May 10 campsite Dickerson Gap area Va. 648 miles
Leaving the Holiday Motel on an overcast day, I met Honey Badger, a tall reserved woman, walking out of town as well. We walked together for a few miles and then she stopped to phone her husband when we were at a place that could get service.
Then I walked alone until I ran into Momentum at Rice Field Shelter around 2PM. She was sitting on the edge of a meadow looking down and out into a big vista of West Virginia. First time to see it I believe.
We had lunch together and she wanted to stay at the shelter after walking nine miles, but I decided to walk on.
It was very easy terrain after the last shelter and I listened to The Streets of Laredo on my audiobook. Cowboy stories are my easy comfort reading and Larry McMurtry, the Lonesome Dove author, is a favorite, but this one seemed to have too much padding. I like a little more action and less domestic talk in my cowboy stories.
Then I walked alone until I ran into Momentum at Rice Field Shelter around 2PM. She was sitting on the edge of a meadow looking down and out into a big vista of West Virginia. First time to see it I believe.
We had lunch together and she wanted to stay at the shelter after walking nine miles, but I decided to walk on.
It was very easy terrain after the last shelter and I listened to The Streets of Laredo on my audiobook. Cowboy stories are my easy comfort reading and Larry McMurtry, the Lonesome Dove author, is a favorite, but this one seemed to have too much padding. I like a little more action and less domestic talk in my cowboy stories.
I must have missed the campsite I was aiming for so continued to walk while the sun set. Then the trail became very rocky around Symms Gap, and the areas along the trail had no place to set up a tent. I had walked ten hours and had had enough.
Then I came across Lumberjack and the other couple and a few other tents and decided to camp with them alongside the trail. It was supposed to thunderstorm in the morning but I was way too far from a shelter to walk to avoid a wet tent. I'd have to camp in the rain tomorrow.
Then I came across Lumberjack and the other couple and a few other tents and decided to camp with them alongside the trail. It was supposed to thunderstorm in the morning but I was way too far from a shelter to walk to avoid a wet tent. I'd have to camp in the rain tomorrow.
I ate a tuna sandwich on a nearby log. I was feeling tired, and depressed and lonely. I called Terrie and lo and behold I had service. I get phone service about ten percent of the time in the mountains.
My wife answered and she told me that my father had a damaged cell phone and a septic tank overflow and hat she and her parents had helped him with over the weekend.
I thanked her and told her my dad appreciated it I'm sure. My wife has always been a good caretaker of my 86 year old father who insists that he can handle everything himself. He can do things but it is not easy and he refuses to give up the house or the car. An independent cuss he is.
My wife answered and she told me that my father had a damaged cell phone and a septic tank overflow and hat she and her parents had helped him with over the weekend.
I thanked her and told her my dad appreciated it I'm sure. My wife has always been a good caretaker of my 86 year old father who insists that he can handle everything himself. He can do things but it is not easy and he refuses to give up the house or the car. An independent cuss he is.
Then I made the mistake of telling my wife that I felt bothered by the tavern video and the hilarity at my expense.
We weren't laughing at you, she said, but about how to spell bourgeois.
Maybe, but I still didn't feel that it was funny I said.
Ok, she said, then I won't send you anymore videos from home.
We weren't laughing at you, she said, but about how to spell bourgeois.
Maybe, but I still didn't feel that it was funny I said.
Ok, she said, then I won't send you anymore videos from home.
It's not that I said. You know it gets lonely out here.
Well that's why I thought you might want some pictures from home but I won't send you any if you don't want them.
Oh boy, I thought, how do I explain my feeling on this? I didn't quite know what I was feeling. Removed. Distant. An outsider.
Oh boy, I thought, how do I explain my feeling on this? I didn't quite know what I was feeling. Removed. Distant. An outsider.
Well, I'll talk to you later I said.
That ended badly. She just doesn't get it, I thought. I really don't get it either to be honest. How come I feel so much on the moon? Why now?
I needed sleep. I took a Benadryl for insurance sake. I really wanted to shut out the world.
That ended badly. She just doesn't get it, I thought. I really don't get it either to be honest. How come I feel so much on the moon? Why now?
I needed sleep. I took a Benadryl for insurance sake. I really wanted to shut out the world.
May 11 Bailey Gap shelter 658 miles
It was thundering and lightning at 7:30 AM, so I went back to sleep and didn't take my tent down until 9:45 when everyone had left.
I walked a few miles and met up with Momentum who must have passed my tent this morning.
I looked at her and thought that she was looking thinner than usual.
In her fifties probably, she is an enjoyable trail companion because she is always so enthusiastic and positive about trail life even under the harshest conditions and she is a good listener too.
Today the hills were steep and long but I got in fourteen miles when I walked in with Momentum and met Blink and Yogi at Laurel Creek Shelter.
I looked at her and thought that she was looking thinner than usual.
In her fifties probably, she is an enjoyable trail companion because she is always so enthusiastic and positive about trail life even under the harshest conditions and she is a good listener too.
Today the hills were steep and long but I got in fourteen miles when I walked in with Momentum and met Blink and Yogi at Laurel Creek Shelter.
May 12 Laurel Creek Shelter 672.6 miles
The Faceplant
The Faceplant
It was a cool, misty and drizzling morning when I left Bailey Gap Shelter at 7:15.
I had some good sleep and was feeling a little spry. I wanted to do a fourteen mile day and left earlier than everyone else because I was ready to get on the trail.
