Date: 2003-05-23
From: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter 

To: US250/Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Once again, I kept thinking that it was pouring down rain all night long, but it was mostly the sound of the creek below the shelter, and the water dripping off the trees. Still, I was glad I was in a shelter and not tenting. I didn't really sleep well. I kept waking up and not knowing where I was. Then I'd slowly move my hand around my sleeping area until it dawned on me where I was, and where other people were. Then, when I was convinced I was in my space and not invading someone else's, I'd fall back asleep.Most everyone was up and out of the shelter early this morning, but I wanted to sleep in. Maybe 'sleep' isn't the right word, but I didn't get out of my bag until shortly after 8am, and only Hotdog and two other hikers were still in the shelter. Once I got up, I started thinking about town things (shower, laundry, food) and I wanted to be there. No more taking my time, hanging around the shelter. It was time to get moving, and get to town!There was no rain, but the fog was so thick, the trees were dripping. I didn't mind. I just kept moving. The trail was in pretty good shape for the amount of moisture, some slick, muddy places, but mostly just wet. Mostly. As with all of the water sources we crossed recently, the ones today were flowing quite well. Over the last week, with the abundance of rain, there have been a lot of awesome springs, streams, creeks, and rivers. Water has been cascading over rocks, and flowing unseen, but definitely heard, under rocks. It has flowed down the mountain, disappeared above the trail, and resurfaced below the trail. It has mysteriously come from under trees and rocks. I really like flowing water, and many times each day, I see an interesting water source, and say "Wow! That is SO cool!" It's just water, and it often makes it impossible for me keep my feet dry, but it is so awesome sometimes. As much as I'd like to be dry, I'd prefer an abundance of water to the dry season like last year.I could hear the cars well before I could see the road, but that's no surprise with the thick fog. The trail broke out of the cover of the trees, into an open grassy area. The footpath through this area was slick, orange mud, and when it became a slight ascent, I began to slip a little bit backwards with every step. I walked in the grass next to the trail for a while, but when it got too thick, I moved back to the trail. The trail steepened the last 20' up to the road, and I was slipping backwards pretty bad, but I was having a good time with it. After all, I was just steps from town. Just twenty steps forward, or maybe thirty forward and ten sliding backwards, but I was going to get there. Somehow.Finally, I made it! And had no idea where to go. Or where I was for that matter. The fog was thick, and I couldn't see more than 50'. Hotdog and I checked our information, and found out there's a visitor center somewhere around here where we could get a hiker info packet. We followed a sign to another road, and kept walking because we couldn't see the visitor center anywhere. Another sign appeared through the fog telling us the Visitor Center was to the left. We walked blindly to the left, and another sign appeared. "OPEN" in neon. Not what I'd expect for a Visitor Center, but if conditions like today are normal, I can understand. Inside, the volunteers gave us some information and offered to call a shuttle for us. Whoa! That's awesome! Sherry is one of about a dozen people who volunteer to shuttle hikers between the trail and town. She took Hotdog and I to the hotel, but we couldn't check in for a while. Sherry then took us to the Post Office, waited for us there, and took us to Ciro's so we could eat lunch. We said goodbye to Shery there, and split a large pizza at Ciro's.Mmmm... that was good pizza! While we were waiting for our food, we opened our mail. I had a maildrop from my parents, with some special things inside: homemade brownies (YUM) and postcard from my sister-in-law's brother, who reads my journal online while in Bahrain. Thanks, Kal! I also got more pictures of my newest nephew and McDonald's Gift Certificates! Thank you Dan and Mary Sue! I received a couple more notes, including one from cousin Carol. It is so nice to get notes of encouragement. Thank you everyone! I cannot say enough, how much I appreciate good thoughts, whether expressed or not, because they are what has gotten me this far.It was raining lightly when we went back across the street to get the hotel room. Once inside, I emptied my pack, putting all of my smelly dirties in a pile, then headed for the shower. It took some scrubbing to get the last week's mud off my legs, but eventually, I came clean. How great it feels to be clean!Next, we did laundry, and saw two other hikers there, including Commander in Chier, a thruhiker we'd shared the last two shelters with. After laundry, apparently it was "throw your stuff everywhere" time in the hotel room. We went through our stuff, deciding what continues on the trip with us. I'd love to drop a lot of pack weight, but I don't pay much attention to the exact weight. Instead, I take what I think I need, and if I don't need it and haven't used it, it goes home. I'm sending home my expedition weight top and bottom and my rainpants. Other than that, and some paperwork from the trail south of here, I don't have much to send home. Oh well. I'll keep working on it as the trip goes on.I'm taking a zero day tomorrow, where I hope to relax and get over this cold. I have a few chores to do, including resupply shopping, but would like to just hang out at the hotel and relax some too. I have a desire to watch a movie, any movie, just to spend a few mindless, relaxing hours doing nothing and thinking about nothing. I'll see how that pans out tomorrow. For now, my stuff is scattered wherever it landed when I cleared off the bed. I'll sort it out in the morning, after a night NOT near a creek. Maybe that means I won't dream about pouring rain, for a change.