Date: 2017-09-16
From: Buena Vista

To: Glasgow
Miles today: 21.9
Weather: few clouds

What thru-hiker doesn't need a rock?Clearly I do, because I've just carried one for more than 20 miles. The genesis of this began when we were hitching out of Buena Vista after a morning of mixed fortunes. It was a success for me, who found a classic US diner and was now on the verge of a cholesterol coma, but it was bitter disappointment for Dirt, who discovered the farmers market that had enticed us into town no longer existed and instead her breakfast came from a Dollar General, eaten hiker-trash style on the pavement outside.Dirt, 2am and I stuck our thumbs out on the outskirts of town and we were duly collected by a family in a small jeep who offered us space in their trailer, sitting on some roofing iron. It was an entertaining ride, not least when a police car came the other way, but we made it to the pass without incident.We were in the process of thanking our benefactors when the mother stepped forward with their young son and said: "Grayson has something he wants to give you." Grayson duly handed over a painted rock with "PEACE" on it. "Thank you," I replied, because clearly my thru hike would be incomplete without a rock. I am, admitted, not the most ultralight hiker out here but I generally draw the line at carrying rocks, even painted ones with peace messaging.Others might have taken the rock and then surreptitiously dumped it down the trail but in a moment of soppiness, I put it in my pack and started thinking about how cool it'd be if a relay of us could take Grayson's rock all the way to Springer. So I grabbed the family's phone number and promised to provide updates on the rock's progress.It helped that the trail was downhill for most of the first couple of hours so the extra weight didn't manifest itself as it might have if we'd been facing a brutal ascent. The downhill route was because, for reasons that were not immediately obvious, the trail went downstream of a dam before heading regaining the ridge on the far side. The upside of this was it took us past Brown Mountain, an old farming settlement of a kind that was once commonplace in the Appalachians but which had long since been abandoned and reclaimed by nature. A historic interpretive sign talked about how they grew corn here in the narrow valley, which seemed nearly impossible to conceive, but there was no question in conceptualising just how desperately insecure life must have been here. The knee issues that had seen me using 800mg of ibruprofen a day back up in Maine and New Hampsire had been brought under control to the point that I hadn't used any Vitamin I since Vermont and I'd even stopped using my hiking poles in recent weeks. Sriracha had started having knee problems, however, and gratefully accepted the offer of borrowing my poles until they came right, which meant my pack was actually probably lighter even with Grayson's rock. The ascent on the far side of the dam was steep but steady and we reunited at a spring near the top of the ridge. As was becoming a trend in the last few weeks, water was becoming more marginal and although there was a pooling spring, it required a scoop to access. We were very happy to see it flowing because this was the last reported water for 14 miles.The steep grades continued even after we regained the ridgeline but motivation for onward progress came from a desire to get to the road to make it into another town, Glasgow. Despite our deflating experience with the lack of the farmers market in Buena Vista, we'd heard from reliable sources that Glasgow has a dinosaur. A DINOSAUR! It also featured a free shelter in town for AT hikers, as well as a new hiker hostel called Stanimals and a kick-ass diner. But I think we were all agreed that the main draw was the fibreglass dinosaur statue in the middle of town. The Awol guide even had a dinosaur symbol when it listed Glasgow's amenities, as it should.Because we were likely to be chasing dusk again, as we had the evening before, we decided to call ahead and arrange another shuttle. The driver was waiting for us as we stepped onto the highway at 7.30pm and soon after, we were at the shelter in the middle of town.There was a real sobo bubble present: September, Footprint, Happy Feet, OK and a bunch of people we'd been seeing in registers, such as Backwoods Barbie and Backwoods Ken. There were also others such as Simpleton Extraordinaire, a teacher from Vermont who was flipping around the trail with his dog, Jamieson, for 80 days. It was a cool group and the shelter -- an Eagle Scout's community service project -- was plush, with power sockets, a fire ring and even hot showers. All for free. And, of course, there was the dinosaur.Soon we had beer and calzones and were sitting around the fire, catching up with those we hadn't seen for a while and finding more about those who were new to us. Life is good.AT fact of the day: Train's off the trail. We're all accustomed to the high drop-out rate on the AT, where only a small fraction will finish, but we didn't expect anyone to drop out after the halfway mark and with mostly easy country between here and Springer. And we especially didn't expect it to be a member of our tramily. But he asked for a four-month break from work to do the AT but realised he wasn't going to be able to make it in time so he's getting off now to give him a couple of weeks to adjust back to real life again before resuming work. He's already talking about hiking the whole thing next year. We understand the decision but it's sad to lose a tramily member.