I didn't expect to have an accident, but I did anyway, about fifteen minutes after leaving the shelter.
It happened very quickly. I was humming a little Ray Charles tune, crossing the usual path of wet algae soaked rocks, noting that these rocks were wider and flatter than usual.
I dug my poles into some dirt inside the spacing of rocks and then on the next stride my poles must have struck rock because they slid down and backwards and my momentum pushed me forward and down too.
Then I realized my face was sitting on an flat algae-laden rock.
I stood up and felt something tumbling around in my mouth: I spit it out along with some blood and realized that they were my two front teeth.
When I was a kid I had hit a pothole on my bicycle and tumbled over the bars onto the pavement, knocking out my front tooth and scarring my upper lip.
Then, in my twenties, when I was in the theatre biz, I had both front teeth capped and still later I had a bridge made for both teeth. It was a fine bridge and looked great and I had had it for many years.
Now the bridge was in my hand. I took out a freezer bag from my pack and put the teeth in it. Then I grabbed some toilet paper and began soaking up the blood that was dripping from my lower lip and the spot where my front teeth used to be.
Momentum came by and saw me standing about and asked if I was all right.
I did a faceplant I said.
Yeah, it looks like you cut your lip. Lucky you didn't break your glasses. I'm really going to have to watch my step today. It's really muddy.
Then Yogi came by.
You OK, he asked.
Yeah, I'm fine I said turning away.
Yeah, it's going to be a nice day.
Yeah.
I walked about half mile with the toilet paper in my mouth, feeling my lip throbbing and aching. Then I came across a stream and washed my mouth out in the cold water. It felt good.
I walked seven miles to the Warspur shelter. I don't remember what hills I walked up or down.
I was thinking that I might have to walk to Maine without any front teeth. What a drag. If I went to Nashville it could take weeks to get the impression and send it off to the lab. So much time off the trail.
I couldn't believe that I had had an accident. I wasn't keeping my eye on the ball. I had lost focus. I hadn't watched my step and hadn't been entirely focused and I had had an accident. Well, what can I do now. It's done. What is done is done. Just dab your lip until it dries.
I'm not quitting though even if I have to walk to Maine without the teeth. Keep my mouth closed. Eat on the side of my mouth.
I felt weirdly exhilarated. My depression of the last few days seem to have lifted. Exhilarated and bummed at the same time.
Blink and Momentum were at War Spur Shelter. Momentum, the retired nurse, had finished lunch and was leaving.
It looks pretty bad she said putting on her pack. Are you going to the next shelter? If you are then I'll see you there.
Then, she headed out.
Another guy came in and said I looked bad and asked me if I was going to quit.
No I'm not quitting I said, I didn't walk this far to just quit. I'm going to Maine.
I meant, he said, are you going to stay here. You are looking rough.
I don't know, I said.
Ok, well, see you on the trail.
I looked at Blink and wandered around in front of the shelter.
I'm not going to sit around here at-- what, 2:00-- I said, and feel sorry for myself all day and all night. I'm going on.
Blink looked at me and said, you are pale.
I think you need to get off the trail and go into town. I mean if you were me-- you would tell me to get off the trail wouldn't you? If I was in your shape, right?
That took me aback. I didn't realize I looked so bad. I guess so, I said.
I took a Selfie look and saw that my lip was bloody and about three times bigger than normal. I had some cuts that were running down the inside of the lip to the gum line.
I'm worried you have got hypothermia mate, Blink said.
Why don't we walk down to the road a few miles away and see if we can get service and call someone to pick you up.
I didn't want to really. I mean what could anyone do at this point? Nothing.
But I agreed to anyway because he might be right. I might not be in my right head. My paleness could be shock. It might be worse than I thought.
After you, he said, holding out his arm.
So I walked ahead of Blink. I have to admit that before this walk I thought Blink was a cynical obnoxious English curmudgeon. Now I realized that he is a cynical obnoxious English curmudgeon but one with a heart.
When we got to the dirt road there was no cell service. I told Blink that I didn't want to walk down the road into some uncertainty of finding service or any vehicle.
I can do this I told him and told him to walk ahead of me. I didn't want to hold him back. They didn't call him Blink for nothing.
We began climbing and I could tell we were in the high thirties temperature-wise. After about 6 miles of steady climbing up a long steep hill I had made peace with my throbbing lip and was watching the ground very closely.
I was bushed at the top of the hill and told forty-four year old Blink to go on. I rested ten minutes and then it started to rain.
Oh boy.
I went up through a rain storm and two more steep hills and then came down through a trail lined with rhododendrons that had turned into a rushing stream. Dancing back and forth along the trail, trying to avoid the water (as if my shoes weren't already soaked) certainly took my mind off my mouth if nothing else.
Everyone was wet at the shelter. Yogi gave me three of his heavy-duty pain pills that he had acquired from his dentist, and I changed into dry clothes and put my wet sweaty ones in a freezer bag.
Blink was hanging up his clothes. What for I thought. The humidity doesn't allow anything to dry.
I found a magazine lying about and stuffed my wet shoes with it. Newspaper is better but what the heck.
I'd see how I felt in the morning.
I had some good sleep and was feeling a little spry. I wanted to do a fourteen mile day and left earlier than everyone else because I was ready to get on the trail.
I didn't expect to have an accident, but I did anyway, about fifteen minutes after leaving the shelter.
