Date: 2003-07-06
From: Thunder Hill Shelter

To: James River Foot Bridge
Miles today: 14.4

start Thunder Hill Shelterdestination James River Foot BridgeToday was a bittersweet day. Bitter because I had to say goodby to Papermaker and Eveready. That thing called a JOB gets in the way of Papermaker being able to spend very much time on the trail with me. And the farther north I get, the longer it takes for him to drive to meet up with me. Now it will probably be Labor Day before I see him again. If Eveready had of been able to join me and Mudbut when we started out again several weeks ago, I have no doubt that he would have been able to go the entire way with us. He would have been able to get his trail legs along with Mudbut. As it was whenever you have to deal with former in laws, it seems you are at their mercy when it comes to plans with the grandchildren. I am thankful that we got to spend the time we did together on the trail. I beleive I have given him just enough of a taste of hiking to get him hooked on it. Who knows, several years from now when he graduates, he may say, "Nana,I want to hike the AT from Ga. to Ma." And it is always difficult to say goodby to my number one hiking partner. He enjoys hiking almost as much as I do. He just likes sleeping in a real bed come night time. Preferably in a room with air conditioning. Hey, I can handle that anytime!! It is sweet because I am back on the trail hiking again. And a beautiful day to hike it was. Mudbut and I are slacking 14 miles down to the James River, then catching a ride (hopefully) back to the campground. I am breaking in new hiking boots and want to be sure I have no problems with them. Papermaker reserved us the cabin for the next two nights. This will be Mudbut's longest hike to date, and hopefully by not carrying a full pack it will be easier for her. As soon as we got into the woods, the temperature was at least 5 degres cooler. Every once in a while we had a breeze to make the hike even nicer. The breeze helps blow the biting bugs away from us. At least they have to work harder to get a chance at a meal. We hiked together for awhile, chatting happily about this and that. As we turned a switchback, there in the trail was a young doe. She hopped off of the trail as if to let us pass, but did not go very far. She just eyed us curiously as she ate. I managed to get a great picture of her. Even as we walked by, she just continued eating, not the least bit afraid of us. We stopped at a campsite for lunch and sat down on a big rock to eat. A few minutes later here comes that same deer up behind us, grazing along, drawing closer and closer. We ate lunch together, civilization and wild. Sharing the beauty of the day and our surroundings. By after noon the heat had built up and thunder announced a shower coming up. It rained just enough for us to get our packs out, then stopped. It was a little cooler then. The rest of the afternoon I spent moseying along, picking bluberries from the side of the trail. I ate until my tongue and lips were blue, much to Mudbut's enjoyment. I had hoped we could get back to the campground before the pool closed at 8:00. A swim was definately in my future, as was a fresh hamburger and chocolate shake from the snack bar at the camp ground. It was almost 7:00 when we got off the trail at the James River. A church van had just pulled up to let a dozen young teenage hikers off, so we managed to hitch a ride back to the campground. Pool here we come. We got out and read the sign at the pool. CLOSED. Man, what is up with that? There had been a thunder storm earlier and there were lots of leaves in the pool that needed to be cleaned out. Even with me volunteering to clean the pool, they would not let us swim. I pouted as I ate my hamburger and drank my shake. Then to console myself, I bought a box of Cocoa Pebbles cereal and a half gallon of milk. A bowl of that made a really nice dessert! A hot shower with real bar soap and real shampoo perked me up some. I washed my clothes out in the sink, and hung them in the cabin to dry . My new boots did very well for me, no hot spots whatsoever. We turned the air conditioner down low and were asleep within minutes. It was 10:00pm, which is late for us. total miles 14.4