Date: 2011-05-30
From: Harrison Ground Spring

To: Johns Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: few clouds

As it turned out, we picked a camping area that had a lot of swampy regions. So the bugs were a problem when we got up. Given that, getting on the trail was pretty quick. No one wanted to hang around and deal with the bugs. I caught up with "Half Man" pretty quick and we both hiked together for the rest of the day. The big event of the day was resupply in Glasgow. We couldn't carry enough food to get to Waynesboro coming out of Daleville. The goal was to get to Glasgow quickly, get what we needed and get back on the trail quickly. The hike to the road crossing was very easy. There was one steep climb then the rest of the route was very gentle uphills with on long downhill to the road crossing. We stopped at one of the overlooks for a mid morning snack. It was great to have the view while we ate. As seen in the picture, the fog was still sitting in the valley in the middle of the morning. Except for one more quick stop, we just quickly made our way to the road crossing. Once there, we found "Spring" waiting for us. Our goal was to hitch into Glasgow together. We stuck out our thumbs and within a couple of minutes, we had a ride to town. The guy was going to kayak down the James River starting in Glasgow. This seemed perfect since that's where we needed to go. What was even more awesome was that he needed to get back to his vehicle once he was done. Since he was getting out where the trail crossed the river, I offered to drive his vehicle back to the trailhead. That way, he would have his vehicle when he was done and we didn't have to worry about getting a ride back. So we dropped him off at put in point in Glasgow and went to the convenience store for lunch, which always includes a pint of .... ice cream, then to another store for our resupply. We ended up going to another town in the search for milkshakes but unfortunately didn't find any. So we took his vehicle back to the parking area near the trailhead and after locking it up, headed down the trail. It ended up being very hot toward the end of the afternoon. When we arrived, we found "Dash" and "Shuffle" resting and waiting so they could continue hiking to the next shelter during the early evening when it's cooler. "Double Check" was already at the shelter and we soon joined by "One Step". Jay and "Scully" joined us a little later. We sat around the picnic table eating dinner and enjoying each other's company. I bought a sleeve of oreo cookies for everyone. Too bad we didn't have any milk! These disappeared quickly as one can imagine. We were then joined by a lady named "Brazilian Nut" then a group of four others. By hiker's midnight, there was quite a crowd in the camping area. Only Jay stayed in the shelter because he had a way to deal with the bugs. Everyone else pitched a tent to avoid the bugs. At nearly 10pm, it was still very hot inside my tent. The shelter would be much better as far as the heat is concerned but I don't have a screen to protect me from the bugs. It's hard to imagine that just about a week ago, I was struggling to stay warm. The weather changes quickly at times and one has to be ready to handle anything.