Date: 2016-06-03
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Doc's Knob Shelter
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up today squeezed in between whitecap and nooner. Purple mist and optimist were also in the shelter to my tight. I slept kind of rough last night. First the storms came through about midnight which woke me up. Then I was consciously trying not to snore or move around to much so I didn't wake up the guy on either side of me which I think caused me to not go into deep sleep. The nice thing about sleeping in a shelter is its so easy to get up and go in the morning. No tent to pack up and if you arrive late night and are so exhausted that all you unpack is your pad and bag it makes it that much easier. I got on trail at 7:30 and it was foggy but super humid. I would take a guess the dew point was in the mid 60's. I hiked for about 2 miles and came across David who had is hammock set up near the road and creek. This is the David from the Avalon/Gretel group. He had gotten separated from the group when he had to go into town. I said did you read the log at Jenny knob. Avalon left you a message saying to go to Woods Hole Hostel. He said he got the message and I moved on. I crossed VA 608 and had the first big climb of the day. Walking about 6 miles from Jenny Knob I came up behind purple mist who was still taking it slow after recovering from an injury. She lives in Virginia with her husband optimist who was a bit ahead of us. We walked and talked about our hikes for about 30 minutes. The trail dropped down and crossed over a suspension bridge over Kimberling Creek. It was a really neat bridge. On the other side of the bridge I saw a man with tape and a sign saying trail magic! I said you must be bear finders dad. He said you heard, well please eat a ton of food. They had sodas, Gatorade, gallon jugs of water, all kinds of chips, subs (turkey, ham, roast beef) cake that read congrats bear finder. It was awesome for 10am. I stayed and ate for a half hour and then moved on. I saw Gretel, chef, blue hawk as well as detour who I haven't seen since walking down the big hill into hot springs. Purple mist and optimist were also there. The clan asked me if I had seen David. I said yes he was at a campsite near the last road crossing. I asked where Avalon was and they told me she had gotten up at 7 and pushed off. They had camped nearby but didn't get up very early. I said thank you and goodbye and moved on. Gretel, chef and bluehawk passed me when I was switching to trekking poles from the walking stick. Ompi had texted me saying the trail from VA 606 to Wapitti shelter was mud all 6 miles. When I got to the downhill I thought it best to have the trekking poles. I was behind the three of them and we all took a side trail to dismal falls. I ate a snack and the three of them went in swimming. I debated going but my gaitors were covered in mud and I needed to boogie if I was gonna make the 21 miles to meet Ompi at Woods hole hostel. I yelled to the three have fun I'm moving on. The trail for the next 7 miles was relatively flat but muddy. It made it really hard to walk. It felt like you were stepping on ice as when you stepped on the ground your foot would slide either left or right. I finally made it to Wapiti shelter where I was gonna have a snack and use the privy. When I arrived some man had is hammock set up in the shelter. I was like ok that's odd not to mention you've taken up the whole shelter. I was only there for 20 minutes. He wasn't too chatty. 7.2 miles away from shower, bed and laundry!! Wohooo. What lay ahead of me was a 2 mile steep climb up another mt with no name. I seem to be at a stretch where the trail goes up to these 3800-4000 foot peaks with no views and no name. The climb was tough as I was exhausted. It looked like rain was coming and it had sprinkled a bunch already. Finally I made it to the top. I checked radar, rain was most certainly coming. There was a text from Ompi. Moving on from Woods Hole Hostel. They are out of water. No showers, no laundry. Nooooooooooo!!! I had been daydreaming about the shower all day. He said he was gonna push and camp just outside of pearisburg and did we want to split a room. I was like hell yes! He told me the royal couple are only 3 days ahead. OMG Sarah and Simon I have missed you guys. Sarah got back from the UK and Simon hiked through skipping trail days. Simon passed all of our locations while we were at trail days so now he is ahead. Sarah met up with Simon in Damascus about 2 weeks ago. So we need to catch them. The RC (royal couple from now on) said the Chinese AYCE (all you can eat) was fantastic. Ompi and I are gonna meet there tomorrow before we check into hotel. So now I'm sitting on top of this mountain with 4 miles to go before I get to the hostel with no water. Ugh what to do now as that plan is out the window. I decided to go for the next shelter. Which was 7 miles from my location. I dragged myself there. The last 4 miles I thought I was gonna drop. My legs burned and felt like rubber. The last climb in the book looked rough. I sat at the bottom near the waterless hostel and ate everything in my food bag for energy. I started the climb and as luck would have it the climb was so much easier than what the guidebook showed. Phew. When I arrived at Docs Knob Shelter there was only one person in the shelter. Score for me. I added up my mileage for the day and realized I had done 24. Gosh no wonder why I felt dead. Tomorrow I meet up with Ompi in Pearisburg.