Date: 2012-05-26
From: Clarendon Shelter

To: Governor Clement Shelter
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: clear sky

Another leisurely morning. We didn¢t leave the shelter until 8:20 am. Blaze and Riggs were a long way from leaving the shelter when we left. It was a nice morning: 60 degrees, with some sun, breezy and less humid than yesterday. It didn¢t rain overnight after all. The Trail initially climbed and then was mostly downhill to Lower Cold River Road. We arrived at the Road at 10:55 am. We wanted to go to Pierce¢s Store for lunch. The ATC Companion said it was one mile east to the store. There was little traffic on the road, so we started walking east on the Road. We chatted with a local man, and he told us the store was actually three miles away in the little village of North Shrewsbury. We continued walking anyway, hoping he was mistaken. A few minutes later the same man came by in his car and offered us a ride to the store. He was a blaster by trade and his work sounded kind of dangerous. He was a nice guy and he was right about the distance to the store. The Companion is drastically wrong.We arrived at the little store at 11:20 am. It is a coop store with a limited deli and a very friendly and helpful volunteer clerk. We enjoyed it. We went around the store picking out various food items that struck our fancy. We ended up spending $28 on a variety of items. It was a pleasant day with a nice breeze, so we enjoyed our lunches on the store¢s porch. (photo 118) Rocky had a strange lunch of salami, olives, and cheese. Swamp Fox chose a wrap, a big peanut butter/chocolate cookie and a muffin.   We shared a bottle of chocolate milk. We enjoyed chatting with the store clerk as we ate.While we were enjoying our varied lunches, a female runner came by. After we talked a while she offered us a ride back to the Trail. We hurriedly finished our lunches and she drove us back to the Trail head where we had left off our hike. There was a notice at the trail head indicating that the Trail had been rerouted due to Hurricane Irene damage. The reroute bypassed about two miles of the Trail, by means of some local, lightly traveled roads. It was a 2.4 mile road walk and was actually quite pleasant.(photo 119)s At 1:35 pm we arrived back on the Trail. We saw a washed out road bridge next to the Trail. (photos 120,121) We met a couple there who were hauling supplies to their home which had been cut off by the washed out bridge. We started up the remaining 0.7 mile to the Governor Clement Shelter (photo 122). At a stream crossing just before the shelter, we met Groundhog, a NoBo thru hiker. The stream crossing looked too difficult to safely rock hop, so we took off shoes and socks to wade across. The cold water actually felt good. We reached the shelter at 2:30 pm and talked with Groundhog before he moved on. He was a New Hampshire boy and he was almost home. Later at the shelter we met Mountain Mike, who was southbound to Virginia, and False Summit. Mountain Mike eventually left, after chatting with Swamp Fox about their respective military experiences. False Summit set up his hammock near the shelter. We spent a leisurely afternoon. We got cleaned up by soaking our bandanas in the nearby stream. Dinner was done by 5:30 pm. Rocky was asleep by 6:30 pm. It had been a pleasant afternoon. It was breezy, with few bugs, and temperatures in the low 70¢s. Our actual mileage today was over six miles due to the road detour. However, we will use the Companion mileage for this journal.