Date: 2006-06-08
From: 1/2 m N Sarver Hollow Shelter, Va

To: Draggon's Tooth, Va
Miles today: 18.0

I woke up and turned on my light, thinking it might be about 11pm, but it was already 4:45 in the morning.I love it when I sleep so well that the nights just fly by. :-)))I went back to sleep and finally started my coffee about 6:30.I awoke to some lite rain falling on my tent this morning.I got all packed up and started walking at 7:50am.I like walking on this ridge. It is wider than most ridges, being mostly maybe 100 to 200 feet across although this mornings ridge walk ended up on a very narrow ridge that has lots of slanting rocks.It feels like you are walking on rocks slanting about 45 degrees, but they are probably on more like a 30 degree tilt.It still makes it hard, espescially having to be extra careful because of the wet rocks and shoes.There is also lots of poison ivy to try to avoid, so you don't get to look around as much.I was walking along on the ridge and a mother grouse came near shuffling her feathers at me and 3 young grouse took off flying in the other direction.There is a new wooden sign on a tree that states that I was on the Eastern Continental Divide. I saw a deer near there that was about 45 yards away and when he spotted me, he took off running.The deer have been very skiddish this year.I came down off the ridge and after descending about 1.600 feet, I got to Niday Shelter. I was way ahead of myself because I wasn't expecting to be there for another half an hour.I sat down and ate a mid-morning snack, signed the register, talked to Little Spoon, Commando and Mandingo, then went to the stream and tanked up with about 1 1/2 litres of water and carried 4 litres of water with me.I remembered the water sources coming up were low and near dirt roads, so I didn't want to get any water there and it's dry up on Draggon's Tooth.That added about 8 pounds on my back with just the water I was carrying, but at least I was set with water whether I decided to stay on Draggon's Tooth or not.I had a 1,600 foot climb up to the ridge that has an Audie Murphy Memorial on it.That is the area close to where his plane went down in 1971.There are lots of blueberry bushes around with lots of greenberries on them.The greenberries are getting a little bigger, so it shouldn't be long before they turn into blueberries. :-)))It also started raining a little on my climb up to that ridge, but only lasted a short while.I had planned on having a nice, long lunch break at the memorial. I had worked up quite a sweat climbing that mountain and instead of stopping when I first got to the top, I kept walking another mile or so to where the memorial is.I sat down and had just spread peanut butter on a couple sandwiches and was getting the jelly out, when the sky let loose and it started raining hard.What could I do??I sat there in the rain, spread the jelly and ate my sandwiches while my other stuff got wet. :-(((My nice, long lunch break turned into a very short one. I put on my raincoat and walked on in the heavy rain.It ended up raining for a couple hours, but not nearly as hard as at first.I descended another 1,600 feet down to Trout Creek.I was stopped on the footbridge taking a picture when Little Spoon caught up to me.We talked a bit, then I got rid of my garbage at a can that was nearby and started climing the mountain to Draggon's Tooth.I walked by the side trail to Pickle Branch Shelter without stopping.A half mile past Pickle Branch Shelter, I looked to my left as I was climbing that mountain and saw a deer standing about 35 yards away from me and just watching me walk. At least that deer didn't run off as soon as she saw me.I saw the second box turtle of this hike. He was digging himself into the trail...maybe to lay eggs?? In which case I should refer to it as a her and not a he. :-)))It started raing again at 4pm. I was getting closer to Draggon's Tooth and saw a fawn as I was climbing. I kept walking towards it, then when it finally saw me, it took off running.I decided to set up my tent early rather than go over Draggon's Tooth in the rain. I set up my tent at 4:30 and crawled in...soaking wet.This section of trail is really overgrown. For the last mile or two before Draggon's Tooth, I was pushing my way through the wet vegetation that was closing in on the trail. Too bad I didn't have pruning shears with me. I could have stayed busy for the afternoon. :-)))I layed in my tent and listened to the radio and the wind for a couple hours, then fell asleep early.