Date: 2015-04-26
From: Cornelius Creek Shelter

To: Glasgow, VA
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: light rain

There was a great deal of commotion last night as the fat shelter mice were rampant. The section hiker, Shawn, had hung up his food bag in a mice-accessible area of the shelter so the resident rodents were aroused by the prospect of a great feast. The brazen mice zipped over our bodies and ran up the shelter walls. They noisily ate all the corners of Shawn's granola squares and Diabolical Dad, who had kept his food bag in his pack, was left with slightly less trailmix. Everyone - except me - was woken up by having the thieving mice run over their heads. Our food remained untouched.This morning the guys continued discussing the events of the night with great passion. While it is highly unpleasant to have mice gnaw their way into your food bag, I always have to laugh at the scene of manly men freaking out over tiny, cutie-pie mice. We slept in until around 6:30 AM as we were lazily waiting for the rain to lessen, which it finally did. As we packed up, Shawn, who still wasn't up, repeatedly commented on how toasty and warm he was in his sleeping bag. Indeed, it was still quite chilly this morning, in the high 30s only. I am so glad we still have our winter gear, though I feel like if I had stayed home, we would have experienced better weather...Luckily, it did not rain today! Thick, damp fog hung heavily in the air and a sharp chill penetrated our many layers of clothing. We had no choice but to hike as fast as we could to stay warm. My fingers were frozen solid and unable to grasp my hiking poles. We had lunch at Petites Gap were were talked to two men, one section hiker and another who was trying (unsuccessfully) to motivate himself to go for a run. We talked for a bit and they both gave us food! We got chocolate spread, bananas, an orange, trailmix and sweet tea. Thank you guys! It was suprising yet very encouraging to have people genuinely interested in our thru-hiking story. Most days, we are only in contact with fellow thru-hikers so the novelty of thru-hiking the AT is lessened to the point where the challenge seems common, even mundane. Today, we were reminded that we are the exceptional ones.The hike this afternoon continued to be easy, the only real spike being Highcock Knob (hahaha). Overall, this must be the section others were refering to when claiming that VA was flat and that one could bust out 20 miles a day.We crossed the James River footbridge, the longest foot-use-only bridge on the AT, and arrived to a road crossing that leads to Glasgow, VA. After trying to hitch for a few minutes, we got a ride into town. The two very kind men who picked us up had been canoeing. They had a very thick Southern accent and I had a hard time understanding them; I was embarrased! Glasgow, VA is nothing like the real Glasgow (unfortunatly), however, this wannabe does have a free shelter for hikers that includes showers and power outlets. We reunited with Not Yet, which was really cool, as well as a few other known faces like Cruise Control, Sunshine, Mr. Bean, Walk-it-off, Two Wars and the rest of their crew. The Diabolical Duo also showed up a little bit after us.Shrugs and I ate Southern food at an "Italian" restaurant (it was really great, I was starving!) and we did a short resupply, enough to tide us over until Waynesboro, VA.We chatted a bit with Not Yet and headed to bed, feeling content and secure that we would not have to fear a horde of hungry mice invading our space. For one night at least.- Axon