Date: 2004-04-25
From: Just beyond Blue Ridge Pkwy Mile 91.8

To: Day 46 Cornelius Creek Shelter, VA
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Since the tendons on the front of my right foot were rather sore, and since the sun was coming up earlier every day, I decided to set my alarm for AT Day 46 for 4:30 a.m. When I awoke, the weather had clearly deteriorated from the day before and now I was engulfed in a heavy fog, light rain and steady wind. Undaunted by these environmental challenges, I reloaded my pack while still in the tent, put together the dry ingredients for my breakfast and went outside to add the water and cook.Unfortunately, when I turned on the compressed white gas to prime my MSR Simmerlite stove, what I witnessed was a little fountain of gas coming out of the center of the stove. I looked into the offending orifice, checked my owner¢s instruction manual and quickly deduced that I had a missing screw ¢ something my friends and family have known for years. The problem was that as the legs of the stove are opened and closed they put torque on this screw that eventually got loose and simply fell out. Working in the fog and light rain in the dark with my headlight I searched in vain through my spare parts in my ¢Expedition Repair Kit.¢ Clearly the MSR folks didn¢t anticipate this design flaw and warn users that the screw could loosen with use and supply a replacement.In any event, rather than starve, I poured the cold water over my instant oatmeal, non-fat dry milk, Splenda sweetener and dehydrated fruit and set it aside to hydrate while I put my stove away. Much to my surprise this actually makes for a pretty decent breakfast, but I was not too optimistic on my chances of having a good dinner using the same strategy with my dry soups (and for the cream-based varieties, non-fat dry milk), Ramen noodles, and dehydrated vegetables. Obviously, the whey protein (chocolate in morning and vanilla in evening) and non-fat dry milk drink didn¢t need the stove (unless I wanted to heat the drink which I did from time to time), but all things considered I thought it best to try to make contact with my wife and ask to be picked up ASAP. Another set of advantages of this new plan was that I could rest my increasingly sore right foot/shin, and I could go with her to PA as we towed our Sunline travel trailer back to the factory for repairs and upgrades.All I needed to do was make contact using my cell phone and since I was very close to the Blue Ridge Parkway I figured my chances were pretty good. Besides, during the hiatus between my ninth AT segment hike and this one, my wife programmed my phone to utilize the more expensive, but greatly improved range of digital and analog roam modes. So starting at 5:30 a.m., I tried calling Hot Chocolate every half hour or so until 10:00 a.m. and each time I got her answering system so I left increasingly anxious messages. During the interim, I tried to stay warm in the tent (my sleeping bag and most everything else had already been put away in my pack), listen to the radio and finish reading my latest Tom Clancy novel. I couldn¢t figure out why my wife didn¢t answer the messages, unless she had left the phone in the truck and she was in our trailer, so I must admit that my patience was at an end when I finally decided to finish packing and leave this campsite so that I could at least go to where there was water to replenish my now depleted supplies.Getting to this water was not a particularly easy task, since as I have already mentioned, the next shelter, Cove Mountain, did not have its own source so the closest spot was where Jennings Creek crosses VA 614 and the AT, a distance of just under eight miles. When the AT came close to the Blue Ridge Parkway at Bearwallow Gap and again at Jennings Creek, I once again tried to call my wife using my cell phone, but as before all I got was her answering system. At Jennings Creek, I ate lunch and decided to call my wife again and tell her that I would try to make our original pick-up target site three days hence, but that I might arrive a bit late since I had such a late start for this day (and because my right foot/shin was really starting to hurt, especially on the down-hills, a condition that I withheld from my messages to my wife fearing that she might ¢over-react¢ and call out the rescue services). I also told her message answering system that my cell phone battery was dying and as such I was going to shut it off, so this would be our last transmission until I got close to the Blue Ridge Parkway again, probably tomorrow.Hiking as carefully and quickly as I could, I set out for the Bryant Ridge and following that the Cornelius Creek Shelters. The Bryant Ridge Shelter is absolutely lovely. It has several levels and benches, a real architectural treasure. When I got there I met two SOBO section hikers (mid 40¢s to early 50¢s from Norfolk, VA) who had just hiked down from Apple Orchard Mountain, passing the Cornelius Creek Shelter. In reading through the shelter¢s register, I noted that Haiku, Waterfall and several other AT through hikers I had come to know all remarked that they wished they could have stayed in the shelter. One said it reminded him of a child¢s play house.As soon as I finished my water break and re-arranged my pack (I put the tent inside the bag rather than hanging from the bottom to cut down on pack motion), I set out for the five-mile and 2,300-foot climb to the Cornelius Creek Shelter. I got there around 7:00 p.m. with a very very sore right foot/shin and as such I was glad for the opportunity to simply use the empty shelter rather than set up my tent. To be honest, I had hoped that there might be another hiker in the shelter so I could perhaps ask to use their stove, but no luck, so I was relegated to a cold, uncooked dinner. To make this feast, I added the normal amount of water and let the dry soup, milk and Ramen noodles hydrate for ten minutes or so while I filled out my journal and went over my maps for the next day¢s hike. Well, unlike breakfast, which as I said wasn¢t too bad, the cold dinner was barely palatable. Luckily the noodles and dehydrated vegetables softened up and the soup and non-fat dry milk dissolved, but the starch ingredients did not take up the spices and water so the liquid portion of the meal tasted pretty bad. I vowed that if I had to do this again, I would use less water and less spices. Thus, after a late start for a day¢s hike of some 16.4 miles, including a couple of serious hill climbs with an injured right leg, and a cold poorly tasting dinner and some serious aggravation at not being able to make voice contact over my cell phone with my wife, I finally went to bed. Not one of my better days.