Date: 2004-05-09
From: Lost Mountain shelter

To: Deep Gap campsite
Miles today: 10.0

9:40 PM Deep Gap campsiteMy grand ambitions for 15-mile days in Virginia are shattered. Whoever said trails in Virginia were easy was not thinking of Mount Rogers. Now that I am hiking with two sticks, I seem to be burning calories at a faster rate. I have to eat something about every 1 1/2 hours or I can hardly move. I have eaten all my cheese. I am eating 3 packages of oatmeal every morning. I have enough for tomorrow morning and the next day. I still have plenty of food in my pack, but I want my cheese. I am going to Troutdale by the most direct route. I am going down the Forest Service road when I get to the Scales. It will still be Tuesday evening before I get there, but I won¢t be zig-zagging all over these mountains and ridges. It would be Thursday before I could get there, at my current rate of speed and if I stayed on the AT.It is a good thing I didn¢t try to hike past Lost Mountain shelter last night. I did not pass one suitable camping spot all day today until I got to the current campsite. This spot is perfect for me. It is flat. It is sheltered from the wind by trees, and there is water less than 10 minutes away. I can¢t hear any highway noises. I saw some deer when I was coming back from getting water. I heard some branches breaking a little while ago, and I expect that was deer also. I just heard an owl. It is quiet at the moment, except for the wind high in the trees.The flowers yesterday and today have been amazing. Yesterday on Straight Mountain there were great clumps of crested irises, and there were fire pinks scattered all over the slopes. Today, walking at higher elevation, I have seen columbine blooming in abundance on Beech Mountain, and great feathery white carpets of ???. I had thought that the spring beauties were all played out, but when I got up past 5000 feet on Whitetop Mountain they were everywhere again, along with hundreds of trout lilies. I met a couple photographing the flowers, and we had a great conversation about where certain flowers bloom. I learned that the purple flower that looks a lot like columbine with only one point is probably larkspur.The continuing saga of the sticks ¢ Now that I can¢t switch hands when one hand gets sore, I have had to cope with incipient blisters on my hands. I tried wearing my gloves, but it is too hot. The wet gloves were causing my problems. I have now dedicated a lavender bandana as a hand-grip for stick #2, and a turquoise bandana for Kat¢s Stick. They seem to be serving the purpose well, at least for today.I didn¢t mention that it was thundering and threatening rain for about an hour before I reached the Lost Mountain shelter yesterday. It sprinkled a bit from right as I was reaching the shelter until I got water, set up my tent, and hung the bear line. As I was beginning to make dinner, it started pouring. I managed to stay dry, except for when I was hanging my food bags and transferring my gear into my tent. It had stopped raining by the time I went to sleep around 10:30. In the morning, I was the last one to leave the shelter, as usual, but I still was able to get away by 9:20. I enjoyed my time alone at the shelter. I could hang my wet rain jacket on a nail in the sun. I could hang my tent fly from several pegs, and get it dry before packing everything up. I even enjoyed sweeping the shelter and seeing it look all neat and tidy before I walked away. I did not enjoy seeing the trash in the fire pit, but I can¢t do everything.