Date: 2004-07-07
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Big Walker Motel - Bland VA
Miles today: 11.5

Last night some campers decided to tent in the gap below the shelter. I could not see them, but I sure as heck could hear them. Sounded like a bunch of teenagers, shouting and yelling ¢ literally ¢ until after 11PM. I don¢t think that people realize how well, and how far, sound travels out here.   Spent an uneventful night after it all quieted down, and left early, passing the still sleeping campers at the bottom of the valley. They had left all of their gear scattered outside their three ridge tents, and everything was wet with the heavy early morning dew.   It was then up and down over Brushy Mountain - again! ¢ and then down into Little Wolf Creek. No need to take the blue blazed high water trail today. The AT crosses the creek 12 times in two miles, according to the handbook. I had successfully crossed nine times, but on the tenth I slipped on the wet rocks, and fell heavily and headlong onto the rocks, with my right leg twisted and up to the knee in the creek. This was the first realy heavy and serious fall that I have had so far, and I was realy stunned. I lay on the rocks under the weight of the pack and checked out all of the various bits and parts of my anatomy before deciding to move. Luckily nothing seriously broken or damaged, but I was realy stunned and shocked and it took me a fair while to recover. Turned out to have nothing worse than a deflated and shocked ego and a very wet right foot, sock and boot. I was so shocked because I was paying attention to a rather tricky crossing on wet and slimy rocks and I fell hard anyway.   After that I continued on ¢ even more carefully than before ¢ to the road at Laurel Creek. There were a number of people car-camping at the road, and one group in particular was cooking. Despite my appealing looks and cheerful greeting ¢ and a bad attempt at Yoging ¢ I got the same curt ¢good morning¢ that seems to characterize so many of the local hikers here ¢ so far ¢ in Virginia.   Then it was ups and downs to the USFS road 282. During this segment I was bothered by small black flying midges that circled around me and then dive-bombed directly into my eyes, They scored a total of nine direct hits, three in the left eye and six in the right ¢ despite the bug repellent. Each time they hit I had to get the dam pesky thing out of my eye, before being able to continue. The trail here however is very nice and evenly graded, up and down, but mostly down, and the going was easy.   Just before USFR 282 I encountered Trail Magic! Gallons of water and some sodas, along with the local weather forecast for the next few days, had been left on the trail. After drinking two sodas and reloading with one liter of water, I was on my way again, down USFS 282 to US 52 where another piece of trail magic waited. There was a man there from the Catholic Church Hostel in Pearisburg waiting to shuttle some hikers to Atkins, and he very kindly drove me here ¢ 2.4 miles ¢ to Bland and the Big Walker Motel.      After being safely ensconced into room 16, I spoke with Kathy and the children, all in well in the Barrett household.      The restaurant here is the local Dairy Queen and the store is a filling station convenience store. After a super value meal and a DQ ice cream, I visited a used bookstore adjacent to the filling station. There I met Dick Haynes, and we spoke for 90 minutes on used books, philosophy, living in rural Bland, need versus want, and a bunch of other interesting stuff. I think that it is conversations like this, and people like Dick, that prove my point that you need to get out of the hiker hostels every now and then, and meet some of the people who live along the trail.   Am now back in my room ¢ no laundry here or in Bland. Will talk with home again later and figure out plans for Pearisburg in the morning after a DQ breakfast.   Thought for today ¢             The person who makes the least number of assumptions is most likely to be correct ¢ Ockam¢s Razor