Date: 2009-05-28
From: Whitetop Laurel Creek, VA

To: Lost Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: overcast clouds

The Genius EntryWe woke up after a night of thunderstorms to the soothing sound of the creek by our tent. Still hoping The Phlo and Graveyard weren't far behind, we took our time with breakfast and breaking camp. The bikers whizzed by our campsite on the Creeper Trail while we waited. Eventually we got back on the trail and continued up the mountain. Einstein had to stay on a leash so as to make sure he didn't get run over by any bikers on the way down the hill. The Creeper Trail was a very pleasant hike that morning as it followed the Whitetop Laurel Creek, crisscrossing the creek about a dozen times, over old train trestles that had been rebuild for the bike trail. we got stopped a few times by bikers who wanted a picture of Einstein carrying his pack and who wanted to know all about the AT. Its funny to think that Einstein and I, or at least my legs, are going to end up in dozens of random photo albums of people who have travelled from all over the country, and the world, to ride down the creeper trail. My dog has become a walking tourist attraction. At one point, as I had been looking forward to, we encountered Farsee and his wire riding a tandem bike down the mountain. Farsee had decided to get off the trail a few days earlier and was waiting in Damascus for his wife to come down from Baltimore and pick him up. He had mentioned that they were thinking of riding the creeper trail before they left, so we were keeping an eye out for them. Fay, Farsee's wife, had heard many stories about the famous Einstein, including our run-in with Baltimore Jack, and had been looking forward to meeting him. She feigned interest in meeting us as well. After saying our goodbyes, and taking a few group photos, we were all on our way again in our separate directions. I was very sad to see Farsee go so shortly after meeting him, but we made tentative plans to get together in Harpers Ferry when we got there. Fay was very nice and I was happy to get to know her as well, if ever so briefly. We soon got to the point where the AT split off from the Creeper Trail for the last time. The Creeper Trail was graded so nicely we hardly noticed the climb in elevation along the way. It was very scenic and easy hiking, so we were sorry to leave it. The rest of the hike was also very nice as it followed along another creek and eventually up Lost Mountain. We had planned on putting in some big miles that day, but I stepped on the side of a root on the trail up the mountain and twisted my right ankle rather badly. it was my fist serious injury on the trail. I soaked it for a while in a nearby spring to get the swelling down a bit and finally limped after my companions up the rest of Lost Mountain to the next shelter. We decided to stop there a while and rest, and debated about going on or stopping for the day. We took the opportunity to hang up our tent and let it dry after the rains the night before. Since it was fairly early in the afternoon, no one was in the shelter but they soon started trickling in. First came Rocky, a girl from Oregon hiking solo, and Penny Whistle, who played the penny whistle and was looking for another woman by the same trail name so they could dual to see how got to keep the name. Next came four guys from Texas who quipped with each other non-stop and kept us all entertained. All 6 had just stopped for a late lunch and soon moved on. A bit later 3 college professors, who got together each year to hike a different5 section of the AT, came in and decided to stay for the night. They were hiking southbound (SOBO), so they gave us a preview of the trail ahead and hassled Dizzy for not finishing her Master's degree. Walking Home, Scree Freak and Carolina came in next. They were hiking with Nano, who was deathly afraid of a guy named Genius, who we had all had a run-in with at Trail Days. The name Genius was meant to be sarcastic, but I don't think Genius was bright enough to figure that out and had kept it as his trail name. We were treated to a lecture from him one night about how slavery should be brought back and had only failed before because it wasn't done correctly. That's just a snippet of why Nano might not be eager to see him again on the trail. Anyway, as a prank on Nano his hiking companions asked me to make an entry in the shelter register from Genius, indicating he was camping near by and planned to return later that night to use the privy. As Nano casually read the register upon reaching the shelter his face went white when he reached the Genius entry. They didn't clue him in on the prank until days later and kept him thinking Genius was only steps away. Eventually we saw Graveyard and The Phlo come bouncing into camp, apparently feeling much better. We, of course, teased them greatly about the beans and filled everyone else in on the story. After a game of Cosmic Wimpout, and catching up on a little reading of the paperbacks we had been passing around among us, we finally crashed for the night.