Date: 2004-06-23
From: Tumbling Run Shelters

To: Milesburn Cabin
Miles today: 17.2

Day #101 "Each place along the way is somewhere you had to be to be here."~ Wayne Dyer It often astonishes me how a day will start out one way and, by the end of that day, finish in the complete opposite direction¢¦I woke up this morning at 5:30 with a light drizzle starting to hit the tent. I quickly broke down the tent and prepared my hike for wet weather. The drizzle became harder as I tried to eat breakfast. I left the shelter at 7:00 and by the time I completed the first mile the rain stopped. Spent the morning climbing up, over and down one rock ridge then, repeat on the next ridge and the next ridge, etc¢¦ Coming down to US 30 on the trail I saw two deer. The larger of the two was in the lead walking up the trail when we both spotted each other at about the same time. The lead deer gracefully bolted to my right with the smaller deer following. I immediately thought of two lovers being caught and running away to continue their courtship. I was happy to have the meeting, and sad, because then I thought of Lady Kritter and how I miss our daily courtship. By lunchtime I completed 10 miles, the sun came out and I was in Caledonia State Park swimming in the park's pool along with Cuppa Joe, Old Man, Eelz, Salt-Lick and Luna. What a great way to avoid the midday sun and heat. By 2:00 I was on the trail again refreshed. In less than an hour I was in the most beautiful shelter that I have seen so far. The structure was log construction, built long, with two shelters under one roof. The middle section was an open covered area with a picnic table. Potted plants and flowers hung from the eaves. In front, a small spring flowed along a rock sided bed. The complete set up was magnificent and called Quarry Gap Shelters. Three hikers at the shelter talked about word on the trail from sobo's (southbound hikers) that two guys were giving great trail magic from Milesburn Cabin 4.7 miles up the trail. Sounding too good to pass up - off I went in search of the trail magic. Along the way I discovered ripe mountain blueberries. My delay to the trail magic at the cabin was delayed by my frenzied binge on blueberries. Sure enough at the cabin were Matt and Aaron, owners of Blue Ridge Mountain Sports in Virginia Beach. As I walked into camp Aaron said, "Take your pack off, sit down and relax and, by the way, are you hungry?" Asking a thru-hiker if he is hungry is like asking a child "do you want some candy?" My reply was YES and the hamburgers were thrown on the gas grill. Once I had relaxed, Matt came up and asked if I needed any gear repaired. "No, thanks" was my reply. I was directed to several boxes containing gear donated by vendors and was told to take what I needed. Not only was I asked if I wanted candy, the candy store was brought to me. I did not want to be greedy so I took a new pair of socks and a freeze dried dinner. Matt told me they started this last year and want to continue this in the future. They rent the cabin for three days and do whatever they can to make the thru-hikers comfortable and bellies full. Lint, Cuppa Joe, Luna, Strange Love, Old Man and I pitched our tents and spent the night around a roaring fire with Matt and Aaron. A great ending to the dismal beginning I faced early this morning.