Date: 2004-04-04
From: damascus, va.

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

APRIL 4, 2004 SUN. MILE 492.             have to try and remember what transpired during my hike cause my tape recorder did not record my thoughts. did not realize it was not working. now that i am transcribing i found this out. i do remember meeting up with two girls and a guy. two sisters, cairo and valentyne and cairo's fiance yatzee. i was postholing thru snow 18 inches deep and struggling when i looked up and saw yatzee on his knees holding cairo's hand right in the middle of the trail and she was crying. i was about ready to tear into yatzee. but so happens he was proposing to her. what a sight. anyway we go on and i catch up with cairo's sister valentyne and told her what i had witnessed and she said he had told her he was going to do this. so we get to a shelter. a two story one and lo and behold cairo and yatzee come in and go on up to the loft. well valentyne and i hang around for a while and they say for us to go that they want to spend the rest of the day at that shelter. so we travel on. stiffie and shush are agead of us. as we enter the grayson highlands we encounter the wild ponies that live there. they come right up and take trail mix right out of your hand. shush and stiffie are taking a break there. the wind is getting stronger and the snow thicker. hard to see anything but no place to camp so stiffie and shush go on ahead to blaze a trail for us. they have to ziz zag to find the blazes and the cairns. when they find one they put a big arrow in the snow for us to follow. without them valentyne and i would have had to bivouac and wait out the storm. after what seemed like an eternity we reached the wise shelter. when we arrived there was a hiker named trekker in there all bundled up in his sleeping bag. he said man im glad to see you guys. he had been there since the night before. couldn't get a fire going. too windy so fixed some supper and got in my bag. thank god for my bag liner. "nothing could be finer that to be in my bag liner in the moooorning". of course when i sing that stiffie gets a laugh. women came in with her dog and he slept in her bag with her. lucky her. then a guy came in and said he was with a group. had hiked in from a road a few miles away and was looking for a place for his group to hike in and stay. he left and did not come back. i was cold all nite. one of the worst days ever on the trail. discovered i am missing 8 days of tape recording              APR. 5 MON. MILE 512        made 20 miles today. staying at trimpi shelter with stiffie, shush, valentyne, trekker, and another hiker and his two sons. need to slow down. getting burned out again. was tough going today but then got down to lower elev and was much better. got out of wind and snow. by the way stiffie has changed his trail name to the mighty mullyah #2. says his dad used to call him that.               APRIL, 6 TUES. MILE 530 DAY 35                17 miles today. stay at chatfield shelter with mighty mullyah, shush,valentyne, and trekker.      was a nice day today making good time but tired. called home and mother is feeling better. terrain on the trail is better but rocks are tough. getting blister on heel again . left foot is hurting at times.               APRIL 7 WED. DAY 36 MILE 548                  18 miles today. staying at knot maul shelter. name for the fact that local settlers used to get knotwood from trees in this area for making mauls. the knots, being hard, made excellent hammers.       staying here with mighty mullyah, shush and trekker. really getting tired. stopped at a truck stop along an interstate we had to cross. had a big breakfast but took one and half hours to get served. terrible service. had some nice pastoral views today but also some tough steep climbs.         APRIL 8 THURS. DAY 37 MILE 567       19 miles today. staying at jenkins shelter with trekker shush and mighty mullyah. trekker pissed me off. told him i was section hiker and he ridiculed me for not going on thru to katahdin. told him to hike his hike and i would hike mine. getting cranky. he has thruhike before and is doing it again. thought he was an idiot til now. am thinking about doing a thru hike myself. crazy. the trail hooks you. you become a part of it and miss it when you are away from it. not a good day today except for the scenic views from the ridge walking. but once you have seen it it's the same view all day. getting tired of the grind. ready to leave the trail for this year.            APR. 9 FRI. MILE 589 DAY 38.            made 22 miles today. staying at jenny knob shelter with trekker and the smith family, father ray, mother stephanie, children, paul, lee, and david. very nice family from pearisburg out for the weekend. had a nice visit with them. they roasted sweetcorn. was an easy sunshiny day on the trail but a long day. was ready for the bag tonite. think my days are numbered for the trail this year. but would be nice to get to pa. mighty mullyah and shush went on to next shelter. they are wanting to make more miles and they are young and strong.         APRIL, 10, SAT. DAY 39 MILE 612            made 23 miles today. left shelter at 7:00 so was hiking 11 hours. staying at doc's knob shelter. fairly good trail today for first 8 miles but then nasty rocks the one third of the day. am ready to go home. had enough for the year. really gets to be a drudge for me.         APRIL, 11. SUN DAY 40 MILE 621               8 miles today into pearisburg. glad to be in town. staying at the holy family church hostel. has a kitchen, wood stove for heat. nice and warm. but is a mile from town altho there is a shoppin ctr. with a walmart across the field. staying at the hostel with mighty mullyah, shush, trekker, hustler, jay walker, brickhouse, cairo, valentyne, and the caretaker's name is bill. the bunk room is an upstairs loft. went to walmart and resupplied. ray smith and family came up and invited mullyah, shush, and trekker to supper. took us to ayce steak house. wow! and he paid for us all. great guy. also they brought some friends of theirs along so they could get in of all of our stories about hiking the trail experiences. then invited us to their home to use their computer and make phone calls. called granddaughter brenna. she is going to have a baby sibling in nov.            APR. 12, MON. DAY 41 MILE 621             zero day today. just hung out at hostel. shush and mullyah left in the rain this morning. was going to go along but thought the hell with it. was pouring down. went back down town and had lunch. slept some in aft. trekker made spam and eggs. was good. overate all day. waldo, foggy bottom came in to hostel today. i spent too much money again in town.          APR. 13, TUES      trekker, valentyne,cairo, and i left today. some rain all day. valentyne and cairo are staying at rice field shelter. i went on but should have stayed. got soaked. staying at pine swamp shelter with trekker. tried to dry out socks and shoes. is cool this eve          APR. 14, WED. DAY 42 MILE 641         slippery on rocks today. is cold and snowing today and am ready to hitch ride back to pearisburg if i come across a road and then probably go on home. will have to come back for the next 2 years in order to finish my section hike but that is ok. too. since i have no record to go by i think i got a ride at sinking creek rd. craig aithey was out hunting and was heading back to pearisburg. got into pearisburg and went to darlenes cafe. had a meal and several cups of hot coffee. went to motel and then got a shuttle to bus station at christiansburg. bought a ticket to des moines. hellish bus ride. had to keep my boots on so my feet won't swell up. so am already planning next trip out. would like to drive my car out instead of bussing it. got to ames and bus driver let me out on dayton rd. going to try and hitch a ride out here on the I 35 to boondocks. stopped in at the harley shop. if they would have had what i wanted would have bought one. but luckily? they didnt have one. they did have but it was sold. stopped in kum and go and got a coke. got a cardboard sign and wrote hwy 20 on it. if i don't get a ride will walk on up to rest area and camp there. so here i am out on the interstate with my thumb out. wasn't there 5 min. when a car stopped. wayne (KERNS)? stopped . had been visiting his son who was in hospital. he is going back home to woolstock. told him to just let me off at boondocks. said he didn't have anything else to do so took me on to alden. let me off at casey's and i walked home from there. mary was out for a walk. my neighbor gene jondall was out in the yard. he got me in his pickup and we hunted down mary and gene;s wife frannie. stopped by them and mary didn't recognize me at first with my beard and long hair. she was really surprised and happy to see me home.