Date: 2011-06-18
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Old Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 62Woot! 500! And Ponies! ...And a Mountain Hurricane...ACK!The two section hiking slow ladies (Margaret and Paula - aka Solar Lights) showed up last night after dark and slept in the upstairs of the shelter.Apparently a pony came by early this morning, but I missed it. The guys saw its butt and I guess it went right up to the tents.The privy here is handicap accessible. Someone PLEASE explain this to me. In order to even get tot he side trail to the privy you need to rock hop, much less to get tot he area at ALL!! Stupid laws to waste $.Last night a weekend hiking Dad and his two kids gave me the fixins for chicken marsala! I didn't even yogi for it!! It was really cool cause I actually had the dehydrated mushrooms to add to it Yay Trail Magic!I hiked the Grayson Highlands today and got to see the PONIES!! I caught up with VT and hiked a bit with him till we came to the ponies. The Voice was sitting there waiting. VT and I went to play with the ponies OMG! They are sooo cute. There were a couple little babies. One was very ware and wouldn't let anyone near, but the other was ALL about the attention. They are soo docile and totally comfortable with people. One licked the salt off my hand and was really loving it.When we got back to The Voice the other two ladies showed up and one said she couldn't believe they had already gone 3 miles LOL. The Voice made it very very clear that she had been sitting there for over an hour waiting. It really is amazing out here how you just never know what the day will bring. Here I was relaxing in the sun eating lunch and watching ponies one minute and in what seemed like the next (but actually 2 hours later) I was going through a lush forest when I heard a rumble of thunder.I have learned out here to just put the pack cover on when you get your first warning. So as the rumble was rumbling, I stopped to take my pack off and had JUST gotten it off when the skies OPENED UP!! It was like a scene from a movie. I got my pack cover on and my baseball hat (only rain gear I have now) and continue on in the torrent. Sometimes there are parts of the forest where you can take "shelter" from the rain and it is a little lighter. Not in this forest so as I got to the edge of a bald I debated, "Stay here and just get wet and cold, or continue on?" I decided I may as well go on. I went over stone mountain for about a half mile in 50mph winds in my tank top and shorts. The rain was pelting me and so sideways it was going directly into my ear. I had to use my trekking poles to brace myself to keep from getting blown over. My boots of course got totally soaked before I even left the forest and so I didn't have to even try to not step in what was now a river instead of a trail. I finally made it to a thicket where Imagine had holed up as some sort of protection from this battering. He got quite worried about me being soaked in just what I had, but I wasn't going to put on anything dry before the rain stopped. The wind was so violent we could hardly hear each other yelling. One great bright spot happened. While we were waiting it out 3 sobo sectioners showed up, also to take refuge. When they found out I was S'mores they got all excited (very strange from a Sobo) and said I had a treat waiting for me at Fox Creek.Yesterday when Dr. Bonner and Imagine and I were at the shelter, I had just said how I would love a cold beer or a Pepsi when two women came into the shelter in a whirlwind! They mentioned something about having hiked with beer and I told them how I had just said I wish I had a beer. One woman (Hippie Longstockings)pulled out a map and said "At this road crossing, I will leave one for you!" She said to look for her bright pink duct tape as directions for where she would leave it and then, just as they came bustling in, they were gone. Aaanyway, this sobo sectioner said he had met her and seen the treat and it wasn't just ONE beer, it was a six pack!! I'm not sure if it will still be there when I get there tomo9rrow, but its so cool that they left it for me After I got over the rest of the bald I passed the 500 mile mark!! I checked to see if I had phone service to send a FB update and I did. As I was standing there something caught my eye. I thought it was a chipmunk, but looked and it was a ferret! It practically walked over my feet. Apparently it hadn't realized I was alive (I must really smell woodsy ) I clicked my phone back to camera mode and as I raised it to take a pic I moved one of my poles and the ferret took off. I was able to get a very blurry pic. HAHA!By now it was no longer raining and I came to The Scales livestock corral where there is a bathroom. I changed my shirt and put on my fleece. As I had continued on after the thicket, I just kept thinking to myself "This is how hypothermia happens, Kathleen, you are smarter than this!" I saw Imagine go through the corral and up into the mountain as I was getting myself back together. I quickly overcame him and we met back up at the shelter.Oh when I stopped at Wise Shelter to use the privy, VT and The Voice arrived. This was their planned stop for the day, but The Voice wanted to continue on her own. Imagine and I decided she most likely would not be making it here due to the storm There are a bunch of Boy Scouts tenting just past the shelter, otherwise we have the shelter to ourselves. I made us some sassafras tea to help rewarm ourselves and we just sat and chatted. Tucking in for the night while it's still light out and hoping things dry out a bit by morning. I don't have any clothes in my clothes bag for a pillow as everything is hanging!