It happened very quickly. I was humming a little Ray Charles tune, crossing the usual path of wet algae soaked rocks, noting that these rocks were wider and flatter than usual.
I dug my poles into some dirt inside the spacing of rocks and then on the next stride my poles must have struck rock because they slid down and backwards and my momentum pushed me forward and down too.
Then I realized my face was sitting on an flat algae-laden rock.
I stood up and felt something tumbling around in my mouth: I spit it out along with some blood and realized that they were my two front teeth.
When I was a kid I had hit a pothole on my bicycle and tumbled over the bars onto the pavement, knocking out my front tooth and scarring my upper lip.
Then, in my twenties, when I was in the theatre biz, I had both front teeth capped and still later I had a bridge made for both teeth. It was a fine bridge and looked great and I had had it for many years.
Now the bridge was in my hand. I took out a freezer bag from my pack and put the teeth in it. Then I grabbed some toilet paper and began soaking up the blood that was dripping from my lower lip and the spot where my front teeth used to be.
Momentum came by and saw me standing about and asked if I was all right.
I did a faceplant I said.
Yeah, it looks like you cut your lip. Lucky you didn't break your glasses. I'm really going to have to watch my step today. It's really muddy.
Then Yogi came by.
You OK, he asked.
Yeah, I'm fine I said turning away.
Yeah, it's going to be a nice day.
Yeah.
I walked about half mile with the toilet paper in my mouth, feeling my lip throbbing and aching. Then I came across a stream and washed my mouth out in the cold water. It felt good.
I walked seven miles to the Warspur shelter. I don't remember what hills I walked up or down.
I was thinking that I might have to walk to Maine without any front teeth. What a drag. If I went to Nashville it could take weeks to get the impression and send it off to the lab. So much time off the trail.
I couldn't believe that I had had an accident. I wasn't keeping my eye on the ball. I had lost focus. I hadn't watched my step and hadn't been entirely focused and I had had an accident. Well, what can I do now. It's done. What is done is done. Just dab your lip until it dries.
I'm not quitting though even if I have to walk to Maine without the teeth. Keep my mouth closed. Eat on the side of my mouth.
I felt weirdly exhilarated. My depression of the last few days seem to have lifted. Exhilarated and bummed at the same time.
Blink and Momentum were at War Spur Shelter. Momentum, the retired nurse, had finished lunch and was leaving.
It looks pretty bad she said putting on her pack. Are you going to the next shelter? If you are then I'll see you there.
Then, she headed out.
Another guy came in and said I looked bad and asked me if I was going to quit.
No I'm not quitting I said, I didn't walk this far to just quit. I'm going to Maine.
I meant, he said, are you going to stay here. You are looking rough.
I don't know, I said.
Ok, well, see you on the trail.
I looked at Blink and wandered around in front of the shelter.
I'm not going to sit around here at-- what, 2:00-- I said, and feel sorry for myself all day and all night. I'm going on.
Blink looked at me and said, you are pale.
I think you need to get off the trail and go into town. I mean if you were me-- you would tell me to get off the trail wouldn't you? If I was in your shape, right?
That took me aback. I didn't realize I looked so bad. I guess so, I said.
I took a Selfie look and saw that my lip was bloody and about three times bigger than normal. I had some cuts that were running down the inside of the lip to the gum line.
I'm worried you have got hypothermia mate, Blink said.
Why don't we walk down to the road a few miles away and see if we can get service and call someone to pick you up.
I didn't want to really. I mean what could anyone do at this point? Nothing.
But I agreed to anyway because he might be right. I might not be in my right head. My paleness could be shock. It might be worse than I thought.
After you, he said, holding out his arm.
So I walked ahead of Blink. I have to admit that before this walk I thought Blink was a cynical obnoxious English curmudgeon. Now I realized that he is a cynical obnoxious English curmudgeon but one with a heart.
When we got to the dirt road there was no cell service. I told Blink that I didn't want to walk down the road into some uncertainty of finding service or any vehicle.
I can do this I told him and told him to walk ahead of me. I didn't want to hold him back. They didn't call him Blink for nothing.
We began climbing and I could tell we were in the high thirties temperature-wise. After about 6 miles of steady climbing up a long steep hill I had made peace with my throbbing lip and was watching the ground very closely.
I was bushed at the top of the hill and told forty-four year old Blink to go on. I rested ten minutes and then it started to rain.
Oh boy.
I went up through a rain storm and two more steep hills and then came down through a trail lined with rhododendrons that had turned into a rushing stream. Dancing back and forth along the trail, trying to avoid the water (as if my shoes weren't already soaked) certainly took my mind off my mouth if nothing else.
Everyone was wet at the shelter. Yogi gave me three of his heavy-duty pain pills that he had acquired from his dentist, and I changed into dry clothes and put my wet sweaty ones in a freezer bag.
Blink was hanging up his clothes. What for I thought. The humidity doesn't allow anything to dry.
I found a magazine lying about and stuffed my wet shoes with it. Newspaper is better but what the heck.
I'd see how I felt in the morning.
May 13 Niday Shelter 685 miles
Cloudy this morning but no rain. My lips were swollen and I felt a large bulge down in my lower lip.
Blink's clothes on the line were drenched with sweat and water. I put my wet socks in a freezer bag. Guess I would wear my sleeping shirt and shorts and socks.
I put my dry socks in a freezer bag and stuck them in my wet shoes to keep my one pair of dry socks and my feet dry.
