Date: 2013-05-07
From: Atkins, Virginia

To: Half mile beyond Va 625
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Sorry to be so incomplete. I HAVEN'T HAD MUCH ACCESS TO WEB. I'LL GET THINGS UPDATED AS SOON AS I CAN (next week).There had been a lot of rain just before dark, & I don't know how much during the night, but it wasn't raining this morning. I had an omelette at the Barn, then Set out at 7:45. I had hoped to pick up 2 mail drops at the restaurant, but there was only one minor one ¢ I'll have to stop in Bland to get food, since the next mail drop is Pearisburg.After going thru some pastures, the Trail began a series of low hills. I find this easier than the big ones we'be been having. Virginia has a new pattern. Whereas, farther South, especially in the Smokies (where the mtns are newer) there are connecting ridges or saddles to get you from one hill to another, The Virginia pattern is to go all the way down before going up; i.e., the gaps are "lower".I soon passed Wet bag at a campsite, packing his wet stuff. I never did catch up with the Bulls, but everyone from the motel passed me within a few hours: Jabberwocky & Professor, 6-7 & ___, Waffles & Mooch (whom I hadn't met before), to name a few. Get the pattern? Everyone passes me ; I almost never pass anyone. The way I keep up with most of them is by starting earlier, finishing later, & taking fewer breaks (that means some of them pass me more than once). Somehow it reminds me of a discussion with my grandfather when I was on the track team in high school. He asked why I ran the longer distance events-- wouldn't it be easier to run the short ones? My response was, "If you can't run fast, you have to run far" (I now realize that's not really true, as I see marathoners doing every one of their 26 miles faster than I did a single one in HS). Anyway, despite all my training back home at 3 mph, out here I can't seem to do any more than 2 mph (even when it feels like I'm running -- yes, I do sometimes run a little downhill, never up.) on a consistent basis. I suppose doing 26 miles in less than 13 hours a week ago shows consistency. Terrain doesn't seem to be the determining factor; I'll probably have to work on pack weight.The Trail was dry in some places; every so often a slick spot would catch me. I fell 1.5 times, but didn't get hurt. I probably used 20 or 30 minutes today in clearing branches that had fallen across the Trail. I guess that slows me down, but it feels useful & thus energizes me. The blowdowns that were too big for me were more interesting. First. There was a tree covered with poison ivy vines, fallen on a slant across the Trail. It was pretty hard to go under or over, but you could go around it -- carefully, to avoid the poison ivy on the ground. The second one was much more difficult. A large tree with a double trunk was completely blockng the Trail on a steep slope. It had slick bark & the ground was a mud hole. Many people had already been wallowing in it. Again, you couldn't go under or over it. Going around it meant going up a slick, steep slope about 30 feet & then sliding back down. I devised a way to go down the slope & under the trunk, but that way was even steeper & slicker. Fortunately, there was a ford soon after this, followed by some grass, where we could get the mud off our shoes. Both these trees were in a 2.4 mile segment where the Trail corridor is just a narrow easement across someone's farm. Climbing up the next mountain, I discovered I had cell service, so I called ATC headquarters to have them let the trail maintainers know they need to get a sawyer out there.I had my poncho on & off again his morning, but got it back on for the harder rain this afternoon.   It seemed like a little hail too as it began-- it was bouncing off the ground! When I started the day, I wanted to get to Chestnut Knob shelter: 24 miles. By the time I got to Knot Maul shelter, it was 4:00, so I stopped to cook supper. Wet Bag, Olive Oyl, & Barbarosa were there, apparently to stay, along with a guy who said he was an expert on edible wild plants. When the first one he found was Cucumber Root, I lost interest. I went on another 5-6 miles & camped in the beginning of Chestnut Knob ridge. In spite of what people claim is forecasted, it looks like a nice night.