Date: 2008-03-28
From: John's Hollow Shelter

To: VA 56
Miles today: 33.4

I'm utterly exhausted. My feet are raw and sore, my right hip and left knee are tender, my calves feel ready to cramp. I don't know if I'll be able to move in the morning, but I have just 2 miles to go to Montebello.Early in the day I took a break at the Punchbowl Shelter, which ended up being about 0.2 off trail. I decided I didn't want to hike the 0.2 back and since I knew the Blue Ridge Parkway was right beneath the shelter. I bushwhacked down following the stream by the shelter. I soon came out on the parkway and just as I emerged a car pulled up, slowed down and asked me if I was hiking the AT, meaning if I was on the trail at that particular moment. They wanted to go for a short hike on the trail and were looking for it. I had to explain that the AT crossed a bit east of me. They said OK and drove on and never did ask why I had just emerged from the woods in the middle of nowhere.Worried I was going to have trouble making it to Montebello in time (yeah I know I just called last night to change the meeting place) and not wanting to follow that car back down to the AT I decided to follow the Blue Ridge Parkway to Montebello.The nice thing about the BRP is that there is almost no traffic, lots of scenic overlooks and it follows more closely the crest of the Blue Ridge. The bad thing is you are walking on pavement (thus my aching body) and I had no idea how far I had to walk (no map).I got to the Buena Vista turnoff much quicker than expected (6 miles) but the road sign didn't specify the Montebello turnoff.Smoke from a forest fire filled the air a few ridges south and a couple stopped to tell me the road was closed ahead after mile 30 (I was at mile 44). I told them I was going to Montebello and they said that exit was open. I didn't ask what milepost it was at, but I assumed it was before 30.I kept walking expecting to reach the turnoff soon once I reached mile 34, then 33.I got to mile 29 after dark. There was a turnoff there, but it was for Whetstone ridge and said nothing about Montebello. I kept walking, unsure. A couple of Forest Service trucks passed me and when a third came (it was pitch black by now) I waved it down.I asked the firefighter driving if he knew where the turnoff to Montebello was. He thought for a bit, looked like he was going to point back south, then said in a serious tone, "you need to get to Montebello?"I said yes and he brought out a map studying it a bit before finally finding Montebello. It's about a half mile further he said. I sighed with relief, thanked him and kept walking, wanting to get to the road before I camped.A mile or so further I got to the turnoff. The BRP was closed immediately beyond it and you could smell smoke in the air.It looked flat below the intersection and through a thin stip of woods there was a field. I set up camp there, not sure how visible I was from the road or the house I could see at the far end of the field.Too tired to cook, I ate snacks and went to bed.* * *Skit's bits:* I wonder if anybody could make an invention that could read the inside of a wrapper so you could go to the store and check for instant winners on all the merchandise without buying them.* Things left at Little Ottie gravesite: Stuffed parrot, toy elephant, rubber ducky, lots of coins, a bike reflector, easter eggs, a wet wipe, a pen, a wine cork, a wish bone, a signed tennis ball and more. (Written on the memorial is: "This is the exact spot Little Ottie Cline Powell's body was found April 5, 1891. After straying from Tower Hill School House Nov. 9, a distance of 7 miles. Age 4 years, 11 months.")* * *This day in really bad trail poetry:Life is a journey,but even if you are making up your own route,it doesn't hurt to have a map and ask questions(I don't know that that counts as a poem, but it is what you get today.)