Blink's clothes on the line were drenched with sweat and water. I put my wet socks in a freezer bag. Guess I would wear my sleeping shirt and shorts and socks.
I put my dry socks in a freezer bag and stuck them in my wet shoes to keep my one pair of dry socks and my feet dry.
The streams outside the shelter were flooded. The usual rocks we prance across were underwater.
I straddled a mossy log over one stream and then had to make two flying leaps from a jog onto rocks to reach the bank with the other stream.
I straddled a mossy log over one stream and then had to make two flying leaps from a jog onto rocks to reach the bank with the other stream.
Old feisty Blink who is a short man, looked at the first stream and said f*** it and walked through both streams in his shoes.
But an hour later the sun broke through and I went over some pretty pasture and rolling hills and cows grazing in the distance.
Then the trail fell into a swamp, Sinking Creek, which was covered with foot boards that had been hammered down across the wetlands. Then then I crossed a paved road and took a steep ascent into the woods.
Then the trail fell into a swamp, Sinking Creek, which was covered with foot boards that had been hammered down across the wetlands. Then then I crossed a paved road and took a steep ascent into the woods.
In the woods by a clearing I saw Keefer Oak which at 18 inches round and three hundred years old, is the largest tree on the AT.
Then I climbed up below a cell tower and phoned my wife.
One thing I have learned through doing 12 Step work is to make amends quickly and thoroughly, especially with my wife.
I apologized for being down the other night. I was tired. I felt lonely and uncared for.
Well, I have to say I lost some of my love for you when you said you didn't care about home.
I apologized for being down the other night. I was tired. I felt lonely and uncared for.
Well, I have to say I lost some of my love for you when you said you didn't care about home.
She said she had been tired too and that she had a world of medical problems with her sisters, not to mention helping your father.
Well, I said, we both need give each other a little loving compassion.
Well, I said, we both need give each other a little loving compassion.
I mentioned my accident. My wife said that had to meet someone so couldn't talk. We will see if we can get a partial sent to you Monday when the dentist opens she says.
What do you mean by partial, I said. I don't get that. I'm missing my two front teeth.
Your partial. Your partial. I gotta go.
Well. That was a wonderful conversation, I thought. Loved the sympathy.
What do you mean by partial, I said. I don't get that. I'm missing my two front teeth.
Your partial. Your partial. I gotta go.
Well. That was a wonderful conversation, I thought. Loved the sympathy.
I climbed a ridge and crawled over a big slab and sat down for a tuna packet lunch. Then a couple came by and looked at me and gave me a tube of Neosporin.
Then to add to my missing parts scenario, I reached down for some water at a stream and realized that the glasses that I have hanging from a string on my neck were missing a lens. The screw into the frame had fallen out and so had the lens.
Great. Now I'm missing teeth and an eye. I need to lose an ear to complete the cosmic joke.
Great. Now I'm missing teeth and an eye. I need to lose an ear to complete the cosmic joke.
Blink and Momentum were at Laurel Creek Shelter. It was a nice clear night and we ate together and I found a level spot and set up my tent. Two different hikers came in with dogs. One had a boxer and the other had a hound dog.
Some dogs can handle the trail. But I believe most cannot. It is very rough on their paws and it is very tiring. I see dogs plopping down any time the master stops trying to get a little rest.
A boxer on the trail is especially a bad idea. Those dogs can not handle the heat. One summer, at my local park, I saw a boxer die from heat exhaustion. The master was jogging and thought that water was enough. It wasn't. Water doesn't cool them off like it does a human being and they don't sweat like we do either.
Some dogs can handle the trail. But I believe most cannot. It is very rough on their paws and it is very tiring. I see dogs plopping down any time the master stops trying to get a little rest.
A boxer on the trail is especially a bad idea. Those dogs can not handle the heat. One summer, at my local park, I saw a boxer die from heat exhaustion. The master was jogging and thought that water was enough. It wasn't. Water doesn't cool them off like it does a human being and they don't sweat like we do either.
I was debating whether to go to Trail Feast tomorrow in the afternoon, starting at 1PM. It would cut my day short. But it would be nice. I could walk into the night.
May 14. Trout creek VA 620 693.9 miles
Stayed in the tent most of the morning and left at 12:30 and arrived two miles later at 1:30.
It was a nice clear day. Before arriving I walked past the Audie Murphy monument. Murphy was not only a popular actor, but the most decorated American soldier of World War II.
At a little gravel parking spot down by a road, VA 621, a number of ladies were setting up chairs and tables and covering them up with salads, pies and cakes, and chicken and lasagna. There were Cokes and PowerAde in Styrofoam boxes.
One lady told us that they have providing the Feast for 6 years and it was arranged by a former hiker. She appreciated we hikers because being on the trail we took some of the beauty of nature and the creatures we came across, even a millipede, and took it back into your lives, making the world a better place.
I thought it was a nice little speech and had to give her hug for it.
Peace, peace, she said.
After eating such good food, some were ready to sleep right there.
But I put in 8 miles and found a group of tents down by gravel road and pulled in with them. It had been a nice day.
At a little gravel parking spot down by a road, VA 621, a number of ladies were setting up chairs and tables and covering them up with salads, pies and cakes, and chicken and lasagna. There were Cokes and PowerAde in Styrofoam boxes.
