Date: 2006-08-01
From: Lambert's Meadow Shelter Area

To: John Spring Shelter
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: light rain

Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit (My family¢s ¢1st of the month tradition for good luck, remember?)I awoke to another lovely, sunny morning in the Virginia woods, the morning air laden with the promise of heat and little chance of rain. I left camp before 9:00am, having had little contact with the Old Dominion crew except to thank the couple of boys who offered to share their breakfasts with me and to let ¢Mel¢ know I¢d see them on the Tinker¢s Cliffs less than one mile ahead. I arrived there about 45 minutes ahead of them and thoroughly enjoyed just sitting and taking in the view of the valley below. When the boys arrived, my monocular was a big hit and they passed it around so everyone had a chance to enjoy viewing the sites of the miniature farms and homes several hundred feet below us. We climbed the rocks and took pictures, a scene very reminiscent to me of the days when, at about the same age, I¢d skip school and spend the day in the West Hartford reservoir climbing and ¢hacking around¢ (usually with a friend, but sometimes alone) on the best spot I knew, Kilkenny Rock.)After an hour or so it was time for me to move on, which meant I would not be seeing them again, as they don¢t move at the same pace I do and I need to get on with HMOH (Hiking My Own Hike) again. We said our goodbyes and thank you¢s, and I got an exuberant and heartfelt group cheer of ¢Good Luck Bumpo!¢ which made me feel pretty special. While we were wandering around the rock cliffs talking, one of the boys, John (¢Stinger¢), commented that the trail was ¢kind of like a family.¢ Oh, how very observant and how very true. As I waved goodbye and stepped back on the trail it felt like I was leaving a part of ¢family¢ behind, once again, to climb my own mountains. Between the Tinker Cliffs and McAfee¢s Knob, the trail follows a descending ridge line with only one uphill portion of no more than 200 feet. But 200¢ in the high temperatures and higher humidity felt like Kilimanjaro! I encountered this assent just after lunch (that, too, probably contributed to the feeling that the climb was more than just 200¢!) . Just crested that one incline when I realized that I had left ¢Wilson II¢, my ¢hiker to trail / hiker to town¢ bandana-sweat towel--hitchhike aide 12 mile back where I had stopped for lunch, when I had reached for it to wipe my brow. It must have fallen from my pack. So I took off my shirt and waist pack and back I went, adding an extra mile in the heat of the day to the only damn steep part in the whole afternoon. Oh, Wilson - bad boy! I took a break at the Campbell Shelter that¢s located trail-side in a pine grove just before the 12 mile climb to McAfee¢s Knob, and there I had a nice chat with Walker, one of the four college-age hikers I had seen yesterday. Another of the four, Jessie, was asleep on the picnic table, and the other two, Evan and Drew, were off looking for water. Walker hopes to do a Thru Hike next year if it all works out. Very nice guy: he¢d fit in well with the AT family.From the top of McAfee¢s Knob, there is a spectacular view of the valley formed from Tinker Mountain on the south-east side and North Mountain on the other, through the center of which runs Gravelly Ridge. There is an excellent place to take pictures of people standing on the rock outcropping at the top of the Knob from a smaller ledge some 20 yards or so away. I offered to take a picture of the foursome in exchange for Walker taking one of me. I hopped over the rocks to the outcropping and snapped away. Moments later, with my camera in hand, Walker went to the same spot to take a similar picture of me, only to be greeted there by a fairly large rattlesnake, coiled and ¢announcing himself¢ in virtually the same spot where I had so lightly trod only moments before. Hmmmm, it makes you wonder¢¦..I saw the four of them again several times during the afternoon after leaving the summit of McAfee¢s Knob; once when I stopped for water; once more when I was on my way down to the John¢s Spring Shelter; and again as I was getting settled there. Each time the group looked more and more ¢heat beat¢ and disheveled. The last time I saw them, they were all dragging and, apparently, Evan had passed out at some point during the afternoon from too much exertion in the sun, I was told. Seeing his condition was a sobering reminder of the seriousness of heat exhaustion.Because water is getting scarce (it is becoming a greater concern for the days ahead), I am carrying extra liters with me and fill up whenever I have the chance. Tomorrow, I may send some stuff home or head to Pearisburg to lighten my load so I can take on more ¢reserve water¢ while I am in Catawba. We¢ll see. Tonight, I am at a new shelter, which is very nice - the John Spring Shelter (formerly the site of the ¢Boy Scout Shelter¢). The woods are still except for my empty stomach, which is grumbling over the fact that it has been treated poorly today. Lunch consisted of two measly sardine and cheese tostadas and, this evening I was just beginning to heat up the water for dinner (my favorite meal of instant mashed potatoes and beef stew, too,) when I ran out of cooking gas for my stove. So, dinner ended up being greasy, three-day old Hormel pepperonis with honey tostadas - that¢s honey on a tostada. That¢s it!Fortunately for my stomach, Catawba is only two miles away and I can get breakfast there, as well as pick up my drop box with food and a large canister of gas. Now when people ask me, ¢How long do one of those canisters last you?¢ I can answer the question precisely, ¢Three dinners, two breakfasts, two wash-ups, and two cups of tea.¢ Come on, stomach, quit your grumbling - time for bed.