Date: 2015-04-23
From: Harpers Creek Shelter

To: Seeley-Woodworth Shelter
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: clear sky

I woke alone in Harpers Creek Shelter to the sound of the creek and birds chirping. My cold toes had woken me a few times in the night. I wiggled them until they were warmer and fell back to sleep. It was warmer in the shelter than it was the previous night in my tarp that let in the wind. I filtered and used drops on two quarts of water and got started. To leave the shelter, I had to rock hop over Harpers Creek.   I crossed the Tye River on the very nice bridge. See picture. Georgia and North Carolina have bridges over small streams. This part of Virginia seemed reluctant to build bridges. Good practice for Maine where I am told they do not build bridges because they only get washed out in the spring snow thaw.   I climbed the almost 3100 foot elevation to top of The Priest. I joked with myself as to whether the rapture or the top of the mountain would come first. It seemed like there were at least five false summits. Beautiful views at the top. See pictures. I met a group of hikers at the first view. They stayed at The Priest Shelter the night before and froze. One said he wrote an oath in the register he would not camp with his summer sleeping bag until after May 1.   I needed water, so I went to The Priest Shelter. I was greeted by a big shaggy black dog named Bella. She barked and barked and her master told her to be quiet. She would stop for 30 seconds and then bark again. She is the only dog that I have seen turn her back to me and then growl. I came down to the picnic table and met Henrietta, Bella's master. I said isn't Henrietta a girl's name? He explained it is a town in Texas. He is from Henrietta. He left after introductions. I briefly read the register. Henrietta mentioned something about coming to give confession to The Priest. I also saw the oath about the summer sleeping bag.    I continued on. As I was coming downhill to VA 836, a man was standing behind a rock, ripping up pieces of duct tape. I thought duct tape was not a good sign. Perhaps he needed help. I said "Hi" as I approached. No response. I stood next to him and said "Hi" again. He jumped. He had has ear buds on full blast. He was duct tapping a sign that said "Leap Frog Cafe 1/2 mile to the west". He explained he was feeding through hikers for a donation. He started in the south and was progressing north with the hikers. This was as far north as he was going to go. He was going to serve dinner, camp out and serve breakfast. He invited me to eat but I declined. I had just finished lunch. I also think the young thru hikers need as much help as possible. I did not want to take from them. I had plenty of food. He told me that it was a tradition to write in The Priest register confessions of what they had done earlier on the trail, such as they missed walking four feet of the trail or didn't sweep out the shelter. He said it was hilarious. He said there was a large hiker bubble about an hour and a half out. He asked me to let them know he was open.   So everyone I met, I let them know. The first couple I saw, I let the woman know Leap Frog Cafe was open. It did not seem to mean anything to her, but she thanked me just the same. I explained what Leap Frog Cafe was to the two of them. The rest of the people I met seemed familiar with Leap Frog Cafe. Especially the young men would get a big smile on their face, say "Sweet" and step up their pace.   It was becoming windy and cold as I reached Spy Rock. It looked like a cool place if you wanted to do some minor rock climbing. With a close to 30 lb pack, I chose not. As I was coming downhill, a woman with a large backpack followed by a man with two gallons of water and a suitcase of beer.    No one was at Seeley-Woodworth Shelter. I figured I would be spending another night alone. I put on my panty hose as an extra layer of warmth. Within minutes of finishing, two male thru hikers showed up. As we were fixing dinner, I told them if they were ambitious, Leap Frog Cafe was open five miles up the trail. Their eyes lit up. I told them he was planning to serve breakfast. They made plans to wake early in the morning to be there for breakfast. Two more men arrived at the shelter as I crawled into my sleeping bag.