One lady told us that they have providing the Feast for 6 years and it was arranged by a former hiker. She appreciated we hikers because being on the trail we took some of the beauty of nature and the creatures we came across, even a millipede, and took it back into your lives, making the world a better place.
I thought it was a nice little speech and had to give her hug for it.
Peace, peace, she said.
After eating such good food, some were ready to sleep right there.
But I put in 8 miles and found a group of tents down by gravel road and pulled in with them. It had been a nice day.
May 15 Four Pines Hostel, Va 624, Newport Gap 701 miles
I had tented with Blink and the couple with the two huskies. I left about 8:30 and crossed a couple of nicely built footbridges and then climbed up and across some very rocky slabs and came out at Va 311 where there was a map of the National Park.
I came out at Dragon's Tooth which is a very dangerous rocky area. The trail becomes a rocky ledge about a foot wide that winds its way around the rock. I was surprised that the AT Conservancy allowed this on the trail. Very precarious with a pack on and many yards down from the ledge to the ground.
Then I descended into Lost Spectacles Gap which was a very pretty spot with blooming pink rhododendrons and white mountain laurel. A nice place for lunch under a large oak tree.
I came out at Dragon's Tooth which is a very dangerous rocky area. The trail becomes a rocky ledge about a foot wide that winds its way around the rock. I was surprised that the AT Conservancy allowed this on the trail. Very precarious with a pack on and many yards down from the ledge to the ground.
Then I descended into Lost Spectacles Gap which was a very pretty spot with blooming pink rhododendrons and white mountain laurel. A nice place for lunch under a large oak tree.
About a mile later I came out VA 624, Newport Rd. where I had heard about the Four Pines Hostel. And when I got there, long haired and long bearded Joe was in his truck and taking people to the local grocery store for resupply.
After a little resupply, Joe took us back to his place. His land had a house for him and his wife and a building that was a workshop that had been converted into a room of couches and cots and beds. He also had a barn that he put people up in and plenty of chickens running around the yard.
Some liked Joe's place. Some thought there was too much drinking and smoking for their taste.
I am not the party animal I used to be but tonight I threw back four PBR's and a pile of ribs that Joe cooked and I taught the young Husky couple" (what are their names?) how to play Spades.
Joe's place brought me back to the old high school "Fast Times..." days in Alpharetta, Ga. Those days before I had to get a real job.
Around nine-thirty, very late for this hiker, I retired to a cot in the workroom and snored away with about twenty-five other smelly hikers.
Joe had a shower but no towels. Oh well. I left a nice donation anyway.
After a little resupply, Joe took us back to his place. His land had a house for him and his wife and a building that was a workshop that had been converted into a room of couches and cots and beds. He also had a barn that he put people up in and plenty of chickens running around the yard.
Some liked Joe's place. Some thought there was too much drinking and smoking for their taste.
I am not the party animal I used to be but tonight I threw back four PBR's and a pile of ribs that Joe cooked and I taught the young Husky couple" (what are their names?) how to play Spades.
Joe's place brought me back to the old high school "Fast Times..." days in Alpharetta, Ga. Those days before I had to get a real job.
Around nine-thirty, very late for this hiker, I retired to a cot in the workroom and snored away with about twenty-five other smelly hikers.
Joe had a shower but no towels. Oh well. I left a nice donation anyway.
May 16 Lambert's Meadow Shelter 718.1
I left Joes at 8:30.
It was a cloudy day but nice hiking weather, kind of cool.
After about 6 miles, I came to VA 311 and saw from a Forestry sign that I could take a fire road that ran alongside the trail and that that road might be much easier than the AT.
So I took it. And when I got to the point where I was to turn off to McAfee Knob, the most photographed rock on the trail (where people are perched on a ledge that seems suspended in space), I had forgotten about the Knob and continued down the unused fire road and around the Knob. Oh well.
I was in a hurry because I wanted to get into Daleville by May 17th to see the dentist on May 18th.
My wonderful wife had arranged for me to see one and I set it up with the dentist for May 18th in Roanoke early in the morning. My wife said she they had a lab there and that I could get an impression done in the morning and have me out of there by the afternoon.
Wow. For a bridge? That is fast I thought.
It was a cloudy day but nice hiking weather, kind of cool.
After about 6 miles, I came to VA 311 and saw from a Forestry sign that I could take a fire road that ran alongside the trail and that that road might be much easier than the AT.
So I took it. And when I got to the point where I was to turn off to McAfee Knob, the most photographed rock on the trail (where people are perched on a ledge that seems suspended in space), I had forgotten about the Knob and continued down the unused fire road and around the Knob. Oh well.
I was in a hurry because I wanted to get into Daleville by May 17th to see the dentist on May 18th.
My wonderful wife had arranged for me to see one and I set it up with the dentist for May 18th in Roanoke early in the morning. My wife said she they had a lab there and that I could get an impression done in the morning and have me out of there by the afternoon.
Wow. For a bridge? That is fast I thought.
May 17 Daleville 729 Miles
It was a nice walk into Daleville. There was a nice view of a lake from high up that looked like a giant puddle cradled precariously as a raindrop between two hills and it was a beautiful blue sky day.
After eleven miles, the moderate terrain and the AT ended abruptly onto a noisy traffic laden highway. It's still shocking to come out of days of silence in the woods and into a bustling modern industrial society.
After eleven miles, the moderate terrain and the AT ended abruptly onto a noisy traffic laden highway. It's still shocking to come out of days of silence in the woods and into a bustling modern industrial society.
