there whispering , gazing at the vast milky way from the tiny confines of our tarp, killeen told me about the song, ¢follow the drinking gourd¢.....he says he¢s been noticing the big dipper ¢changing positions¢....much higher in the sky as we head north.....but all that star gazing made us hungry.....(EVERYTHING out here makes us hungry!)....it¢s been such an unusually ¢delicious¢ hour walkin¢ down here to our breakfast stop (on a little ridge between two larger)......such sheer joy singing and worshipping!.....sometimes it¢s hard to distinguish WHICH part of the creation is most filled with God¢s presence....the woods or me!....all i know is that everything seemed right and good and extremely beautiful coming down this enchanted slope!....some folks might get ¢claustrophobic¢ as they walk among these intimidating hills and mountains....but i love them!.....so close they are to me, rising up on either side as if to ¢cup¢ me in strong hands.....they make me feel secure....at home.....comforted....i¢ve been reading psalm 25 about the ¢sweet, satisfying companionship of the Lord¢......and also Philippians chapters 3 and 4 about KNOWING Christ......and of course, on this sunday morning i¢ve been thinkin¢ of and prayin¢ for RCF......(p.m.)well, it was a really easy 14 miles today....we walked from about 6:30 to about 2:30 (including breakfast and lunch stops).....so it was about a 2-mile-per-hour day....the trail didn¢t have quite as many rocks * today as yesterday ....but it did have some....i wonder if the uneven trail is causing the trouble paw is havin¢ in his hip.....he seems to have a little ¢hitch in his git along¢!we did get to have communion today just before lunch....always a sweet, touching time together partaking of the ¢bread and wine¢.......there was a pretty waterfall on hurricane mtn....(i¢m havin¢ a little trouble here writing and concentrating.....it¢s more fun listening to ¢lawn ornament¢ and ¢turbo¢ here at trimpi)....turbo finally caught up to us here....his knees are doing much better he says.....anyway, we like this stone shelter.....and the company.....there¢s just a good feelin¢ here!.....could it be that a little ¢love¢ might be mixing with the rainy air?.....or is it just the springtime and the forsythia and jonquils in full bloom here!.....i went out before it started to rain (just after we got in) and picked a bouquet of spicebush that was also in bloom there (i prefer this lovely, shy little native to the more boisterous forsythia)....i put my spicebush bouquet in an old rusty can and set it on the picnic table, feeling very smug about how industrious and domestic i was (ha ha!).....it did look very nice and i hoped it might brighten someone else¢s way....we¢ll be at the famous partnership shelter tomorrow....(maybe PIZZA?....)well i¢m tired......i¢m gonna try and zonk out and work at getting¢ used to this time change.....======2006====== monday, march 27, day 44 (14.6 miles from chestnut knob to the campsite at laurel creek)YAHOO!.....sunshine today!...we got up this morning and it was 28 degrees INSIDE the 4 walls of chestnut knob!.....but how good it was to see the sun! (and to feel it on our backs!).....looks like spring is coming! (i smelled the scent of arbutus in the air today!)....we may have showers tomorrow, though, and we have 19 miles to the shelter, so i¢m anxious to get ¢busy¢ resting tonight.....i came off the knob this mornin¢ with tears streaming down my face...(not just because of the cold that bit at the corners of my eyes), but because of God¢s glory all around that ¢bit¢ at my soul!....it was evident everywhere!....and we got to actually see ¢the Thumbprint¢ this time!.....but as i wrote in the register, we see God¢s fingerprints all over everything EVERY day!.....still, it was a beautiful sight to behold, that valley, especially all blanketed in snow.....we slowly maneuvered the ridge through 8-14 or 20 inch drifts of glittering snow, with views all the while to the ¢cotton-y¢ valley to our left and the sparkling woods to our right.....i couldn¢t HELP but ¢erupt¢ in tears and praise to my Jesus to thank Him for His beautiful world and His very SPECIFIC and tender love and care for us!....it was 6 long miles over that ridge and through the deep snow this a.m., so it took some work to get here (tired) tonight....but i wouldn¢t have had it any other way!...¢buckeye hiked part of the way with us today, (sometimes behind, but sometimes ahead graciously blazing the trail for us that was difficult to find in the snow )....he is hiking for his son who has MS .......this is the first night in a while i¢ll be able to sleep without my ¢hotties¢....the last 8 days have definitely been a winter weather challenge, but the Lord has helped us through it with strength, protection and the added ¢encouragement¢ of just such ¢gifts¢ as we experienced this mornin¢....we¢re grateful....we¢re here by the road at the laurel creek bridge (it¢s closed now so we took that nice long, easy blue blaze up around the ridge overlooking the little wolf creek area)........we learned from a maintainer up there that it was ¢legal¢ to claim the blue blaze as a legitimate section of the AT since the bridge was closed ....we were glad, actually, since that walk through the valley over a million stream crossings was murder for us in ¢03 ....this guy also informed us that they plan to tear down the old bridge and construct a new one....that made us a bit sad as we love that rustic ol¢ bridge where we rested and ate homemade ¢snickers¢ in the sun there in ¢03.....well... it¢s getting dark....(6:48) and i¢m determined not to turn on my headlamp....it was flickering a bit at 4:30 this mornin¢ as i tried to find my way to the snowy privy up at chestnut knob.....(and a dead headlamp is NOT what we want!)....Lord....continue to keep us safe, please.....send your angels to protect us in this place tonight and watch over and keep safe all our new friends as well.....*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS------*singing......i noticed an interesting correlation this a.m. as i transcribed these two entries.....that of the two years we hiked, both included a very special time of singing/worship over hurricane mountain......hmmmmmm.....what IS it about that old mountain?*rocks......yep!.....there¢s PLENTY of ¢em in virginia!