Date: 2006-04-05
From: Cove Mountain Shelter

To: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: scattered clouds

5 Apr 2006 - Destination: Bryant Ridge Shelter (6.9 Miles)It has been a warm, slightly windy night.NOTE: did not need balacava last night.After getting up I could not find the ziploc bag with the candles and mini bic lighters. Dean gave me a spare bic of his. I tested and used the little stove for the first time. It worked well, and the oatmeal came out well. So did the blackberry emergen-c packet. While everybody was around the pinic table this morning, finishing breakfast and packing up, a young doe walked up to within about 10 feet of us and looked at us for about 5 minutes. She was utterly unafraid of any of us. I left the Cove Mountain Shelter about 09:20 and am between two groups of the Elks folks. The slow ones took off first and the fast ones will leave in a little bit. It is a beautiful, windy day, sunny and the radio claims the temperature will reach about 67 degrees.I am hiking in just the fleece pants. Yesterday, I had the Frogg Togg bottoms over them.12:14 - I'm at Jennings Creek. Everybody passed me early on in the game and moved on out. I am about to tackle the thousand foot hike up Fork Mountain, which should take me to the Bryant Ridge Shelter. I got here about noon so I'm averaging a little bit better than a mile an hour coming downhill, and probably half that going uphill. It will probably take me two to three hours to climb this. Meanwhile I am waiting for the chlorine dioxide to finish reacting so I can pour it into the two liter bottle of water I just got from the creek. The creek looks fairly clean, it is a trout fishing area, but just in case, I will clean it up. Nothing much of import this morning. I almost twisted my right foot a couple of times, and had to stop and tie my shoelaces, but in general, it has been a steady, kind of worrisome hike because of the downhills. Some of them were fairly steep. Some purple flowers, some yellow flowers, with the gentle wind keeping it slightly chilly and the sun keeping it warm.14:43 35785 - Pack off break at the top of the ridge. It should be gentle cruising for at least a while. Water refill, gorp, and rest. It is a broad ridgetop and about 2.1 miles downhill to the Bryant Ridge Shelter. As I walk gently down Fork Mountain, I can see up off to the right that there is a pond with a dirt roadway going to it. There are some houses on the other side of the ridge, one ridge over. Blue skies, clear as a bell, light fluffy clouds, sun shining brightly gentle breeze with occasional gusts up to 20-30 mph. White butterfiles, black butterflies, green things popping up through the dead leaves and lots of large rocks, including some mastiffs of brobdingnagian proportions. There appear to be lots of dead trees and lots of trees just starting to bloom.Occasionally, while I am following the trail and looking down (which is most of the time I am hiking), I have seen broken stuff and discarded trash. I just found a blueberry pop tart plastic cover, probably from one of the Elks kids.Fork Mountain has been a steady, somewhat wearisome climb. I've been averaging about 1000 ft/hour. This means tomorrow is going to require in excess of four hours climbing!!! Pack off break just sitting here, with the sun on the back of my neck, letting my coat dry, letting my shirts dry on me, and just zoning out for a while.15:14 36267 - The actual crest was a little bit farther on. There are a couple of rock cairns up here at the top, a pyramidial one and a rectangular one. Neither one has anything written on it, but I assume they are at the top, and the trail looks like it is going down. Since the previous stop it has been a very gentle rise, so it wasn't to bad.NOTE: while coming down, still fairly close to the top I observed the almost stationary clouds casting beautiful, fractal, almost Escherian shadows on the ridge to my left. The dark shadows slowly moving over the light green and rusty brown trees and plants with the mountains bouncing up and down in the background against a blue sky with slow clouds created an extremely beautiful sight, one that has made the trip so far worthwhile. Slow moving fractal cloud shadows, on fractally distributed colored vegetation on fractally changing surface topography can create extreme beauty. Lovely.15:32 36754 - Some kind of wooden building (a hunters stand or lookout stand) is on the right as I'm coming along, a couple of hundred yards off the trail. It is a somewhat decrepit wooden two storey structure, with the first storey being stilts and storage, and the second with a rotting floor.15:42 36988 - Off to the right, as I am coming down this mountain, are a white and yellow banded tree, a red banded tree, and a blue tarp on the ground. It looks like it might be a building site, unfortunately.When I got to the shelter I gave the PopTart envelope to Tyler (one of the counselors, vide infra) and they identified the individual who had blueberry pop tarts. It initiated a good learning moment about the importance of the "leave no trace" philosophy. Before we all went to bed some of the kids bushwacked downhill over a mile to get water and bring it back. Before they left they asked me if I needed or wanted some. Since I had plenty (3+liters) I declined, but I really appreciated the gesture very much as I was bone tired from the day's hike. I gave the group the seven 1 cup hot chocolate packets that I had, and they shared it amongst everyone who wanted some.The unique, two storey, post and beam construction, Bryant Ridge Shelter, with a capacity of at least 20, is the largest and nicest shelter I have been in or seen so far. The kids almost fought to get into the loft area and Tyler slept up there with a large subset of them. I was on the bottom floor. There were plenty of hanging pegs, a clean floor, actual skylights and windows, an underroof picnic table, and an unloaded mousetrap under the bottom floor. The creek, with reasonably clean water is directly in front and the privy is about 125 feet to the left. There are a couple of large rocks to use as steps to the bottom level (which I regularly slipped on), and a vertical ladder that leads up to the loft. This shelter is actually located in a rather deep valley and thus the satellite phone could not get out. The views are entirely local, and are of the sides of the hills enclosing the shelter. I did not see the dedication bronze plaque, which is supposedly there.I have enjoyed being with the Elks home group the last couple of nights and look forward to the next several before they split off at Thunder Ridge. There have been fires and ghost stories and "masked surprises" and regular high jinks. The two counselors, Dean (a Goochland fireman, and Tyler, an English Major who writes "heavy? band lyrics and performs in Richmond) keep the kids well in hand.NOTE: I like Tyler's blow up pillow - consider getting one laterBy request, gave a reading of EAPoe's "The Raven" just after dusk. Slept on the left side of the shelter and discovered how to use the sleeping bag sleep sack. I kept my feet warm by not having them touch the shelter floor, but use trash bag and optional clothing under sleeping bag bottom cover below where thermarest ends. The sound of the small rapids in the creek and the sounds of the local owls and other wildlife put me to sleep.NOTE: I need to stop drinking liquid about 18:00 and urinate just before bed to stop the necessity of nocturnal (midnight+) excursions.In the morning I found the ziploc bag with the candles and bic lighters stuffed into one of the mud boots, so I gave Dean back his lighter with much thanks.