Date: 2006-04-04
From: Bobblet's Gap Shelter

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: broken clouds

4 Apr 2006 - Destination: Cove Mountain Shelter(About 6.4 miles)11:20 23558 -NOTE: I dreamed of her again last night. Maybe she'll be free when I get back.NOTE: Tried satellite phone last night to contact resupply point in C'Ville. No luck, will try again tonight.NOTE:Gorp and peanut butter seem ok, low residue, treated water seems ok, tastes somwhat like decarbonated club soda. I should try it with a teabag(orange pekoe or peppermint) or emergen-c packets.NOTE: will stop transcription because of battery problems, and will make notes sparser. NOTE: I like pockets. Orvis is superb and I often wear it past the heat point for convenience.I left Bobblet's Gap after the crowd (about 10:00 AM), and got to where the trail merges with a dirt/fire road and gently goes downhill. I missed the trail cutoff from this road and went down about a mile and a fraction, thinking I was doing very well. I then came upon a local gentleman, Mike, who was coming up with his two dogs and he told me I was in the wrong place. We started walking back up, and then he went on ahead and found the trail cutoff and came back to me where I was still climbing up and described where it was. He then went on. I greatly appreciated his aid, and kept climbing.12:02 25129 - I have just walked all the way up to the cutoff to Bobblet's Shelter and didn't find the AT cutoff. I came back down very slowly, and finaly found it, and I am now back on the trail.15:00 28825 - I've been pushing hard and right now I have reached the crossover of the Blue Ridge Parkway, with a little wooden bridge at the Sharp Top / Flat Top overlook. The views of Sharp Top and Flat Top were clear and sharp. The trail turns a bit to the right, and then is probably going to go left. There is a left sign for Va43 and a 695 East sign. At any rate, the little wooden bridge has a stream under it so I am refilling water and waiting for the chlorine dioxide to sterilize the water. At this point, it has been a very long and hard pull for me, especially since I lost my first couple of miles, and I'm not sure I'm going to make the shelter, but, damn it, I'm going to try.It was a fairly straightforward hike through Mill's Gap Overlook, until the Bearhollow gap, but the climb our of that was "a climb unto heaven". Every time I thought I had reached the top there was another switchback and more climbing. I was down to almost nothing but willpower when I finally made the top of Cove Mountain. I kept plodding on as I was seriously concerned that I would not make the shelter. During the next pack off break I nearly got conked on the head by a falling dead branch. When I finally got to the shelter, they had a full fire going, and had reserved space for me in the shelter.NOTE: at the seveal BRP overlooks that the trail crossed, I took pack off breaks and sprawled, much to the amusement of passing drivers. I seriously considered hitching to recover the lost distance from the morning but didn't. The Cove Mountain Shelter is the standard shelter design with no available water, a fire ring, an uncovered picnic table with the privy just to the left of the shelter. Originally, the Thelma Marks Memorial shelter was located in this area. That is where Molly LaRue and Geoff Hood, two AT hikers in their mid 20's, were staying in 1990 when Paul David Crews shot Geoff, and then raped and stabbed Molly. The police found him a few days later and he was tried and sentenced to death.NOTE: Absolutely need spare aaa batteries for digital recorder.