Date: 2005-05-30
From: Thunder Hill Shelter

To: US 501, Va. 130 (Glasgow, VA)
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: scattered clouds

After a not too early start, we packed up and headed out. We crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway three different times.As we were coming down the mountain, we spotted 2 deer not even 10 feet ahead. I had been watching my step so as not to trip and fall, when I looked up and was startled to see them staring at me.We believe they were a young doe and buck. They didn't seem to be scared of us at all, which amazed me. The two of them just watched with guarded interest as we approached. I told Bug to quickly grab the camera so we could snap some pictures.As we looked further we noticed the buck still had his velvet antlers. I was unaware of what this meant until Bug enlightened me. Deer lose their antlers at the end of each year. When they begin to grow again, they are soft and covered in what looks like tan colored velvet; as the antlers harden, the buck will rub his antlers against trees or other hard surfaces to rub the velvet off. With each year, the antlers will get bigger and bigger. Bug said his estimate was that this looked to be a 6-8 point buck. This was such a treat for me and for Bug! Slowly, the deer wandered off, and we continued our hike. Just before reaching the road, we found "trail magic" beside the AT sign. Someone had left 2 cans of vienna sausages (which we decided to leave for another hiker) and Campbell's Chunky beef stew. Even though it was heavy and in a can, we packed it out (or in, depending on how you look at it). Before we could eat it however, we had a tough bump to climb over. It was during the heat of the day, and every step took a little more breath. We survived it though, it certainly wasn't the toughest climb we have had. When we arrived at Marble Spring, we took a brief respite from the heat. I went to gather water, and Bug prepared our yummy lunch of beef stew. It was soooo yummy! We snacked a bit as well to add calories for our afternoon hike, since we still had close to 8 miles left in our day.It was an amazingly short jaunt, and in no time we were at the shelter before town. There at the shelter sat Bottle and Skillet, and a family of 7. With it being Memorial Day, they had a nice family outing by hiking the trail near the James River. They were quick to assure us that they weren't staying the night and to feel free to set up in the shelter. Bug and I let them know that we too would be passing through. We just needed a bit of time to refuel and soak our aching feet. The afternoon did go fine, but the rocks were a little tough under the feet.We talked for quite a bit to these folks, and when I asked how far the shelter was from the road crossing, they immediately offered us a ride. Bug and I were extremely grateful, as it was the end of the day and we were both tired. We hiked to the James River with the Bosens, and what a lovely family they are! It is so wonderful to see a family out together in the woods enjoying nature. Their youngest is 4 and a cutie, and I thought she held her own rather well, considering her age. He gave us a ride to town once we arrived at the bridge, and we were able to meet up with our buddy Mr. Clean Jr. again. The original plan, had been to get into town, resupply and head back out that night, but we saw a storm front moving in and decided it might be best to stay the night.We dined on hot dogs and chips at the picnic table under a pine tree at the motel and enjoyed a nice cold bottle of gatorade to rehydrate with. The store had everything we would need for the next few days and we resupplied our food. Now that I am freshly showered, I am typing this while eating some not so good ice cream. My papaw used to call cheap ice cream, "calf slobbers", because there was not much cream and a whole lot of air pumped into the ice cream. I have learned that Ben and Jerry's is the price it is for a reason, and sometimes it is worth the extra money you pay for the name brand stuff. Well, goodnight.