Date: 2006-05-24
From: Jenkins Shelter, VA

To: Bland, VA/Big Walker Motel
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: broken clouds

Day: 68Date: 5/24/06Start: Jenkins Shelter, VAWeather: hot, sunshineFinish: Bland, VA/Big Walker MotelMiles: 11.5Cumulative A.T. Miles: 579.2Clay: Today I woke up cheery, with no pains, and very late. Ranger Dawg camped (on a slant) 3 miles prior to the shelter and he was at the shelter by 9 AM. Poor Branch worried about me during the cold night and did not sleep well.By 9:30 AM we were on our way. There were still lots of people at the shelter. Yesterday was tough for everyone.Two big highlights for me today were hiking for an hour with Ranger Dawg and listening to his military P.O.W. accounts and gaining a hitch for 10 hikers and a dog after a minute of prayer. I'll expound on the latter. When we got to the gap today to go into Bland, VA to re-supply, there were 3 hikers sitting in the shade away from the road--Michelle, Beth, and another fellow. It was as if they had given up on hitching in. Five other hikers had given up on hitching and they were well on their way to walking the hot 2.5 miles into town. When Branch and I got to the gap, we knocked on the door of the church across the street to no avail and then we prayed. Sitting in the shade with the other hikers, a truck pulled up beside us. Still sitting down, I half-heartedly put out my thumb. Despite my lack of enthusiasm to wave the truck down, the fellows, named Steve and Frank, pulled over and began to take us into town. We only waited about 5 minutes for this hitch!It was fun as we passed by hikers were road-walking, shouting at them, and then picking them up. By the end of the ride, 10 hikers, 2 trail angels, 11 backpacks, and a dog were in the truck heading to Dairy Queen.Branch has a migraine headache today, a sore knee, and she appears to be running a low-grade fever. So, after grocery shopping, we are staying at the Big Walker Motel tonight. A few of the hikers scoffed that we were staying at a hotel instead of hitching back and hiking 4 more miles to the shelter. One foreign fellow that we had just met said that we must be rich. I just laughed at his unwarranted belief. While we are spiritually rich, we are quite the opposite of monetarily rich. My wife needs rest and she is in pain. I'm fatigued as well. She took care of me last night while I was wincing. Tonight she is hurting and I need to nurse her back to health.Branch: Even though the terrain was easy today and the miles were few, it was a super hard day for me. I woke up this morning, after a night of very little sleep with a headache. As we hiked north and as the sun grew higher, my headache became much much worse. Usually, I am so excited to see the sunshine, but today it felt like lasers gunning right for my eyes and searing my brain. So, when we got into Bland, and saw the Big Walker Motel right across the street from the Dairy Queen there was no question about what to do. We headed straight for a room indoors so that I could rest in a controlled environment. Tonight I am once again reminded of how wonderful Clay is to me. He is doing everything that he can to make me feel better. I praise God that I can spend my life with such a wonderful, caring, husband.