Date: 2009-05-01
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: campsite, East Fork of Big Wilson Creek
Miles today: 5.4

I had hoped to get up early to watch the sunrise, but that was not going to happen with such a late bedtime. There didn't appear to be one anyway. It was a very foggy and damp morning. The side of my sleeping bag was wet from pressing against the side of the tent. We got up and brought our foodbags and stove over to the shelter where we found Braid having his morning coffee. I introduced him to Erik and asked if he could repeat the stories that he had shared with me a couple of days before. He kindly obliged. Before Braid left, I also asked him if he could sing the thru-hiker's national anthem that he had written and performed in Hot Springs. He did and finished to a round of applause. The end of the lyrics are quite sentimental and always make me want to cry. Goggle came down from the loft and said he was applauding too! We walked down behind the shelter to collect some water and then Erik went to break down the tent. It started raining just then! I helped him carry our things into the shelter and we watched Braid put on his raingear and pack up. We did not envy him! We had hoped to climb Mt. Rogers since we didn't get the chance to the night before. However, with the rain pouring down, the idea no longer seemed so appealing. Erik planned on going home that night, so we weren't in any kind of big mileage, thru- hiker mentality. We decided to stay put in the shelter until the rain let up a bit. It was cold in there just sitting around though! I had on all of my layers, with the addition of Erik's fleece liner, and I was still chilly! The riderunner came in out of the rain and chatted with us a bit as he flipped through the recent registry entries. Then, he decided it was time to move on.   I said to Erik, "Wouldn't you prefer to be in a coffee shop right now?" He agreed! So we made a plan to get back to Massie Gap (traveling over the same rocky path we covered multiple times last night, although this time with a full backpack) and then drive back to Damascus, where we could get a latte at Mojoe's, and I could show him around town.      It took almost an hour to drive back to Damascus, but it was worth it. This time, my blueberry pancakes were big and fluffy and they fit on their own plate. I also got an everything omelet with two pieces of toast and a delicious latte and I finished it all!      We drove to the wooden Damascus sign, where Erik took a couple more pictures of me, saw Storyteller on the way to the post office (my favorite part about being in towns is seeing hikers I know on the streets!), found Sandalwood in The Hiker's Inn, and tried to check my e-mail at the library (the Internet was down, however). On the way out of town, I got some ice cream (mint chocolate chip and moosetracks-yum!). Back at Massie Gap, we stopped in at the Ranger's station to see if we could look at a picture of the professor from GA who had murdered three people and was thought to be hiding out on the AT (we had heard about him from Storyteller). Instead, we saw the photo of a different murderer, also suspected to be on the AT. Great!      We packed up our things and headed back to the trail, stopping to pet a few more scrappy-looking ponies before heading on to Wise shelter, where we stayed last November. It was neat to see the same landscape in a different season, but I found it more magical in the fall twilight. I had intended to camp farther down the trail, past the shelter, but we stopped to chat with some section hikers who were spending the night there. I saw in the registry that Spoons and Patch had planned on camping where I intended to, so I was excited that Erik would be able to meet them. However, I didn't see where they had set up. Those two are experts at finding nice, private campsites! Erik and I found a spot to stay for the night and I finished tying up my hammock and tarp before he got his tent up! We found a nice, large rock to eat dinner on (we had the same Tuscan bean soup that we cooked in the White Mtns) and shared a bottle of red wine that Erik had bought in Damascus. After some dessert of chocolate and peanut butter, we called it a night!