Date: 2007-06-15
From: Bryant Ridge Shelter

To: Matts Creek Shelter 
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: light rain

I had an OK sleep last night. For some reason this shelter's floor felt harder than usual. I was out by 8:30 and moving at a fast pace to stay warm in the wet and chilly morning air. The first shelter was only 5 miles away and I had planned to stop there for my first break. I was thinking about continuing to this shelter last night but passed on it. I am glad I made that decision since it is mostly uphill the whole way. I decided to pass this shelter however when I found out it was 400 yds. off the trail. Shelters are good places to stop for a break. You have a place to sit and rest. If it is raining you can get under cover for a while, and you can read the shelter register to see who is ahead of you and how far ahead. However if the shelter is a distance from the trail it is just not worth the extra trip.Something kind of funny happened his morning as I was hiking along. A bird flew in from my right, and right in front of me, then nonchalantly landed on the branch of a bush about two feet to my left. I was stunned. I stopped hiking and it just looked at me for about 4-5 seconds and flew away. It resembled a blue jay but was a different size and shape. The encounter made me laugh after he flew away.The hike in the morning took me on a good climb up 4225 ft. Apple Orchard Mtn. I haven't had to do many of these types of climbs since entering Virginia. About 10 miles into the day, I arrived at Thunder Hill Shelter for lunch. It was still drizzling rain a bit and cold, so all I could think of was brewing a hot cup of coffee. As I got closer to the shelter I could see three people buried deep in their sleeping bags taking a morning nap. I think they were all at the shelter I started from this morning but they had started from there earlier than I had. As I made lunch and shivered, I came very close to pulling out my sleeping bag and joining them.It was tempting, but I continued on after finishing lunch. My usual lunch lately has been a cup of coffee, a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter, and some Hershey's chocolate, This has been a good combination to fuel me along for the first few hours in the afternoon. I take a number of breaks after that to drop the pack and eat a snack (usually GORP).I had a few more strange animal encounters in the afternoon. A doe bolted across the trail in front of me and to my left. It went no further. So I thought, I'd try and talk to it a bit and see what reaction I'd get (yea, your probably thinking I've been out here too long). As I spoke gently to this animal, it actually raised it's head and seemed to listen instead of running off. It basically stood there listening until I finally moved too close and then it did not run, but slowly walked away. The second encounter caught me a bit by surprise, I was looking down at the trail as I walked and I saw this small round bundle of brown fur, As I came closer I could see it was a very young rabbit and it appeared to be sleeping, right on the side of the trail! I was able to hold my camera 6 inches away from it and snap a picture and it still did not move. At this point I thought something was wrong so I gently stroked it's fir, and it promptly hopped away.The end of the day was tough. All the way downhill to the shelter. The AT showed no mercy on my knees and they were screaming for relief by the time I finally ended my day. I immediatly took some Vitamin I (Ibuprofen). I was surprised that there was no one at the shelter, unusual for a rainy day. Later, as I was going to sleep another thru hiker named Veg, showed up in the dark.Long hard day in the cold and rain.