Date: 2004-05-29
From: Troutville, VA

To: Bobblet's Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: broken clouds

My rough goal today: 25 miles to catch the gang. I didn't make it :-( , but I had a strong day nonetheless. Tonight there is no room in the shelter...and the ground is so slanted and rocky I can't set my tent. So that leaves me one option: Cowboy camping. Cowboy camping is when you sleep under the stars wtih no tent or shelter above you. You just place your pad on the ground and crawl into your sleeping bag, then you start praying (gulp!)It's always really hard to leave town...hence my number of zero days. Today was no different. I awoke on the hotel floor after some weird dreams. Shortly thereafter I packed and went to have breakfast. Cranberry juice, a sausage patty, and a breakfast sausage corndog later I was all set. I said goodbye to Coyote and SaltLick, both of whom were recovering, and set out for my day at 10 AM. I was actually leaving the ideal town stop of Troutville. Yay! Troutville had every amenity hikers seek and I was glad to break the spell after a half day and 2 zeroes. I walked to the traill, had one last Coke at a gas station:-) and then I started walking just before 11 AM.At first my body was confused as though it had lost all sense of how to hike...but I reminded it. The first climb was up a very gentle mountain: Fullhardt Knob. It was long and graded and I hiked alone in the heat. Just before its base I crossed a stream in a thicket of trees, where I saw a cow hiding with all 4 feet in the stream. There was no fence around the cow and he was moving back and forth in an odd manner: I think he had just broke out :-) Minus the cow, the hike was udderly (sorry) uneventful. I prayed and pushed on for lunch before 1 PM.At the shelter I met 2 section hikers named Mindy and MaryBeth. Both seemed fairly young (late 20s) and Mindy's dad was with them. We all met and joked over lunch. Apparently they have hiked 800-plus miles under the names "Thunder Chicken" and "Lightning Bird." The dad prefers to only day-hike. They all seemed sweet, so I went to leave with them to cover the next 6 miles. As we left, we all stopped in shock at what we saw. A group of 3 dayhikers were heading to the shelter, one of whom had a huge Samsonite suitcase (4 feet by 18 inches by 2 feet). This thing was monstrous and had clearly been carried to the shelter for a woman in her late 50s. You just don't take large suitcases over mountains...we all laughed. We imagined how shocked the group must have been at the lack of amenities at the shelter: No water, no lights, no big screen TV, no fourth wall, etc. I just wish I would have taken a picture (doh!)Thunder Chicken and I began to talk about jobs and the like. She soon revealed she is a 28-year-old accountant in Richmond for a commercial advertising firm. Her firm does Geico, Quizno's and other major commercials. We all went fairly fast as we talked. Both girls were fun and we sand the "Eat Quizno's Subs" song. I fear I will never get it out of my head...Ahhh! Lightning Bird is a dentist. We all walked, talked, and joked, then took short breaks, making sure Thunder Chicken's dad was OK (he was :-)). The hike was moving along splendidly when I jumped 15 feet in the air and screamed like a girl upon hearing Thunder Chicken say "snake." It was only a blacksnake, but it scared me half stupid. It took a few minutes for me to recover from the snake and the girls to recover from laughing at me. By 4 PM we were at the next shelter for a break. As of the shelter (11 miles) we hit the 1/3 mark...Whippie! We all (the thru-hikers) celebrated. Thunder Chicken and Lightning Bird were set to camp...but I needed to push on. I'd like to say I left quickly to do 25. I did not. Instead, I told Disney stories, Camp Counselor stories, and Greyhound Bus stories until about 6 PM. It was past that time when I finally left alone to cover the last 7 miles and cross the Blue Ridge Parkway for the first time.The Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive are a continuous road of beautiful scenic views. The trail parallels it and cross it numerous times over the next 200 miles. I will almost be in Maryland when it stops :-) I was excited at the first crossing 2 miles in. The trail was easy and I had flown 4 miles when I crossed the road again at 7:10 PM. At the pull-off I saw a van with a familiar face.The face belonged to "Travelin' Joe", a "94" thru-hiker on whom I had waited tables in Damascus. We talked and joked, then he offered me a drink option: Yuengling beer or Peach soda. I chose the latter and Wow! Why have I never seen peach soda before? It rocks! After about 10 minutes I dismissed myself and wished him well. I wonder if I will find a lot of trail magic as I keep crossing this road?As I hiked the last 3 miles I drifted away creating a poem. I promised Skippy and Poppins a "love poem" in the register, soon I will deliver. As I contemplated rhymes, my speed increased. I passed 6 deer in an hour as I walked and I hit the shelter at 8:30 as dusk settled. I walked in to find hikers celebrating SaltLick's birthday.AcrTeryx & Dutch (Dutch's new hookup :-)), MooJuice, Beatle, Coyote, SaltLick and others were in the celebration. I joined them until all went to bed. Coyote, SaltLick, and I sang country songs and laughed. I've never heard a better rendition of "The Gambler." I love singing with those two. Right now I am going to finalize my "love poem" and go to bed. (I do miss those girls :-)) I'm afraid I can't share my "love poems" in this journal, but I promise it will be high quality. Tomorrow I see my sister...I'm pumped!!! She's going to laugh at my beard. I told her I would meet her 28 miles from here. I'm gonna try to cover that by 5:30 PM (gulp) but I can always stop early and hitch down the parkway. We're going to eat, stay in a hotel, tell dumb jokes, and talk...I can't wait. Until then, I'll be sleeping here under the stars, dreaming of tomorrow, and praying it does not rain.Sweet dreams,Beatbox