Date: 2012-11-12
From: Glasgow Hiker's Shelter 

To: Cornelius Creek Shelter 
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: overcast clouds

(In which I chat with Virginia and pull a difficult 20 miles) -Currently relaxing in the shelter after dark-This morning I got up early just so I could sit and drink coffee at the gas station. At the only little table in the place was one of the hikers who stayed the night in the shelter. I met her and her dog only briefly the night before. Her name is Virginia and her wee friend is Curly Joe. Virginia is roughly 70 years old and she has been hiking south since 200 miles north of Harpers Ferry. Her dog Curly Joe has been with her the whole time. I sat down with her and we spent the next 30 minutes chatting about everything and nothing. She's going to stop hiking now that Curly Joe is having trouble getting through the snow - he's about 12" tall and looks like some combination of shitzu and poodle. He has hiked the whole way with her so far. While we were talking I realized Curly Joe wasn't around and when I asked Virginia where he was, she pointed under the table. When I looked, all I saw was a small bag. She quietly explained that since he's not allowed into most restaurants and stores, she trained him to sit quietly in this small blue bag. She says he figured out pretty quickly that his options were to sit out in the cold or to sit perfectly still and quiet in the bag. He's had 8 years of practice and during the entire time I was talking with Virginia, Curly Joe didn't flinch or make a peep. Incredible! He's also about as happy a dog as I've ever seen. She told me that they'll be back next year to hike more in warmer weather. Oh the people you meet out here...After breakfast Dante and I got a ride back to the trail head from a woman who lives in Buena Vista and picks up hikers often on her drive past Glasgow. We got going at 8 am and hiked at different paces most of the day but still made it to this shelter about 10 minutes apart. For a short day, it was tough. Virginia had smooth trails, but a lot of ups and downs. I was still feeling the 30 from two days ago so I took a lot of breaks and relied on caffeine more than I like to. One of the climbs today was unusually difficult. Not because of the elevation or because of rocks or roots, but because of the steadily increasing gradient during the entire climb. It just got steeper and steeper the closer you got to the summit - all the way to the summit! For those engineers out there, think a positive second derivative of elevation with distance...with a discontinuity at the summit. In the last 15 meters of the climb, I was moving so slowly that when I looked down, a big ol' snail right in the middle of the trail was moving about as quickly south as I was. Dante agreed that this nameless little hill rivaled the steepest terrain that New Hampshire had to offer. Tomorrow it's either another short day to set me up for a short day into Daleville, or a long day to set me up for a really short day into Daleville. Either way, I'm almost to Daleville...Today's post is brought to you by dogs that can sit motionless and quiet in bags for extended periods of time, because a dog that well trained deserves some recognition.