Date: 2007-05-22
From: Wise Mtn. Shelter

To: Troutdale, VA
Miles today: 16.1

May 22, 500 MilesHappy birthday, Aunt Ginette!It rained off and on last night at the shelter but I stayed dry all night, that was nice. We were crammed in there so we could get everyone out of the rain. It felt like a grown-up slumber party. Lots of jokes about Soot and other fun topics. I typically don't like to stay in shelters but this time I enjoyed it.I got up around 6:30 a.m. and went to change on the rocks in the rhododendron bushes. By the time I got back, everyone was shuffling around. I ate my blueberry muffin and granola bars and a protein bar and then packed up.I hit the trail at 7:40 and the terrain was nice. Pretty level and gentle for the first few miles. A short, sweet uphill followed by mean, voracious rocks. The rocks were killing me. My feet felt like crap. I was walking with JB and we were both cursing them.We made it to the first shelter around 10:45 and I stopped for a snack and some duct taping of my feet. About a half hour later, I was moving again. We walked 1.5 miles and came to a stream and knew this was it - the 500 mile mark! Now, I'm not a fan of excessive and repetitive punctuation but I just walked 500 miles!!! I stopped to make a sign out of sticks and Red'sMan took all of our photos as we crossed the footbridge. Melk was my photographer and snapped a couple of shots. I didn't make a toast this time around because it didn't seem appropriate. But, I was sure glad to be there.We crossed the road - and when I say we, I mean Red'sMan, Nimrod, Melk, JB, Corker, Sprocket and I - and then headed up Iron Mtn. It was a longer climb but was pretty gradual. I could feel my face getting red with the heat and my forehead full of sweat and couldn't help but wonder what this would feel like when it was really hot out.We made it to the top and down to Hurricane Mtn. Shelter. I stopped near the water source to fill up and snack. For the first time, I accidentally dropped my entire SteriPen into the water. Not good. I had to dump it all out just to retrieve the pen. Whoops!With five miles to go to the Troutdale road crossing, I was trying to book it. My feet were killing me. Both of my pinky toes were getting to the point of blisters and my right arch was rubbing against my insole - everything was duct taped. Magnificent. I stopped to admire some beautiful waterfall for a moment and then pushed on. The rest of the hike was through rhododendron which were all in bloom. It was lovely and I felt like I was in someone's garden.It occurred to me that we could hear the road but we had to keep walking. If we could have bushwhacked, it probably would have spit us out closer to where we actually needed to be. Oh well.We made it to the road crossing at 3:30 p.m. and attempted to hitch. There were about seven of us so I think passers by felt intimidated. Luckily, Jerry (of Jerry's Kitchen and Goods, where we were headed) pulled up and offered us a ride. He was dropping off Alpine Strider.We popped in the restaurant and had lunch - I had chicken sticks which sounded good at the time but ended up not so good. After that, Jerry drove us to the hostel. It's actually just a building with two empty rooms. The church is about a hundred feet away with showers. Sadly, this town has no laundromat. So, I showered, put my dirty clothes back on and headed back to the restaurant for another dinner - baked spaghetti this time.We just got back and I am exhausted. It's half-past hiker's midnight. It was a good day with a nice milestone. I'm glad to have an air mattress to share with Melk tonight. There weren't many views to speak of so the best part of the day for me was the 500 mile mark. - Sound of Sprocket moving around on the floor. Post Trail Thoughts:I remember now! Soot gave Cobweb and Mayo a hard time for using denatured alcohol stoves (I think...or was it Esbit?). Anyway, he said they'd be blind by the time they got to Maine. What a know-it-all. We joked at the shelter that morning about Soot because he had claimed there was no way spiders were out yet...when I woke up there was one in my shoe. And another character - Sprocket. He walked and did sudoku puzzles at the same time...