Date: 2013-05-10
From: Cove Mountain Shelter

To: Thunder Hill Shelter
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Day #2 back on the trail is the hardest day for me of both hikes.   There are two tough climbs today.   Morning sees a long drop from Cove Mtn shelter to Jennings Creek at VA-614, then a climb back up to Fork Mtn, then another drop to a stream at Bryant Ridge Shelter. It turns out Bryant Ridge Shelter is a palace, it's a double deck shelter right on a hill overlooking the creek, it has two large patios, it's one of the nicest shelters I've seen on the entire trail, holds 20 people. It's still early, so I stop briefly to look over the shelter log. Then comes the long climb to Floyd Mountain. The weather today is getting warm (mid 80s), very muggy, and the dadgum gnats are out bad. Must have been a large hatch recently with all the rain and warm weather. They swarm you whenever you slow down, and they bite. I use some DEET I brought along, but it does not help much. The gnats get in your eyes, your ears, your nose, your mouth. What fun.  I didn't bring my headnet on this trip.  The climb up Floyd Mtn is one of the more frustrating climbs I can recall on the trail.   The trees at this elevation are just starting to bud, the ground is loose soil, rocks of different sizes, traction is not the best. And it just goes up and up and up, with several false tops. At the top there are no views, just trees and rocks. "Rabbit", the younger VA Tech thru hiker passes me a short ways before the top of the hill, and we meetup at the next shelter for a break. I take almost 2 hour break here at Cornelius Creek Shelter, go down to the creek, fillup my Gatorade bottle with cold water and soak my head and shirt, it is that hot and humid.   I'm also getting dehydrated, so I sip water for quite a while and try to eat some snack food. "Rabbit" is using a 2L Platypus Hoser, with the Mio hydration energy drops in his water. I may try that next hike in warmer weather, I have a Platypus Hoser but have been using my smaller gatorade bottles instead with the Gu-Brew electrolyte tabs, trouble is they are beginning to taste like yuck. There are so many variations on water carrying, hydration, filter/treatment, etc. I will likely go back to using the hydration bladdders and hoses for hot weather hikes, I'm getting dehydrated too easily cuz I'm not drinking enough fluids in hot weather. Just when I think I've got this stuff figured out, I have to readjust, such is hiking on these trails in different seasons. "Rabbit" tells me he is a "Packaging Science" major at VA Tech. It's an interesting field, a mix between Industrial Engineering and Materials Science. He pulls out of the shelter and heads on, says his plan is to get to the next shelter, another 5 miles, and we have another climb coming. A little later, another nobo thru hiker, "Sherpa" arrives for a break. He is from the Seattle area, nice guy, we chat a bit about the Pacific Northwest. He is talking about taking a bus or train back across the country from Maine when he ends the thru hike. Later we head north, and there is another climb up to Apple Orchard Mtn, at 4225 ft, one of the higher peaks in Virginia. It has a large FAA tower on top with some nice views. It's a grassy bald on top.   After crossing the Blue Ridge Parkway again, next comes the long awaited stop at The Guillotine, a much photographed rock formation on the AT. It's really pretty cool, another geological feature that has me wondering about the ice age and how the glaciers moved these huge boulders around. Finally arrive at Thunder Hill Shelter around 7 pm. The same crew from Cove Mtn Shelter is here, except for Moxie, she is nurshing an injured foot and did not come this far tonite. They have a campfire going to try to keep the gnats away, they are still bad, and there is a bad thunderstorm approaching. I decide to sleep in the shelter tonite. I didn't bring my campstove on this short hike, so I'm eating Probars, nuts, jerky, dried apricots, dark chocalate covered almonds. Good stuff.