Date: 2005-05-25
From: Thunder Hill Shelter

To: US Route 501 (Glasgow VA)
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: broken clouds

DAY 75Last night¢s incident with the night hikers led to the first real argument that Rocky and I have had in almost four weeks of hiking together. This morning I was still angry about the behavior of the three night hikers last night. I made no effort to be any more quiet than usual while I was preparing breakfast and packing up. We left the shelter at about 7:30 am. We walked into a heavy fog. Visibility on the Trail was poor and everything was wet, even though the rain had stopped.We argued about the night hikers as we started today¢s hike. I was loud and boisterous. Dear, sweet, Rocky was upset with my behavior, but I have no apologies. Her philosophy is, ¢Two wrongs don¢t make a right¢. Hard to argue with that. However, I am quite adamant that should the same situation arise with night hikers, I will freely speak my mind. We agree, at least, to disagree.One bright note in an otherwise dismal morning was that we heard that B-Money (one-half of The Blondes) was behind us. We left a note for her to join us tonight at the Mom & Pop Motel in Glasgow, Virginia, which is our day¢s objective. It is time to dry our gear, do laundry, and take a shower. The weather did improve as the day went on. We took a lunch break at Marble Spring, about seven miles into our day¢s hike. B-Money caught up with us before we got to the Matts Creek Shelter. She told us that Jukebox had decided, with suddenness, to get off the Trail back on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This had thrown a damper on B-Money¢s hike and Jukebox had taken some of their mutual equipment. B-Money¢s whole hike routine has changed as she was used to Jukebox doing the cooking and sharing other camp chores.The three of us took a break at Matts Creek Shelter, where we met up with ¢Chilly Willy¢ and ¢Just Ray¢ again. Rocky and B-Money had helped them earlier in their hike, back in April in Tennessee. Then the three of us continued on to the James River Foot Bridge which is the longest foot bridge on the Trail. The bridge is named after James Foot, a 1987 thru hiker. I found the long foot bridge quite interesting from an engineering point of view. When we got to the north side of the bridge at US Route 501, we had to hitchhike six miles west into Glasgow, Virginia. As I was with two attractive women, I told them to get me a ride. While they stood by the edge of the highway, I sat down out of the way and rested. It took them all of about ten minutes to get a ride for all three of us into Glasgow. In Glasgow, we checked into the Mom & Pop Motel, which is not particularly nice, but it is dry. I thought it was quite expensive for what we got in the way of a room. I did laundry for all three of us and we got cleaned up. I am sharing the motel unit with B-Money and Rocky. I will sleep on the couch in the living room area, while the two women share the bedroom. Mouth is also at this motel as well. Good to see him again. The four of us had dinner at the motel¢s little restaurant. Another couple, ¢Muleskinner¢ and ¢Wood Rose¢, also joined us for dinner. Wood Rose is a very nice lady, and they are great company. The couple also has a very pleasant and well behaved yellow lab, ¢Bella¢, with them. Bella is Italian for "beautiful". How perfect!   After dinner, I walked to a nearby gas station to call family. I walked around a bit to calm down a bit. This day started with a nasty argument with Rocky and I am still unsettled tonight about the future of our relationship, which is now complicated by the physical attraction I am starting to feel.