I took out my trusty AT guide and figured I'd meet my friends at Three Pigs Restaurant where they provided hikers with free banana pudding. We hikers are so easily pleased--especially when it comes to food, which is half of all the conversations on the trail.
I saw the Howard Johnson down the street and a gas station. At the gas station I got directions to the outfitters and the restaurant. I walked half mile down the highway to the strip mall and went into the restaurant and ordered food.
Fifteen minutes later Momentum walked in and joined me. She was taking her friends slack packing in a couple of days. She wasn't zeroing but neroing and going back out on the trail. I told her I was going to Roanoke by Uber to get my teeth fixed. We'd meet again somewhere down the trail.
After eating, I went to the outfitters and bought some new soles for me shoes and a bamboo shirt that the salesman recommended (that I later sent home. It got soggy easily and was heavy. Polyester blend is best for humidity. But I love my light cotton t-shirt for sleeping in.)
Most important I got the name of a Hiker Mom in Roanoke who was said by a fellow hiker to house hikers. I called her from outside the store. Her name was Karen and she said she only helps those with an emergency situation.
After hearing of my situation, she said that I fit the bill and said she would pick me up in the morning after the dentist took impressions and bring me back that afternoon for the permanents. How nice of her!
Fifteen minutes later Momentum walked in and joined me. She was taking her friends slack packing in a couple of days. She wasn't zeroing but neroing and going back out on the trail. I told her I was going to Roanoke by Uber to get my teeth fixed. We'd meet again somewhere down the trail.
After eating, I went to the outfitters and bought some new soles for me shoes and a bamboo shirt that the salesman recommended (that I later sent home. It got soggy easily and was heavy. Polyester blend is best for humidity. But I love my light cotton t-shirt for sleeping in.)
Most important I got the name of a Hiker Mom in Roanoke who was said by a fellow hiker to house hikers. I called her from outside the store. Her name was Karen and she said she only helps those with an emergency situation.
After hearing of my situation, she said that I fit the bill and said she would pick me up in the morning after the dentist took impressions and bring me back that afternoon for the permanents. How nice of her!
I checked into the Howard Johnson, run by an Indian couple, and bought pizza and chocolate milk, which I crave, at the gas station next door, and then put my legs up for the night. The toilet didn't run thank god.
May 18 Roanoke 729 Miles
I caught an Uber car to the dentist. The dentist looked at my mouth and said that he could not do the bridge in one day. My wife he said had told them I had a partial, not a bridge.
Damn.
I was about to leave and then asked the dentist if they did bridges?
Yes he said but it might not be installed until next Wednesday and this is Thursday. Almost one week.
I called Karen and told her of the situation and she said she would allow me to stay in her home for the week.
I got the cost and the insurance deductible and after talking with my wife, sat down for a few hours to get an impression made and a temporary installed.
Then I ubered to Karen's house. There, I met her husband, Byron, (there are few of us Byron's out there so that was odd.) Karen was at her mother's house.
I walked .5 miles to Walmart and loaded up with food for a few days and went down to the basement where there was a small fridge, a TV, a microwave, and a nice patio. After putting things up, I lied down on the couch, turned on C-Span, and fell asleep.
Later that night I met Karen. What a nice lady!
May 19 Roanoke, Va. 729 Miles
Karen and Byron are so nice. They lent me their SUV and I did a resupply at Walmart, bought a shirt at the Thrift Store, and ate a nice breakfast. I rested, ate, and slept in the basement of Karen and Byron's home.
May 20 Roanoke, Va. 729 Miles
Byron offered me a chance to slack pack today but I knew rest was more important. My gums were sore from the temporary's and I felt exhausted.
I bought some ice cream and wine for my hosts and their lovely daughter who had come to visit; and they in turn shared a pork chop with me and we had a nice dinner on the deck of their suburban home.
I was feeling much better.
May 21 Mt. Cove Shelter (19 miles SOBO)
Left on Sunday morning and planned on a three day outing southbound from Thunder Ridge overlook back to Troutville/Daleville.
Southbound had more hills going downhill; especially the four mile and 2 1/2 thousand feet hill from Floyd Mtn. down to the renowned Bryant Ridge Shelter. The hill looked arduous going North uphill.
.
Byron dropped me off at Thunder Ridge Overlook, a couple of miles north of the Thunder Hill Shelter. My goal was Bryant Shelter.
I was very happy going South and downhill to Bryant Shelter. I passed a lot of struggling people climbing the hill. I have to admit I was feeling rather smug telling people they had a mile or so more up the hill as if I was being nice about it. People like myself can be such jerks.
Along the way I met Englishman Blink who informed me that I was walking the wrong way.
I told him it was a mile or two uphill and he just shrugged and walked on. Love that guy.
I also ran into Daisy (she has a Daisy tattoo on her neck), smoking a Pall Mall and resting up.
This hill sucks she said.
Yeah, but you only have an hour or so more of it, I said.
After ten miles I hit Bryant Shelter, a very nice shelter with a couple of levels that could fit 20 people. Most shelters are a three-sided lean-to that fit six people.
There was a lady and her dog there.
It was two o'clock and I decided I still had the gumption to do eighteen miles to Cove Shelter and so shoved on.
I met the couple with the huskies and recommended Bryant to them--they always tent because of their dogs. There was enough room to house their dogs in it.
Along the way I met an elderly lady in a straw hat, a Ridge Runner, carrying clippers and a rake, who was cutting vines and taking fallen branches off the trail. She had been doing this for fifteen years.
