Date: 2003-06-18
From: Hwy 621 Va

To: Hwy 624 Catawba, Va
Miles today: 14.6

There were several things that I wanted to see in Virginia: Mt. Rogers, the Grayson Highlands ponies, Audie Murphy's monument, Dragon's Tooth, and McAfee knob. I saw the first two on my third day of hiking, the 18 mile, 13 hour day. The next two I would see today. As everyone knows, it has been raining a bit in Virginia...(like forever). So I started the day expecting more rain. No problem. But the day began very nicely. Two hikers were just ahead of me, Geo and Muck Tuck. We spoke, then they took off. (I hike slower than just about everyone...) Instead of being cold and wet as I expected, it was warm and humid. I took off my long sleeve shirt that I wear to keep warm in the rain. I zipped off my long pants into shorts and soaked my bandana in a creek to cool off. My morning was a 1500 foot climb. Not too bad. I arrived at the Audie Murphy memorial and met two great ladies, Cheerios and Tulip, who are hiking south to move north. (They park carA, drive north in carB, and hike south back to carA, etc) It seems like a good way to do the trail. We visited and took a few pictures, then moved on in opposite directions.Now I hike back down 1500 feet to the creek and road crossing (7 miles so far, 7.6 to go for the day). I had a little lunch and prepared for the climb up to Dragon's tooth. The rain which I had been expecting did not disappoint me. It came as I approached the rocks around the Dragon's tooth. Now, let me explain about the Dragon's tooth. There is a huge rock formation called the Dragon's Tooth. But that's what I expected, one rock formation, one big hard climb... Not so!!!!! It should be called Dragon's Teeth! There were about five miles of rock formations, each one larger than the previous one. I thought the first one was it, but it wasn't. Each time I would think I had done the climb, I realized that instead of descending, I was ascending again, and here was another set of huge rocks to climb. It was wet, slippery, and scary! As the afternoon went on, I became quite worried. I was supposed to meet my husband, but I was not even close to making time. I was concerned that I would fall, break a leg, and never get out. I was concerned that he would be worried because I was late. What should have been a great afternoon was not, because I was so busy worrying. Each "tooth" climb was more frustrating. I kept saying what Warren had told me, "don't fight the trail, flow with the trail". But I wasn't flowing. It was getting later and later. I knew that my husband had been waiting for hours. The last tooth, the real Dragon's Tooth, actually had metal bars on the sides for climbing like a ladder. I stumbled down and prayed that it would soon be over. It was not over soon enough for me, The Dragons's Teeth chewed me up and spit me out. On a clear day it might have been fun. Without time constraints it might have been great. But it was not great, and it was not fun. I actually took a blue blaze to a parking lot because I thought it might save me time. I then had to road walk to find my husband. When I saw him I said, "If I ever mention hiking this trail again, smack me!" And at the time I meant it. We drove over to the hostel to say hello to the guys. Wolverine, MuckTuck and Geo had all visited with my husband when they came down. Each had told his own story about the Dragon's Tooth. Each said it was tough and took longer than expected. They had all been worried about me in the rain. I let them know that I was all right. Muck Tuck said, "So where are you hiking tomorrow?" I told him that I didn't think I would hike tomorrow. I am a hiker, not a rock climber. We shall see what tomorrow brings.