Date: 2006-09-14
From: Dirt road a little north of Wilson Valley Lean-To

To: Rte 15
Miles today: 11.0

Thursday, Sept 14, 2006, Dirt road a little north of Wilson Valley Lean-To to Rte 15, 11 miles plus 0.5 approach. N to S.If there¢s a way in to the AT, Purple Sherpa will find it. Yesterday he made friends with a man who runs a hunting camp who told him there is a dirt road leading to a little north of Wilson Valley Lean-To, accessible by car to within 0.5 of the trail crossing. He¢s scouted this out. He¢ll walk in with Purple Rose, Zig Zag and Amoeba to be sure there¢s no repeat of yesterday¢s missed juncture.This morning at Shaw¢s there are some new hikers. Dining at 3 separate tables, it¢s not possible to meet them all. Here are some: Fiddlehead is there, trained in classical violin and now taking up bluegrass fiddling. Examining his Four-fer breakfast, Rusch Hour to Indiana: Can I make a general statement? There¢s only 2 eggs on here.Indiana to Rusch Hour: Have you checked underneath?Rusch lifts up the 2 over easies. Yup, 2 more underneath. :-)))Wrong Way from Chicago, who started his flip-flop hike in Harpers Ferry intending to walk into Maryland but instead walked over the Shenandoah into VA. (He knew he had to cross a bridge). The first hikers he met asked where he was going and when he said ¢To Maine¢ replied, ¢Not going that way, you¢re not.¢ More times than he cares to mention, after a night in a shelter, he¢s hiked out in the morning the same way he hiked in the night before.Amoeba can relate to Wrong Way.Slip and Slide from Arkansas.River Weasel.Before leaving Shaw¢s, a chat with Buddy. Last year Amoeba remembers Buddy had a long ponytail. This year his hair is short. In August Buddy donated 14 inches of strong wavy hair to ¢Locks of Love¢, an organization that provides hair prosthetics to children with long-term medical hair loss.Buddy¢s growing it out again, to do the same thing.Back when he still had his ponytail, a young girl asked him why. He told her he grows his ponytail for ¢Locks of Love¢. The girl whipped off her wig and said to Buddy, ¢You mean for this?¢ To her mother she said, ¢He¢s one of us.¢A nice 15-minute walk on impassable (by ordinary vehicle) road to the AT juncture. Pointing the way to the AT is a black blaze, surrounded by pink earth lichen.Spreads of hobblebush.Hello Karuna Miel. Purple Rose tells Karuna Miel about yesterday¢s track-walking fiasco. Karuna Miel has a railroad track story of her own. Her 2 year-old Border Collie/Papillon, Eowyn, was hit by a train, but miraculously survived. She¢s got her personality, energy and vitality back. Only permanent damage is blindness in one eye.Ford Big Wilson. Easy. Water refreshing, warmish/coolish. Not cold at all. In deepest part no higher than just above Amoeba¢s knees.Presently, that special spruce forest, moss-clothed rock place that Amoeba remembers vividly from 2004. Stopping just to take it in. A favorite spot.Around the bend, hobblebush encroachment.Dense baby spruce understory, all less than 12 inches high.Rocks and roots. Purple Rose says, ¢This is Maine.¢All 3 of them love Maine.Hello to Burkenstock and Ponch, who pass along a message for Moe, ¢Hurry up.¢Hello Moe. She and Ponch are from Syracuse.Cross Little Wilson on stepping stones.Then walk by the little sitting area, chairs, couch, fire circle, made from blackish rocks.Lunch beside Little Wilson Falls.Hello Old Moose from Buffalo. As they part, he says, ¢I can¢t wait to meet you three tomorrow. That¢ll keep me goin¢.¢ He pounds his chest.Hello Grandpa Bear from near Amicalola. Hiking a section from Rte 15 to Katahdin Stream (or Abol Bridge).Hello Wrong Way, bleeding. Just 20 steps in from Rte 15, he¢d fallen and cut his leg. I¢m OK he says. Amoeba is wearing the ¢Carolina¢ blue Crocs, which have good ridges on the soles. Fat dry Smartwool hiking socks inside. Feet beginning to strengthen and toughen. Strong tough feet help to compensate for short legs. Knock on wood, no falls so far. Hello Baldylocks, Fiddlehead and Rusch Hour.Indiana, wearing a blue plaid kilt. Nice.They come to that tough rocky place south of Leeman Brook Lean-To. Reminiscent of that drop-down (as you¢re hiking S to N) near Carlo Col, but not nearly as hard.Fir scent so pungent it¢s almost intoxicating.Meet Purple Sherpa and Dixie at top of second to last rise. All 5 hike out together. Finish 5:45.Drive through a section of Greenville, on the shore of Moosehead Lake. Looks like a neat place. Would be fun to explore it more.Make it through the Hedgehog Checkpoint after dark but before the 9PM cutoff.On the drive to the trailhead, a moose sashays down the road, then off into the woods. Also a fair number of remarkably fast frogs springing very very fast across the road. The muscles in those frogs¢ legs are like those of conditioned hikers. The muscles in their feet like Croc-wearing hikers.Sleep in the VW, the Accord and the Element at trailhead parking lot.