Date: 2006-04-27
From: Relax Inn (Gloseclose, VA)

To: Rt. 42
Miles today: 11.8

The long awaited day is here at last! I'm chilling at the parking lot where the trail crosses Rt. 42, about an hour from Roanoke, VA. In a few hours I'll see a blue Saturn come down the way, driven by a most beautiful Italian goddess! These last few weeks have dragged becasue I have been counting down the days until Amy would visit. But alas, the day has come!It's been an easy last few days. I ended up staying at the Relax Inn in Gloseclose, VA (where the trail passes under I-81), which was only 11.6 miles from Partnership Shelter. My goal was to catch the Sabres game last night, but unfortunatly the motel didn't get any channels that covered the game. On the upside, they did get the ESPN headlines channel, on which the score scrolled every ten min. or so. They also had hockey highlights every 45 min. or so. This setup may have been for the best since my boys lost 4-2 I was up and out by 6:45 this morning, every ounce of my being wanting to be at route 42. It was only 11.8 miles here, but I had some good humps to hike over. After I came down Big Walker Mountain (named after Chuck Norris the Walker Texas Ranger) I encountered the first of a series of signs alerting me that I'd be passing through private land and must stay on the trail. I didn't think much of it at the time, but a few min. later I had to climb over a stile into a cattle pasture where a herd of cows were lounging about the trail 100 yards up. Having been raised in the burbs, I don't know much about cows. But not a few days ago Jetwash was telling me stories of how he had been charged by cows on a handful of occasions. Bearing this in mind, I approached with caution. I didn't get very far before every cow was staring at me. As I continued my slow approach, I noticed that those closest to me were moving away from the trail. I took this as a good sign so kept advancing. However, not all of them were fleeing, some of which were on my right as the others moved left. Weary of the prospect of being caught with cattle on either side, I paused in hopes they'd all take off left. All of a sudden they all started mooing in a deafening roar, like someone had struck them with a knife. It was quite an unsettling cacophony, especailly since I had just finished reading Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle". Afraid they were about to charge, I quickly looked around for cover, when two calves I hadn't seen came running up from behind me. Once they passed me and caught up with the herd, the whole lot took off together, leaving the trail to me. I heaved a sigh of relief and gladly went on my way. For the next few miles I was in and out of pastures and could hear mooing coming from all directions. I felt like I was behind enemy lines, just waiting for a bull to come raging around the bend. Needless to say I am quite relieved to be here at the roadside, away from those ravenous, blood-sucking, vicious cattle. Damn, hiking through those pastures was worse than walking down Genessee on the East Side! I mean that.546.6 miles down, 1628.4 to go! (I just crossed the 25% mark!)Bear Can (As typed by Amy L. Viola and dictated by Dan Cross)