Date: 2004-05-01
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: light rain

The day started grey and cool. Since the plan was for a 16 mile day, everyone got up with me. I like getting up early because I walk so slowly. Today, everyone was excited about making mileage. Even GrizzlyDave got moving early. As well as BearTracks. I think the shelter was cleared out by eight. The term Turnpike really was appropriate. Even Dave made the first five miles in less then three hours. I had thought to take my first break at ten as usual but when I passed the sign stating Double Springs Shelter at 3.4 miles and it was 930, I took a break. Elle and Chris were under a couple trees ahead having a second breakfast. It started to sprinkle, lightly. Pack cover but no rain gear light. Walking dried out our clothes as fast as we were being sprinkled on. Lunch was at Double Springs Shelter, about half way. The turnpike had us sitting under the shelter roof by 1130. Sauerkraut was there. We thought he'd be long gone but he was having problems. He didn't know if he ate something or drank something but he had been brown blazing the last couple hours when he decided he needed to take something for the problem. Then Franco and Benny showed up. The sprinkle turned into rain the let up. Elle and Chris headed out in rain gear. Dave and I waited for awhile and the rain let up and the sun tried to peek out. We had a section hiker show up with two dogs, Paul and Marcie and Max, two black labs.Onward and northward, we all headed out. Next break at Low Gap for water. A picnic table and a road, piped water. I took the pack cover off and gave one of my candy bars to BearTracks since he was out of snack foods. Mr. Cotton and Willy Wallace came flying by. Dave, Paul and I watched in disgust. Young knees. The last five miles took three hours. The hills became more prolonged. The elevation change was not hard, but they went on and on.About a mile and half from the BingdonGap shelter is a small log cabin, built in 1934. It used to be a shelter but is located there for emergency shelter. Someone had scratched Holiday Inn on the front and there was a register in there. Most folks stopped for snacks but I saw Arms had spent the night. While I was sitting there eating a FastBreak bar, Paul and his dogs came up. They joined me under the roof just as it started to pour down hard. It was one of those fast, hard and short showers. Dave came strolling by, asked how much farther. When I got to the shelter, everyone was under the roof. Apparently the rain Paul and I went through had hit the shelter. Sauerkraut was there, feeling better. He and Elle and Chris decided they would head closer to Damascus. Later, as did Franco, Benny and Paul.So, tonight under the roof is Matt, Jill, BearTracks, GrizzlyDave and a section hiker named Section eight. I saw another orange salamander today. He wasn't near any water source I could see. He was a smaller one then at Hughs Gap. Another really cool thing I saw was kind of sad, a giant moth. Very pretty light green with black eye spots. It must have had a wing span of six inches. I took a stick to move it but it started to flop around. I realized one of it's wings was shredded. So I just moved it off the trail to finish its life. I am beginning to really like looking at the fields of MayApples. They are such an interesting plant. And when there is a whole large patch of them, they landscape looks alien to me. The side of the trail is covered with purple violets and a little white flower of many petals. The dandelions actually look disconcerting among them, but it is a wildflower. Some kind of Columbine looking pink flowers are growing at the base of some trees. It's been interesting to watch spring gradually win against winter. I spend most of my day walking alone. It's been interesting to watch my thinking. Sometimes I think about the people I have walked with that I know are behind me, wondering how far back they are, are they still on the trail. Sometimes I think about the people in front of me. I get a smile when I get to a shelter and see BearBehind signing in and saying hi to me. The register here has a note from Mockingbird¢s dad, who has been walking with him this past two weeks. He said good bye to some of us that had hiked with him. I got a warm fuzzy to see my name on his list.The clouds are breaking up, the sky is clearing up. It looks like the days of sprinkles are over for awhile. Tomorrow, Damascus, mail drop, Italian food, a bed and shower.Namaste'