Date: 2005-05-24
From: Campsite

To: Campsite
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: light rain

A little after midnight I was awakened by a yell followed by another yell shortly after the first. I called out to Free to see if she was OK and she said there was a "friggin" mouse in her tent. I knew she could handle this situation so I settled back down and listened to the show. She was locked in mortal combat with the dreaded mouse. After some thrashing and what sounded like a couple of throwdowns and along with some, not to nice things, said to the mouse, it quieted down. Then I heard the zipper of her tent open up a couple of times. Guess she was making sure his little buddies weren't waiting to get in. In the morning Free said she had been "et" by the mouse. We have been using "et" for any animal attack or attempted attack on a person. Scholar was et by a little dog the other day and she was almost et by some cows. Free was et by the ponies in the Grayson Highlands and now by the mouse. She said she had left a corner of the zipper open and that is how he got in. The skies were cloudy and the weather was dreary as we left camp. Forecast was for scattered showers. Those scattered showers started late in the morning and they didn't look scattered to me. We passed Brownie and Soulman and Brownie was wondering the same thing. We also passed Scholar and Hopper coming south. They were doing a slack back into Pearisburg. We got to Pine Swamp Branch Shelter around lunchtime. It was still raining and it was cold. I changed into my dry shirt while I ate. Once again, I really dislike cold and wet. As we ate Sunshine and Domino came in from the north. They were slacking back to town also. It was good to see Domino. Last I saw of him was at Trail Days and, snce then, he has come up with a new song which he performed for those at the shelter. Domino can make up some pretty funny trail songs. We left, bound for Bailey Gap Shelter. It was still "scattered showering" on us and did so for most of the way to the shelter. By this time you just don't care anymore. Heck, you don't care anymore after the first ten minutes because you are soaked to the core by then. We arrived around four and the Troll family was there(Troll, Anchor, and Oblivious). Troll said they did a whopping 4 miles that day. We laughed, talked a bit and then Free asked if I wanted to push on a bit more. It didn't matter to me so we decided to push on for a little and see if we could find a spot to camp. We got water and just as we left it quit raining. Great news! At least we would be able to set up the tents without rain. We did so, quickly ate, and because it was still plenty cool it was time to get in the sleeping bags. Thank goodness for dry clothes and a warm sleeping bag! The only problem was that it was still early. Too early for sleep and I didn't have the motivation to type or read. Free asked a question and that began an our conversation between us through tent walls. I really am enjoying this hiking time with Free! By now, the group is probably pretty scattered. Rain tends to break things up. People don't do as many miles or they do more miles, just depends. I am sure we will be caught up by Troutville, if not by McAffee Knob. Only a few more days to one of the best views I can remember, McAffee Knob. Can't wait!