Date: 2007-11-16
From: Wison Creek Shelter

To: Roanoke
Miles today: 9.7

mi 9.7sleep house/beddest. Roanoke day 127 *Sorry for the delay in getting these out. I was behind when I went into Roanoke. Them I forgot to send them when I was in town around Thanks Giving. I sent them at my next town stop. Some how I managed to get 3 nights behind. So the next 4 days will be short (at least for me). Well last night was a good and bad night. Bad in terms of sleeping. I froze. Even with the front of the shelter closed off. This shelter is set about 2 feet off the ground. Meaning the wind blows under it. The floor boards also have a good gap to them. Meaning the wind blows up through them. The one good part about the night is that I know what I am doing is not working for the ground or the air. The Z rest closed cell foam pad I have has an egg create shape to it. meaning the peaks and valleys are not that thick. It could not hold up to the convection heat loss. Meaning it doesn't work well in the hammock. So I decided to add a small torso pad. I am going to take the cheap $5 walmart pad and trim it down so it goes from my sholders to past my butt. That is really all I need to add warmth in my hammock or the ground. It will be a cheap and easy fix. I still haven't decided if I want to switch out my top quilt for my 10 deg bag. I might later on, but it is w!arm enough now. It will be something I add for the smokies. Anyways. Today is a town day. We are staying at Steve and Lousile (sorry for the bad spelling) house. They are friends of Torque's uncle. They are nice enough to put me up also. So the plan was set. Get into town, pig out, and then go to their house and repeat the pigging out. Today I saw my first deer hunter carrying a rife. So that season is going. Nice enough guy, walking right on the trail. I wonder how many hunters a year use the trail. It is also not a good day for Gregory. Torque's replacement pack broke. A rivot holding the shoulder strap in broke. I want to give them a better review, but their packs don't seem to be holding up. I know others who love theirs. He called and his pack is actually ready and will be shipped to his house. His plan still sits to get off on Wednessday. My Thanks Giving plans keep changing, but are getting a littl closer. Right now they sit at my parents coming out on Wednessday meeting me at the end of the hiking day. From there a half day slack on Thrusday, full day slack on Friday, partial slack and overnight with my dad on Saturday, then we'll figure something out for Sunday. I will have to say we were crousin the last 5 miles into town. Both of us were starving. I think I only had a couple candy bars left in the foodbag. The trail follows the interstate a little before it comes out. In the distance I could see a big sign with a yellow star. All I could think of was Gold Star. A large 3 way and 3 chz coneys with onions and mustard. Then a few minutes later I remembered where I was. No go. When I get back to Cincy that is going to be the first thing I do. Before we got to the trail head we decided on Pizza Hut. The trail actually came out right next to it. So it was decided. We went in and ordered the salad bar and split a large pizza. I put up a star proformance. Half a deep dish stuffed crust pizza and 2 huge salad bar plates. Let's just say I was ready to burst. Torque called Steve for a ride and set it up for a pickup at the outfitters. Now this isn't really a town, just an interchange for the highway. But it is prefect for hikers. All within walking distance from the trail. Plenty of resturant options, a Kroger, liquer stove, and outfitters. What was funny is the plaza went Kroger, liquer stove, outfitters. They have hikers in mind there. We held off on the resupply of food for now. But we both needed some more beverages. I hadn't carried any since PA sometime. The stores in VA are state run. Not what I was expecting. It was really clean, small but well stocked, and had 3 people working there. All of them knew what they were talking about. They were able to end a debate we had been having. I couldn't remember what vodka was originally made of. Originally it was made of potatoes. Most now is made of wheat or something because everyone seem to think it shouldn't have a flavor. I was going to get some of that, but got side tracked by the tequila's again. I ended up with a great one. I even leaned some stuff about it from the guy working there. I ended up with El Concisador. Torque made the comment that you should reach for this one in a bar fight. The gas had to be a quarter inch thick. But enough about beverages. After checking out the outfitter our ride showed up. No luck on the foodbag replacment. We really lucked out staying here. They hooked us up with showers laundry, internet, everything we needed. Not to mention full sized beds to sleep in. They are great people. The even cooked us a huge meal. We weighed our selves afterward. I weighed in at 211. I am still light. The rest of the night was spent talking and thinking about whether to take tomorrow off or not.