Date: 2003-07-13
From: Dripping Rock

To: Shoney's A.Y.C.E. Buffet? Waynesboro
Miles today: 4.0

start Dripping Rockdestination not where we thought it would be.Today would prove to be one of the most delightful, yet suprising days I have had on the trail. I know I had just wrote a few days ago that I had figured out what this hike was about. I did not know that so quickly I would prove this out once again. I woke up to the smells of muffins baking. Once again, I am reminded of how much one can miss out on the trail. We have a slice of cantelope, blueberry muffins, then an awesome quiche with fresh mushrooms, peppers, onions. Just when I thought the food could not get any better!!Lois' husband Earl is shuttling the four hikers up to the trail. He lets Mudbut and I off at Dripping Rock. We get our bearings straight and head up the trail. There is a slight climb up to Humpback Mountain, but the trail is still rocky and hard. As we approach a rather intimidating mass of rocks, we are releived to see a trail going around it rather than up it. Then we lose sight of the blazes. I hike a head making a short climb. I call down that I have found the trail. It seems to switch back over the trail we have just hiked. As we get across a small rock face, the next blaze seems to disappear into mid air. I tell Mudbut, she is not going to like this. The trail goes straight down the face of the boulders. Upon closer inspection, it does not look so treacherous, but still it takes some doing to get down the trail. We both end up taking our packs off and relaying them down in front of us. We breathe a sigh of releif as we are once again on somewhat level terrain. We hiked along and before too long Mudbut turns to me and says she is concerned that we are going back the way we came. She says she recognizes different things and asks me what I think. I do not recognize anything and we hike on. Periodically she turns and asks me about this tree or stone formation. All of a sudden I recognize a stone step. I have a sinking feeling that she is right. I get tickled and cannot quit laughing. Mudbut finally gives in and laughs along with me, swearing she is not hiking up that mountain again. I drop to my knees with laughter as I remember us climbing down the rocks. She does not find that nearly as amusing as I do. I drop my pack and hike a little farther just to make sure we are indeed heading the way we came. I come to a spring that we had passed earlier. I hiked back to where Mudbut was waiting for me. I break the news to her and we laugh some more. Up the trail we head once again, this time carefully watching the blazes. Sure enough it is obvious to us where we went wrong. The climb up the rock face would have been much easier this way, but we had climbed it, albeit backwards and we were not going to climb it again. We did sit there and have lunch before we hiked on. We decided to take a blue blaze trail over to see Humpback Rocks. It was a short .3 miles to the rocks. Or so the book said. We came out at a picnic area and took advantage of the bathrooms. We were sitting at the picnic table trying to find where we were at according to our book when we heard a commotion and a crying behind us. We turned and saw an elderly lady laying on the ground. Apparently her chair had fallen over with her in it. There were several other people around trying to pick here up. We rushed down to her and helped to et her up and inthe chair. She was bleeding from several places and pretty shaken. I ran up and got wet towels to clean her up, and grabbed some bandages from my pack. It did not take long to clean her wounds and apply bandages. I prayed with her and her family to help settle them. As I was working on her, I looked up and saw the Kentucky Fried Chicken meal spread over the table where they were. I must have been drooling because before we could leave, they were inviting us to fix a plate for ourselves. Mudbut is shaking her head and saying thanks but I am full I just had lunch, while I am trying to shush her up and get a piece of chicken! By far it was the best piece of chicken I have had in a long time. All that would have completed the meal was a cold drink. But I was not quick enough to take them up on their offer of a drink. Mudbut and I were walking around the picnic area, looking for the blue blazed trail, when we happened upon a man who had been picnicing. We got to talking to him only to find he had hiked the trail in 2001. His name is Turfhead. He lives and works up here. Of course the fact that he had a Border Collie helped break the ice. Now I do not profess to be a dog lover. I do not go up to people with dogs and ask them if I can pet their dog. I don't have anything against dogs ,or cats for that matter, I just am not crazy about them. And usually a dog or cat can sense the way a person feels about animals. Dogs don't come up to me wagging their tails and cats don't rub all over my legs. There is one exception to my feelings about dogs though. That is a Border Collie! I had one for 13 years, and she was the love of my life. Turfhead's dog is named Casey, and she is a beauty. Anyway, he offered to take us down to the visitors center to find a map. I remarked that maybe there would be a soda machine there. He opens the back of his truck and hands us both a cold drink. We get to the center and find out that there is live music at the old log cabin. Of course, Mudbut begs to go listen to it for a few minutes and Turfhead decides to join us. We are sitting on the grass under a tree listening to the banjo, and dulcimer being played. Next thing I know Casey is trying to get in my lap! It did not take her long to win my heart, and between Mudbut and I we came close to petting the hair off of her. The gravity was really bad there and before we knew it, it was too late to think about hiking. Turfhead offered to drive us into Waynesboro so we loaded up in his truck again and off we went. Of course we had to stop and eat. Shoney's all you can eat buffet.(what else?) We snuck Casey into our motel room to wait while we ate. She was very well mannered I must say!! Too soon Turfhead had to leave and we said goodbyes. We had to try out the hot tub. The fact that it is open 24 hours is a real treat. It was marvelous!!! I am convinced once more that this is more than just a hike. We are meeting the true America, down home country folks. I get antsy sometimes when the miles don't add up as quickly as I think they should. I have to remind myself that it is not just about the miles. It is about the smiles, the people, the experiences. All of them. total miles 4