Date: 2018-06-15
From: Craig Creek Road

To: VA Rt 620
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: few clouds

After a long night of mostly being awake, I finally crawled out of my bunk around 6:30 this morning. Most other hikers were already up and dressed. Several had hit the trail.  I was able to say goodbye to Tahoe Jimmy, Stokes and his dog Melvin, Giggles, Chooey, and a few others.  Stokes and Melvin completed their hike yesterday. I think he did half last year and half this year. So he¢s not a ¢thru-hiker¢ but he has hiked the whole Appalachian Trail. Melvin has too! We had a new shuttle driver this morning. He¢s in training, and he couldn¢t find our drop off site. We were riding on the floor in the back of a van. I¢m usually okay with that, but on the winding mountain roads was a bit much. It took him an hour to get us there. I barely made it without vomiting, and when we did arrive it took me a few minutes to calm my belly before I could begin hiking.  We pretty much stayed together today. The terrain was nice and we had a slack pack nero planned.  Within 5 minutes into the woods we saw Groucho. He was putting out a campfire someone had left unattended. It was right beside a stream, so there¢s no excuse for whoever did that. Groucho is a thru-hiker. He¢s slacking the whole way with help from his wife. He flip flops regularly so we see him often.  Then we started UP. I had not looked at AWOL or Guthook¢s to know what to expect today, but with a slack pack it just seemed to fly by. Big Kahuna as much as said it...¢We¢re flying!¢ The next thing i knew there I was on the summit. I said wow we knocked that out in no time! Hugs just giggled. It was a false summit. I think there was 1700ft left to go.  I needed to find the ladies room so I sent them ahead. Groucho wasn¢t far behind so I waited on him to pass too. I put my poles on a tree and chose another one to squat behind. As my bladder began to empty I felt a sting on my low right leg. I looked down just in time to see the swarm begin. I was peeing on an entire nest of ground bees! 15 or 20 of them began to swarm me. I dropped my toilet paper and ran down the trail pulling up my pants. They followed me for a couple hundred feet. Three stings! Three stings!  No toilet paper now...and for crying out loud my trekking poles are still on that other tree!  You¢ve got to be kidding me! Back I went without incident. I grabbed my poles, but forfeited the T.P.  My right lower leg was stinging like nobody¢s business. I was literally trembling from the attack. All I knew was that I had to get to Hugs and pray she had put the anti-sting wipes in her slack-pack. She had! It burned to wipe on, but I gave it a minute to work...nothing. I tried to hike on, but the burning was relentless. What can I do? Remember that Benadryl Hugs had picked up from the hiker box at the old school house? She had that with her too. Once again Hugs was my Trail Angel! Believe it or not, it still burns a little bit, but I¢m lots better, and a little drowsy from the Benadryl.  We continued going up to the Audie Murphy memorial. 3095ft elevation. Big Kahuna was looking forward to this. He told us the story of Audie Murphy being a highly decorated WW II Veteran. I believe he also did some acting later in life. Sadly on May 28th 1971 he died in a plane crash right there on that mountain. The monument has grown with rocks and memorabilia from many soldiers. Hugs counted 10 dog tags. I saw so many things that brought tears to my eyes. I think we were all a little teary eyed. Today¢s photo is of Big Kahuna, a 40 year Veteran of the United States Air Force. Thank you for your service Big Kahuna. I have so much more to say about this, but the tears won¢t let me type right now. And so we left the memorial together. Hugs led our tramily down the mountain where our shuttle driver was waiting. He knew the way home! I also sat up front in the Captains chair.  We were back at the hostel for less than 15 minutes before Papa Big Swig showed up. Surprise! I¢m going to be off trail the next 4 days for a very special family event. I will fill you all in on it when the day comes. In the meantime I will use the next couple of days to answer questions from my guest book, upload a bunch of photos, and prepare for my return. I will be hiking Dragons Tooth on the 20th and I hear it¢s a rough climb.  Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018)Where¢s your faith?