Date: 2007-04-09
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Curely Map Shelter
Miles today: 4.1

This is the section Flint & Hobo did with us, out of order of course so Scout good handle it. We started at Indian Grave Gap and headed south, a nice beautiful stroll. Lot's of rhododendron not yet in bloom that Scout has affectionately named "Bob" for some reason. I guess trail maintainers had been in the area and had scalped quite a bit of it back from the trail so there were lots of pieces of it laying on the trail and Scout wanted to bring it all back to WV but we assured her we had plenty of "Bob" growing in WV too. This is the area we found the tree with the large burl that is in the photo section of Flint's trail journal. It was quite amazing in size. It was a really nice hike with some stream crossings a few small ups and downs, a few wild flowers, lots of "Bob" tunnles, green mossy rocks a couple of nice snack "break" spots. Scout did well with her pack a little heavier than what she is used too, she did have to take a small break from it, so at one point Flint's backpack was piggy backing Scout's. We made it to the shelter, no privy, Bracket and Scout didn't seem to mind. Scout dug her first cat hole (with a little help from Bracket), pretty good for a seven year old. She even decided to go ole' natural and use leaves for toilet paper. We made a fire, everyone helped with the chore of preparing dinner, if you call boiling water and pouring into freezer ziplock baggies and letting it set a chore of dinner prep. It did taste yummy though. We cleaned up, packed all the trash and food in the bear bag and went to bed at hiker midnight, which translate into 9:00 pm. It got down to about 25 degrees, pretty chilly. Scout and Bracket stayed warm. I had layered Scout up and then stuffed her remaining clothes and down jacket in her sleeping bag around her, everytime I checked her nose was toasty warm. I on the other hand slept on the cold side, just kept loosing my heat each time I unzipped my bag. We had a few visitors that night in the shelter, Bracket and Scout were too tired to notice - a blessing I do believe. The stars were magnificent that night. I sigh thinking about it as I type this journal entry, they were crystal clear and oh so beautiful. They seemed closer, more defined. It was a great night. A great experience for Scout and Bracket. Earlier in the day - both girls expressed gratitude for this awesome time. Bracket says she knows now what it means whe n people say - "They're on a natural high", she explained to me she has had her "first" natural high - and she liked it. She explained it to me this way - after you come down a climb - you've used your leg muscles to hold yourself back as not to gain to much momentum, if you don't think about your breathing cycle, you'll actually hold your breath sometimes. By the time you get to the bottom, your legs feel a little like jelly or kinda wobbly and if you didn't breathe right you are light headed but at the same time your heart rate is up and you can feel your adrenaline pumping. She said it made her feel good and alive. She liked it! She didn't have much too say on the up hills - she just waved her hand like keep going. You gotta lover her. Flint was happy that we were all there together. Peace and Love To All. Paws