Date: 2011-04-26
From: VA 624 North Mountain Trail

To: Lamberts Meadow Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: light rain

Del Schechterly picked me up at the motel at 7:30AM. Sitting in his lap as he pulled up was his trusty sidekick "Tea Cup" a little Chihuahua. Got to the trail at 8:00AM. Enjoyed my ride with Del. He is a retired RN. He worked at the local state run mental health hospital in Catawba. He has been servicing hikers for over 10 years. After hiking for about 15 minutes the trail meandered into several fields. One of the fields had a lot of cattle in it. As I hiked up the trail...a mother cow and 2 calves   were in my way. I knocked my hiking sticks together to get them to move out of the way. The calves moved but the mother just stared at me...I decided to move off the trail about 10 yards and walked around her. She did not like me clacking my sticks at her kids! I passed my first thru-hikers today (all the others have been passing me!). First a couple I later learned was SPARTAN and BLUE MOON. Then further up the trail a young girl a year out of high school with the trail name AMISH (she is from Amish country...Lancaster, PA). She appeared to be struggling with no water. I gave here half a bottle of mine and continued on.   Met another thru-hiker his name is TURKEY FEATHER, filling up water along the trail. We talk as we both filled up. He is retired and living in southern Indiana.   He started the trail on March 5th. It was quite a day for great views! Climbed up to McAfee Knob. One of the most photographed sites on the Appalachian Trail. Then on to Tinkers Cliffs. If you google these you can see some terrific photos taken from the area. The bugs were out en mass today. The biting gnats just love hot, humid and sunny days. Later in the day just before I got to the peak of Tinkers Cliffs I got caught in a thunder shower. I waited for the shower to pass before getting up to the peak. While on Tinkers Cliff you are literally walking right along the edge of a cliff...hundreds of feet drop offs...very spectacular.   SPARTAN, BLUE MOON, TURKEY FEATHER and I all arrived at the shelter within minutes of each other. We all ate around the shelter as thunder sounded and rain came down lightly. I set up my tent not far from the shelter...just in case the storms got bad. We are under a severe thunderstorm watch. Before I headed to sleep SPARTAN found a 5 foot black snake.   It was climbing up a tree just outside my tent. It went from that tree...using one of the limbs to another dead tree...climbing into one of the holes left by a wood pecker. He may have been looking for a birds nest. Tomorrow I head back into town...which is good since the weatherman is calling for very bad storms. A great day on the trail. Stairs like these help hikers over barbed wire fences. The trail crosses private property many times.Audie Murphy monument (closeup)First Previous Next LastHiker Entries April 26, 2011JournalistDestinationTrailCanaryHawk Mountain ShelterAppalachian TrailDad's Grin-- View Entry --Camino de SantiagoVictusSam Moore ShelterAppalachian TrailLOLdicks creek gapAppalachian TrailSundance Daleville VAAppalachian TrailsumakKatahdinAppalachian TrailPeruDamascusAppalachian TrailFraser FirCove Mountain (entry three of the day)Appalachian TrailFostersCrampton Gap ShelterAppalachian TrailFraser FirMiddle Creek (Entry two of three)Appalachian TrailMore...Grouped By Trail... The predawn woke me; then a peculiar squeaking bird reinforced the message to get up. I realized that there have been only two mornings with chirping birds. Maybe their chirpers don¢t like cold, or maybe there¢s nothing to chirp about. ...    Popsicle ¢Ozark Highlands Trail2016HikingTrailsJournalsPhotosCalendarGearLinksPartnersULA EquipmentREIPatagoniaNetworkTrail ForumsTrail NewsAbout UsContactDonateJoinLoginHelpFollow UsFacebookInstagramTwitterPinterest LinkedinTop Photo © Cindy - The Appalachian Trail, 04/01/2002 by MrsGorpTrailjournals LLC © 2024All Rights Reserved. privacy policyNewburyport, MA 01950Terms under which this service is provided to you. Build: 20210226:165913Manage Settings