God bless these people and all the hiking groups and associations along the two thousand mile plus trail who volunteer their time to make hikers like myself have an easier time of it.
It was five o'clock and the Ridge Runner suggested that I camp out at Jennings Creek because it was a steep climb to Cove Mountain Shelter and no water source. But I wanted to push on. I told her I didn't drink much water. You should she said.
My feet were sore after nineteen miles of walking. My feet had gotten soft again after a few showers and four days of no walking.
There were four twenty-somethings in the shelter, laughing and playing cards.
Why do people think I'm stupid a girl said.
I got in my bag and fell asleep around seven-thirty.
May 22 Troutsville, Roanoke Va.
I woke up at six-thirty, ate a couple of power bars, and left the young people sleeping away at seven-thirty. The girl who wondered why people thought her stupid was up in her bag eating peanut butter out of a jar.
Be safe she said as I stepped onto the misty trail.
Thank you I said.
Kindness is better than intelligence in my stupid opinion.
I stopped after six miles at Bobblets Gap Shelter where I met Lightening and Sherpa. Sherpa was going off the trail after hitting 800 miles. He was sick of the mud and the rain and the dirty dusty shelters. He was bored of the views. They all look the same he said. I signed his pack Crocs.
Lightening brought out a pipe and smoked some pot.
It makes the hike a little smoother he said.
Some people smoke pot or have a flask of liquor with them on the trail. I have no problem with it. It's your hike and you can hike it as you wish.
I do have a problem with it if you are doing it around people who object to drugs (including liquor) around them. There is no reason why smokers can't go behind the shelter or into the woods and light up.
I personally like to have my head together when I hike.
It was rocky and foggy after I left Bobblets Gap Shelter but the elevation stayed at around 2000 feet with lots of PUDS, pointless ups and downs. I was headed to Fullhardt Knob Shelter, fourteen miles away from Bobblets. That would be a twenty mile day.
I set out ready to do it.
A few miles out I noticed that the AT paralleled the Blue Ridge Parkway. Why am I walking over rocks and roots when I could be walking asphalt I thought.
Because you are walking the AT the AT Purist said.
But I'm still walking the distance I said to myself so what does it matter? I said to myself as I stepped across a few logs and almost fell down a steep embankment to the highway.
Following my AT guidebook I walked six miles on the highway and then got back on the trail. Along the way I saw some very nice views that I would not see on the trail because of the fog.
I didn't and don't regret my decision.
Then I walked eight miles to Fullhardt Knob Shelter. When I got there it was five oclock.
Why stay here the night when it is only four more miles to Troutville? I could get in on Monday night, rest up Tuesday and
Wednesday and get my bridge in Wednesday at five.
So I walked a few miles and called Karen who was surprised to hear from me so soon and she called Byron to pick me up in a half an hour.
I had a half an hour to reach the road and the map showed it was all downhill. I booked it and when I got to the bottom of the hill I crossed a fence into a pasture. The road had to be close.
Then I looked up and noticed there was a hill from hell in front of me. Straight up. Damn, you gotta be kidding me.
I was overtired and breathing heavily.
I needed a rest and looked at the guidebook and noticed a little line going up through the word Troutville. There was the hill.
I booked it up that hill, took a picture at the top (had to rest), and fell down the hill to the road and Byron wasn't there.
About five minutes later he showed up and I suggested we eat at a diner that Karen said was around. I felt he might want to do join me.
We ate at a reconverted Waffle House with a patio.
I was hobbling in the parking lot, wearing my tongs,and could barely keep my eyes open through two large chocolate milks and a large salad and baked potato.
I got to the house, took a shower, and went to bed.
I had done 23 miles, my longest day on the trail. .
I had also covered 42 miles in two days, my longest run.
It began raining that night.
May 23 Roanoke
I woke up sore of course and can't totally remember what I did that Tuesday; mainly lying around and soaking my feet in a bucket with Epson Salt.
It rained all day. I was glad to be inside.
May 24 Roanoke Va.
Karen loaned me her car and I ate at Denny's; then bought her her favorites, glazed donuts and Oreos, and some gelato for Byron.
Then, at five, I drove twenty minutes to the dentist and had my permanent bridge put in.
That took about forty-five minutes.
I sat up and talked with Karen and her daughter. Karen has helped many hikers throughout the years just like me and is one beautiful soul. I love knowing her and having had the chance to meet her.
I wrote some on my blog that night which was weeks behind. Not much though. I had a big day tomorrow. It would be muddy after all this rain.
It's going to thunder and rain tomorrow lovely and kind Karen said. Maybe you should consider leaving Friday.
No rain, no pain, no Maine, quote I.
May 25 Matts Creek Shelter 782.1
I was expecting a muddy trail on a thirteen mile walk to Matts Creek Shelter but not what I got.
Karen took me up to Thunder Ridge Lookout this morning and after a heartfelt hug goodbye and I set off down the path to Matt's Creek Shelter.
About six miles into the walk, I noticed water streaming from uphill down onto the trail. It was as if a small river was pouring down from the hill through the grass and shrubs. The trail was a river and the trail's bank was loaded with water. I saw that the water ran down to the trail as it switch backed below me.
Now this was a challenge.
