Date: 2003-07-15
From: Campsite South of Bland/Bastian

To: Dismal Creek Falls campsite
Miles today: 22.9

Well, I survived last night. I'd say I earned the "Hey, she's hardcore!" comment one of the guys made last night when they discovered I had no tent body, but I didn't feel very hardcore during the four hours I laid there half-awake worrying about all the bugs that COULD get on me! And this after I'd prayed they wouldn't... Oh me of little faith. Thank you, God, for keeping them off me.So the boys and I are still together. Boys, I say; they're not really. I estimated they were both younger than me, but it turns out Quinn is 29; KC is 21. KC's hopes of doing laundry in Bland were dashed when we learned there was no laundromat, so they came on with me instead.Mid-morning I caught up to Quinn talking to two familiar faces - Merlin, whom I'd met the first time at the laundromat in Hot Springs, and Nature Boy, whom I'd met in Damascus at the Place. What fun it was to come around the corner and see their familiar faces! We visited with them some more when they arrived at the Jenny Knob shelter as we were winding up our 2 1/2 hour lunch break listening to Packman. What a hoot that guy is - his only speech impediment is he has to stop for air! He mentioned having done Trail maintenance at Roan High Knob Shelter with Bob from Kincora, and we figured out it was the same day Hal and I left there. He remembered Anne working with them on the rock wall they built! More fun, connecting people and places like that.Yesterday and today I've had an extra treat alongside the Trail - tiny wild blueberries! Yum.We left Jenny Knob at 4:30, six and a half miles left in our day (we thought) - and change. Quinn and KC went to the store at Va. 608; I came on to 606, where we planned to go to the store and campground to have a shower and real food!So as I write I'm waiting for the guys sitting in the middle of a suspension bridge straddling Kimberling Creek (reminds me of Kimberlina - miss you, girl!), about 50-75 feet wide - which we've crossed numerous times. We've also climbed the same mountain - Brushy Mountain - at least five times. How that works I'm not sure; are they taking us in circles?A guy is fishing below me, and two couples are swimming, drinking, cussing, and blaring '80s rocker music. I kind of grooved to the Scorpions for awhile, but now it's something different that I find rather obnoxious. Oh well, we all have our ways of enjoying the Great Outdoors. I'd get in the water, but it looks pretty nasty. A few minutes ago a beaver swam across the creek - I've never seen a beaver in real life! Cool.I saw some postcards at the Mount Rogers Visitors Center that stated invitingly, "Virginia is for lovers!" Apparently it's either for those who have lost their spark, or want to. Bland? Dismal Falls? Great places to rediscover the magic...So, four days of hiking - long days, too, at least the last three. I'm pleased. I really, really want to get to Pearisburg tomorrow night, but I'm not sure it's going to happen. Still another 23 miles, and I've got some complaints coming from the musculoskeletal department again after the last three days. We'll see.I guess I'm so anxious to get to P'burg because of the odor I smell "coming up from around my collar." I reek. Want to know what a hiker smells like? Take some workout clothes - synthetic, of course - wear them for three or four heavy workouts, make sure they're good and damp, put them in a plastic bag, then leave them in a warm, damp place for another week or so... Don't you want to come hike with me?As it turns out, since Quinn and KC went to the store at 608, we decided against camping at the one at 606. Instead we asked the locals about nearby camping, and she recommended Dismal Falls. So we came an additional 1.3 or 1.9 miles - depending on whose data book you consult; KC's is newer, and evidently includes a re-route that mine does not. Two-tenths more from the trail junction to the falls and campsite. This puts me 7.8 miles ahead of what I'd planned for this week so far. Now if I can swing another 22 tomorrow...We didn't get here to the falls until it was just getting dark around 9pm. KC and Quinn picked a tent spot down below the falls among the trees; I stayed above and camped on the wide, flat rock bank, almost out in the riverbed (hope there's no flash-floods tonight...). Then, since the sky was pretty clear, I stretched out my sleeping bag beside my tent and slept under the stars! Just like our trip to Fall Creek Falls last September - ha, the night before the traumatic bee episode...Once I got settled and filled my stomach, I searched out a spot to get in the water. I was alone and it was dark, so I stripped right down and got in at a place just deep enough to lay back and submerge once. Oh it felt so good. It's amazing what being clean(er) can do for your spirits! Then I donned my cozy clothes, performed my usual stretching routine, and got in my bag.The trees on either side of the creek - both fir and deciduous - frame a circle of sky just large enough for a patch of stars. It turns out there are clouds after all, but they seem to be wispy ones and are moving swiftly. I left my contacts in as long as I dared - can't see the stars without them, but I don't sleep in them - and soaked up the view.I'm alone but not lonely, people just close enough to feel secure, a bit less grimy and smelly, and perfectly warm and comfortable (thanks for my ThermaRest mom and dad!). Tonight I am the happiest woman in the world.