Date: 2005-04-17
From: Rt. 60, Buena Vista, Va.

To: Punchbowl Mountain Summit, Va.
Miles today: 11.5

11.5 miles todayPunchbowl Mountain Summit, Va. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! I got up at 5am thinking about coffee. It's pretty nice sleeping in the back of my truck because I have a cooler in here with cokes, milk, ice and lunch meats. I had breakfast and coffee then drove down an old forest road and parked where the A.T. crossed it. I walked north back to Rt 60 from where I was parked and then turned around and walked back to the truck. It was a nice morning with clear skies and 35 degrees...beautiful hiking weather. I was parked at the new relo and new suspension bridge at Little Irish Creek. When I got to Brown Mountain Creek, I was treated to the sweet smell of someones campfire. Brown Mountain Creek is in a nice little valley and the smell of the smoke was all along the creek. There were two large groups of tenters along the creek and then a single tent and two people staying at the shelter. I stopped in the shelter and talked to the couple for a while and then signed the register before I left. It was easy walking this morning. I can't believe how fast everything is greening up. There's lots of wildflowers coming up and blooming and alot of ferns curling up out of the forest floor. When I got back to the truck, I heated up leftover spagetti from last night and sat on the footbridge and ate lunch. I wasn't sure how far I was going to walk south from the truck, but got started and decided to just go until I felt like turning around. I didn't carry any water because I saw there was a spring in about 4 miles. I also decided to leave my hiking poles behind. I almost never walk without them, but I just felt like climbing the next mountain without them. I came up to the spring and went down and cupped my hands and had plenty of cold mountain water to drink. I then hiked past Punchbowl Shelter without stopping because it was .2 miles off the trail and I didn't have any smiley face stickers with me for the register. Not long after I passed the shelter, I saw a young girl walking north and could tell she was a thru hiker. Her name is Early Bird and I told her I was going to the top of Punchbowl Mountain and then turning around and if she wanted an ice cold coke that she should wait by my truck in about 5 miles. I got to the summit of the mountain and turned around. When I got back to the spring, I caught up with Early Bird. We walked the last 4 miles to the truck together talking about some of the hikers we each knew. Surprisingly, we knew alot of the same people. She even worked next door Jumpstart who I knew from '02. We got back to the truck in what seemed like a quick time because we talked the whole way. She sat down and drank her coke and ate a snack, then hiked on another 4 miles to the next shelter. I had to drive about 9 miles down an old dusty road to get back to Rt 60, then went through Buena Vista and ended up in Glasgow. I checked to see the time the library opened tomorrow, but I'm not sure I'll be done walking by then. I drove out to the trailhead at Glasgow where I'm planning on sleeping tonight. I got to walk double the miles again today. I actually kind of like it because I get to see the trail from both directions, but I walked 23 miles and only got to log 11.5 miles. I only have 10 miles left of this hike. Part of me wants to go ahead and finish it tomorrow. If I do, I hope Chief doesn't get too mad at me. He was planning on meeting me here on the 30th in pink tights. Hey Chief, how about if I come down to your house instead??Another great day on the A.T.