Date: 2008-05-13
From: Relax Inn, Rural Retreat, VA

To: 2 mi past Partnership Shelter 
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: clear sky

This was such a mixed day of hiking. We began in lovely rolling farmland. Then we moved into wooded area and a trail lined with Rhododendrons. We stopped for a quick break and snack at Chatfield Shelter. After that we walked through an area that had recently had a controlled burn. It was a desolate and eerie area. Through the charred trees May apples were coming into bloom. We also saw a Scarlet Tanager. What a contrast; the black of the trees, the bright green of the May apples, and the brilliant red of the Tanager; life returning after the death brought by fire.We crossed a fire road and the burned area stopped. The trail was so rocky at this point. There were teasing moments of nice flat smooth trail... but only for a few moments.Eventually we began to hear road noise and soon came into sight of the Mt Rogers National Recreation Area Headquarters. Ah, the stories we'd heard... a legendary spot. The spot on the trail were you can not only get a hot shower, but also order a pizza and get a soda from a machine. Wow, we were really here. Along with several other hikers lounging on the grounds.We had heard from the NOBOs we passed that the hot shower was out of order. While we were there a workman was working to fix the problem. Still wasn't going when we left, but he was working hard at it. We decided against the pizza. We'd just had one delivered the night before in the hotel and really wanted to get a couple more miles in before bedtime. We did go for the cold soda though. And Owl and I did walk through the Headquarters visitors center and looked at the nature display. (check off school)We sat on the lawn and had a nice chat with some NOBOs. One introduced himself and sounded so familiar. Took me a minute to trace the memory back, but I realized he was the guy we met on our first day at the ATC office in Harper's Ferry, ...something like BubalaSimba. I should have asked him how to spell it this time!Today we crossed our 500 mile mark. We celebrated by making a 500 sign and having our picture taken.Roo was quite a hit with all the guys hanging out. She is such a good dog.We left the Headquarters and walked passed Partnership Shelter. Getting this close to Damascus and Trail Days we had no desire to spend the night in a shelter. The crowds are getting a bit too rowdy for our tastes. So we planned to move on until we found a spot to camp. We'd seen a flat area on the map, but in these Rhododendron forests there is really no telling what that could mean. We walked for about two miles. The best spot we saw was already taken, we moved on. Finally we found a flat area and moved in to make camp. We prefer to find a pre-existing campsite, but just didn't see any options. So we made do. Found three spots for tents, boiled some water for dinner and hung our bear bags.Owl and Tigger played a round of Gin Rummy. They have a running game going. The one in the lead will owe the other an ice cream in Damascus. I'm not sure what that really means, but I think I might be buying someone an ice cream.In other news, Owl has been working on her harmonica and it's sounding very good. She also found a yoyo on the trail today. It was hanging from a tree. She picked it up and has been working with it all day, getting pretty good.I think that's it for today. Lots of bird sounds here tonight. Soaring just commented that it sounds like we are in a jungle. But it's getting to be a cold jungle, so I'm crawling in my sleeping bag. Despite the rocky trail it was a good day.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9