Date: 2006-05-06
From: VA 606, Gas Station

To: Doc's Knob Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: broken clouds

Leave Late, arrive late. It's that simple. I took a lazy morning, almost like hitting the snooze button three times. I must have been overcome by the beauty of the gas station. Maybe it was the soothing effect of the lumber yard. After breakfast, laundry and phone calls, Snapper and I hit the road around 11 am. The goal for the day was 16 miles to Doc's Knob and 8 miles tomorrow into Pearisburg where I'll get to the outfitter, catch up with whoever's in town and get a choclolate shake. I've given up all hope of an Orange Crush.While walking back to the trailhead we bumped into GlowWorm. I haven't seen him since the very brief hello/good bye in Damascus. I'd been hoping to bump into him again to make contact with another person in my age range. He seemed happy to run into Snapper after she had moved ahead of him on the trai. She said when they parted company it felt like a breakup. That's not uncommon out here when hiking partners move on for whatever reason. The world last six months so relationships are short lived. Zero days or sick days or stops to visit family mean partners separate. It's almost like being a fruit fly. Born, court, die. Skip the mating phase. There's not much mating going on. We're all too tired. Today's hike was tought but pleasant. Chilll Out had told us not to miss dismal Creek Falls. Boy was he right. Just .3 miles off the trail and well worth the walk. Too bad I'd stopped for shower and laundry. This would have been a great place to camp last night. Too bad we left so late. This would have been a great place to lounge. The falls are gentle and pour over large flat rock ledges. They look like a big staircase. There are pools at each level. Given more time I would have braved the cold water to sit under the falls. Anyone lucky enought to be there on a hot sunny day would end their hike on the spot. I hiked alone for most of the afternoon. Good thing because I stumbled and cursed all the way. Supposedly the Virginia terrain is easier than the last three states. There may be fewer mountains, but there are all those Virginia rocks. The paths are both ridge and forest and are strewn with rocks. There are three types. Stretches of trail are covered with flat slabs and large sharp stones. You step and hop from rock to rock. There are also patches of smaller loose baseball and softball sized rocks. Your feet twist and slip when you step squarely on them. Otherwise you slam them with your toes and they roll on and on. The third rock looks like slate, flat greyish, purple jigsaw pieces. The path can be paved with them. They're sharp, slippery and unstable. You can walk for several mile alternating between types. Sometimes they all appear at the same time. This is the oldest mountain range in the world and you see it as you walk. The seams of exposed rock run from the ridgetops down into the valleys exposing the guts of the mountains.I arrived at Doc's Knob Shelter at dusk. I had crashed through the large jagged rocks for the last couple of miles - the no-fun miles that seem much longer than they really are. When I saw the shelter I tried to walk in breezy and cheerful. I've been a real cranky bastard for the past few nights and am trying to break out of it. I don't want that to be my reputation. Snapper and M and M were finishing dinner at the picnic table Chillout was reading in the shelter. Wayne-o was already asleep in his hammock. I made light of the last rock stretch of trail and wondered how long it would last. Chillout, who's done it all before, said it lasts the whole length of Virginia. Knowing that makes it easier. I won't be taking every mile wondering when it will end. Now it's just a new face to the same trail. When I started my hike I knew it would be tought\and said, as hard as it gets, I won't complain. I want it to be hard. I learn how to handle it. The people who complain eventually drop off the trail.This far into the hike there isn't much serious complaining. We know the score.