Date: 2005-05-15
From: VA 606

To: Sugar Run Gap
Miles today: 13.9

Crash Bang, my ride to and from Trail Days and an AT '04 AT Thru Hiker, dropped me off at the trail head at 9:45 a.m. I was motivated to get a strong beginning after the weekend party and because I sat out 8 days in a row with my injury. Coming out of town is difficult for everyone. It's as if you get completely out of trail shape mentally and physically in one day and it takes 2 or 3 days of hard hiking to turn it back around. This is one of those occasions where the spirit was willing but the body was weak.Early on I pushed myself without difficulty, likely because I was rehashing and processing brand new memories of the weekend events and the friends I had made. Here are the names of those I remember, Trekker John, Trekkin' Girl, Phantom Soul, Opie, Miss Opie, Dub, Troy, Ewker, Smokey Girl, Bison, Embear, Gemini, Hyway, Crosscut, Cyndee, Wild Bill, Nowslimmer, Chilli 36, Refrigerator and Mrs. Fridge, Carlette and, I think, Super Troll. I have difficulty remembering names and trail names are much easier than real world names. How many Phantom Souls do you encouter in a life time? I had a great time with these people and felt they welcomed me warmly to their group. Anyway, back to the trail.Though struggling physically I was able to keep myself trudging on and after a long break at beautiful Dismal Creek Falls I continued toward Wapiti Shelter, arriving at about 5:00 pm. The decision was made to continue on to Woodshole Hostel another 6.2 miles and see if I could line myself up with an overnight stay at the Woodshole Hostel and one of Miss Tilly's famous country breakfasts. Although the day was edging toward dark I felt that I could handle the trek with only a little night hiking at the end. Wrong move!After a few miles my energy began to wane considerably; no matter what pace my mind insisted on, my body resisted. Soon it was dark and I stopped long enough to search through my pack for my headlamp. Conditions worsened as night enveloped the mountain, steeper ups and downs with jagged rocks in abundance. My depth perception and peripheral vision worsened considerably with only the light from my lamp to lead me on. I began to call myself an idiot. Words uttered by my that I had heard before on this trip. Considering the scant light and the terrain, I teetered on rocks that I'm certain would have presented no great difficulty in sunlight only because I couldn't trust my vision. At one point the trail seemed to go over a cliff and though wanting to go elsewhere, I was spurred onward by the big white blaze (trail marker) on the face of the rock. That and, of course, having no other choice. Shortening my hiking poles I placed them in the loops of my pack and by inching forward and down with my feet first I descended into the dark while grabbing the sides of the rock with my hands. As my feet gained purchase on solid ground my lamp directed me to other blazes further down the trail. I was through the worst of it and needed only to continue gingerly hopping rocks for another couple of miles. In daylight you often have an idea that you're coming to a road long before you see it. Not so at night, you're just suddenly there. So I was.The road to Woodshole Hostel was pcked dirt with gravel and everything was pitch black. There were no buildings anywhere. It was past 10:00 pm and I was exhausted. There were no places on either side of me to pitch my tent and so I continued. Somehow out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed the siloutte of a building. No lights showed and it was now 10:30, time that most folks were in bed. I turned in at the drive looking for any sign telling me the journey was at an end.Think about this as yhou read. You are, once again, in completely unfamiliar territory. Somewhere you've never been. Being exhausted your mental acuity is long gone and your are very aware that if in the wrong place you could be shot...or so you think at the time. What do you do? What I did was talk myself into really focusing on my surroundings and on the task at hand. With great care I tiptoed quietly around the property with my light off trying to figure out if I was even in the right place and, if so, which building was actually the hostel. Well, since you're reading this I didn't get shot and eventually stumbled into the correct building. I crawled into the loft and collapsed on one of the provided sleeping pads. I was so damn tired I slept right through Miss Tilly's famous country breakfast and can only tell you that it was probably overrated anyway.