Date: 2010-07-04
From: Lewis Mountain Campground

To: Lewis Mountain Campground
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

04 July 2010, Lewis Mountain Campground   Last night while I was laying down trying to sleep I could hear the fireworks going off from the towns down below us.   Today is the Fourth of July. I started at Powell Gap this morning around 7:30. As we were heading to my drop off point we passed Pirate who was walking the road. We would have given him a ride but the car was full. The temps were nice and cool and sunny out. I made it to Hightop Hut within a couple hours. When I arrived I was greeted by Christie and her husband. Last time I saw them was back in Hiawassee. They did not have trail names then. Now they are known as Koppa(sp) and Big Ooh. We chatted; we had a bunch of catching up to do. I also met Yatzee who was just leaving the shelter while I was chatting the Christie and her husband. Yatzee is from northern CA.      After leaving the shelter it was a climb the rest of the day. I caught up to Yatzee within an hour or so. She was sitting on a log taking a break. I stopped and chatted with her for about 20 minutes or more. She also was wearing a knee brace but it was much more elaborate than mine. We talked about our knee issues. I also told her that I have taken so much vitamin I that my stomach is starting to bother me, she suggested using Naproxen. She said you only have to take it once a day. I will look into this.   Within the next two hours I caught up to Shaken. I had hiked through half of the Smokies with him. He just recently got off the trail for two weeks due to a stomach issue. That was why he was so far behind. Keep in mind I also jumped back to do these miles. As I walked with him so we could catch up on things and we talked about people we have been hiking with and filled in amm the gaps. He told me that Country Gold and Shovel were still on the trail and were in Waynesboro last time he saw them. He also said that Gypc Girl should only be a couple of days behind him.   After about a 1/2 hour of walking with Shaken we caught up to Wildman who was taking a break on the side of the trail. Last time I saw Wildman was at Roan High Knob Shelter. Wildman is not someone you forget. He has tattoos on each cheek and on his arms and has red hair. Last time I saw him he was carrying a Marlboro sleeping back in his hands while he was hiking. He use to run down the trail with it stretched out in front of him. He said he used it as a counter weight moving it from side to side when he ran down the trail. Now he is carrying a scooter in front of him the same way he carried the sleeping bag but he is not running down the trail with it. He said he uses it going down some sections of the trail. His hands and knuckles were all scabbed over. It was from a nasty spill he took on a road while coasting downhill real fast.   I ran into another thru hiker at the end of the day at the camp store at Loft Mountain Campground. His name is Roadhouse. He said he has been pretty much hiking solo and does not know many hiking in front or behind him.   We went down to the wayside for a blackberry shake after dinner.   I went to the amplatheater at the campground just before dark tonight I hopes of catching some fireworks from the towns down below. I left Hopper in the campsite. She is a party pooper; she never stays up much later than 7 pm. She can be so boring at times. I got to the amplatheater long before dark. When you are on the tops of mountains sunset is later then down in the valleys. I watched the fireworks for about 1/2 hour. They were different because you are actually looking down on them and seeing the tops of them; they were not very good in my opinion that is why I did not stay for all of them.   I am now done making up the sections I road walked in the Shenandoah¢s.   Tomorrow is going to be a long day. We have an eight hour drive to get to Louisville, KY to make it to the wake that Hopper has to attend on Monday. I am going to help her with the driving. She has to attend the funeral on Tuesday. The plan is that while she is at the funeral she will drop me off at the VA hospital in the morning. This way I can go to the emergency room and see if I can get another cortisone shot in my left heal. If they cannot do it I will have to look someplace else to get it done because the pain is getting unbearable again.