Date: 2005-04-11
From: Bear's Den Hostel, Va.

To: Hog Camp Gap, Va.
Miles today: 2.5
Weather: clear sky

2.5 miles todayHog Camp Gap, Va. I slept at Bears Den Hostel last night and got up about 7am and made a pot of coffee. I kept waking up last night with things on my mind. Today was going to just happen...I had no plans at all. I knew I was leaving here and probably heading south towards the last little bit of trail I have left to complete for this hike. Queen Diva showed up holding a telephone and said someone wanted to talk to me. It was Liteshoe begging my forgivness because she's been so bad. She was supposed to send me some new smiley face stickers twice now and has put me on the back burner each time. They were supposed to be here waiting on me, but she called to let me know they were still on her desk. It's hard to believe she could treat me so bad, but I told her it was ok, I'd give her one more chance. I paid Queen Diva and packed my stuff and headed south still not knowing what I was doing. I realised that I didn't eat any breakfast, and it was noon, so I stopped for lunch just north of Waynesboro, Va. After lunch I kept heading south and decided to drive over to Montebello, Va and talk to the owners at the Dutch Haus B&B. I met Lois and Earl who I've heard good things about from hikers in other years. I've continued going to places that I've never been before on the trail. Lois agreed to take me to Rockfish Gap, but she couldn't do it until Wednesday morning. I'll leave my truck at their place and take 3 days to walk back to it, then spend Friday night with them. I needed a quiet place to sleep tonight and something to do tomorrow, so I checked out my trail map and decided to drive up to Hog Camp Gap on USFS Rd 48. I got there early enough that I didn't want to cook dinner yet, so I decided to walk 2 1/2 miles south to Cow Camp Gap and then walk the 2 1/2 miles back to the truck and sleep in the back of it tonight. It was a nice walk, but I had alot of things buzzing in my head today. I climbed to the top of Cold Mountain and just sat there thinking...thinking of lots of stuff. Today would have been my wifes 52nd birthday if cancer hadn't taken her 4 years ago. Then I started thinking about what Jan had said that some people were saying about Bramble on Trail Journal's Forum the last week or two about how some people were giving him a hard time for what he's doing for cancer. I say "Thanks Bramble" no matter what anyone else says. At least you're making people think about cancer. He volunteered for "Hard Core" trail maintanance after Trail Days last year and we worked side by side, so I got to know him better there. He may not have built as nice a piece of trail as I did, ;-)) but he was out there as a volunteer working on the trail and all he's doing for cancer is volunteer. He's a character, but I think the different characters on the trail is one of the greatest things about the trail. Keep on keepin' on Bramble!! I was also thinking about what's next for me. This hike is almost over and I still don't know what I'll do when it ends. I'll probably go for another walk after this one. I keep telling myself that something will come along and I'll know it when it does, but maybe I'm wrong. At least I'm in a beautiful area to think. The views from Cold Mountain are very nice. Tomorrow I'll walk the 10 miles to Fish Hatchery Rd where the B&B is and then walk 10 miles back to the truck. It's walking the miles I have left twice, but it works for now. I was cooking some plain white rice for dinner on the tailgate of my truck and I saw a hiker coming down the mountain. His trail name was Just Mark. I gave him a coke and we talked for about 15 minutes, but he needed to get going because it was getting late and he needed to find a place to sleep. I'm glad today is almost over.