Date: 2023-04-25
From: 15.1

To: Campsite at 690.3
Miles today: 15.1

Hiking Day 46, Ending Elevation 1562 feetMy father would have been 89 today. He died at 34, so he has been gone more than half my life, but I like to think about him on his birthday. I think he would have enjoyed this journey.We crossed the Eastern Continental Divide today. I didn¢t know there was one! Waters on the east side goes to the Atlantic Ocean 405 miles away and rivers on the west side go to the Gulf of Mexico, more than 1000 miles away.We were feeling a bit tired and thinking about stopping early when we came upon TRAIL MAGIC at VA Route 621. It was 4:30 or so and Ed and his wife Moving Moo/Sue from Blacksburg, were serving up hot dogs and real French fries (he had a contraption strapped to a tree to slice real potatoes that he deep fried right in front of us and unbelievably, he also had malt vinegar for the fries!). Everything was delicious, served with¢¦ coke, mandarins, apples and cookies. Even Felix had a hot dog, in spite of his continued bad behavior toward Diesel, who was there with Farmer Phil.We sat and chatted with Ed and Sue for about an hour. Sue is section hiking the PCT, so we told them to look us up next time they come to California, maybe we could help in the area of Sonora Pass. Full bellies, we thought about doing the additional 5 miles we had planned, but instead opted to walk in a mile to the next campsite and get a good and early night¢s sleep.The bridge across Craig¢s Creek was out and the ATC had tied orange tape to an alternate route just a little downstream from the bridge where the water is shallower. Ed and Sue must have spent hours placing stones across the creek so that hikers could cross without getting their feet wet. It was quite a project!We started the day early enough this morning, and were making good time when we met our first good-sized mountain about 4 miles in. After climbing it and walking along a rocky ridgeline for a few miles, we both felt more tired than usual. For the first time, we looked across the valley to a velvety green line of mountains on the other side and realized that we were looking at mountains covered in green trees! It was quite a sight, quite different from the browns and grays of the past weeks. There were dogwoods interspersed among the trees everywhere and wild geraniums afoot! We could hear cows mooing in the valley below, which only heightened the feeling of life returning to Earth.Farmer Phil and Purp passed as early in the day and we met several people coming Southbound including two older men who warned us of a large rattlesnake on the trail that we did not see. As the day wore on the clouds moved in and covered the sky, but Ed told us tonight is not forecast to rain. There may be a little in the next couple of days, but Friday is forecast for 80% chance. That means we will get wet before Daleville, 40 miles ahead.It¢s still light, Kerry has hung the food bag on an almost perfect tree! Just thinking, I know T..S. Eliot wrote the Wasteland as an allegory, but for me his words aptly apply to our very real experiences: ¢April is the cruellest month, breedingLilacs out of the dead land, mixingMemory and desire, stirringDull roots with spring rain.Winter kept us warm, coveringEarth in forgetful snow, feedingA little life with dried tubers.¢