I had to walk along the bank stepping from stone to stone and around and into shrubbery for about a mile. It was tedious but I didn't want to walk in wet shoes. Blink would have walked in it I thought. But my Gore-Tex "waterproof" shoes held water more than his trail shoes, drying out slower.
But I did it and came out about an hour later with just some damp shoes and socks. Yeah!
A few miles later I met Lumberjack who was separated from her married couple partners; they were a day or two ahead of her. We walked from Petites Gap for a few miles and then ran into Jay Bird and Towhee, the Birdies couple.
They told us that the stream a few miles north was flooded and impassable. The river was rushing hard and there were people tenting up alongside it, waiting for it to go down.
They were going back the six miles that Lumberjack and I had just traversed to catch a shuttle.
So wait at the river or go back and catch a shuttle to town. Maybe I thought, I could catch a shuttle around the Creek.
So we back the six miles, meeting up with a young guy named Knight-ro on the way who joined us on our trek back.
It wasn't all bad. The Birdies walk slowly but I hung back with them and learned about some bird calls (the pileated woodpecker sounds like a howling monkey) and about some plants, flee leaves in three (poison ivy) and you will know wild sassafras if the plant has leaves as if designed by Peter Max, curvy and psychedelic.
We waited two hours at the road for the shuttle. He took the Birdies and Lumberjack to town. Knightro and I waited for him to come back and take us to the road before the next shelter. I had just got out of town.
He came back an hour later and it was raining. He dropped us off at the highway beyond the very high James River and we walked up to the shelter, having to take off our shoes and wade a stream along the way.
May 26 Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Knightro and I left together around 8AM and after a few miles I powered ahead of him. Then a couple of hours later he passed me while I was eating a snack and airing out my feet on the trail.
I crossed another flooded stream by jumping from a rock in the stream onto the roots of a downed large mossy log and then climbing carefully over the roots to straddle the log like a horse and inch my way across with my pack.
Then I had to stand up from the straddled position so I could stand on the log. That really tested my thighs. But I did stand up shakily, and was able to grab a branch before I fell over the side.
Then I walked across a mushy beaver dam to the bank.
Whew!
May 18 Roanoke 729 Miles
I caught an Uber car to the dentist. The dentist looked at my mouth and said that he could not do the bridge in one day. My wife he said had told them I had a partial, not a bridge.
Damn.
I was about to leave and then asked the dentist if they did bridges?
Yes he said but it might not be installed until next Wednesday and this is Thursday. Almost one week.
I called Karen and told her of the situation and she said she would allow me to stay in her home for the week.
I got the cost and the insurance deductible and after talking with my wife, sat down for a few hours to get an impression made and a temporary installed.
Then I ubered to Karen's house. There, I met her husband, Byron, (there are few of us Byron's out there so that was odd.) Karen was at her mother's house.
I walked .5 miles to Walmart and loaded up with food for a few days and went down to the basement where there was a small fridge, a TV, a microwave, and a nice patio. After putting things up, I lied down on the couch, turned on C-Span, and fell asleep.
Later that night I met Karen. What a nice lady!
May 19 Roanoke, Va. 729 Miles
Karen and Byron are so nice. They lent me their SUV and I did a resupply at Walmart, bought a shirt at the Thrift Store, and ate a nice breakfast. I rested, ate, and slept in the basement of Karen and Byron's home.
May 20 Roanoke, Va. 729 Miles
Byron offered me a chance to slack pack today but I knew rest was more important. My gums were sore from the temporary's and I felt exhausted.
I bought some ice cream and wine for my hosts and their lovely daughter who had come to visit; and they in turn shared a pork chop with me and we had a nice dinner on the deck of their suburban home.
I was feeling much better.
May 21 Mt. Cove Shelter (19 miles SOBO)
Left on Sunday morning and planned on a three day outing southbound from Thunder Ridge overlook back to Troutville/Daleville.
Southbound had more hills going downhill; especially the four mile and 2 1/2 thousand feet hill from Floyd Mtn. down to the renowned Bryant Ridge Shelter. The hill looked arduous going North uphill.
.
Byron dropped me off at Thunder Ridge Overlook, a couple of miles north of the Thunder Hill Shelter. My goal was Bryant Shelter.
I was very happy going South and downhill to Bryant Shelter. I passed a lot of struggling people climbing the hill. I have to admit I was feeling rather smug telling people they had a mile or so more up the hill as if I was being nice about it. People like myself can be such jerks.
Along the way I met Englishman Blink who informed me that I was walking the wrong way.
I told him it was a mile or two uphill and he just shrugged and walked on. Love that guy.
I also ran into Daisy (she has a Daisy tattoo on her neck), smoking a Pall Mall and resting up.
This hill sucks she said.
Yeah, but you only have an hour or so more of it, I said.
After ten miles I hit Bryant Shelter, a very nice shelter with a couple of levels that could fit 20 people. Most shelters are a three-sided lean-to that fit six people.
There was a lady and her dog there.
It was two o'clock and I decided I still had the gumption to do eighteen miles to Cove Shelter and so shoved on.
I met the couple with the huskies and recommended Bryant to them--they always tent because of their dogs. There was enough room to house their dogs in it.
Along the way I met an elderly lady in a straw hat, a Ridge Runner, carrying clippers and a rake, who was cutting vines and taking fallen branches off the trail. She had been doing this for fifteen years.
God bless these people and all the hiking groups and associations along the two thousand mile plus trail who volunteer their time to make hikers like myself have an easier time of it.
It was five o'clock and the Ridge Runner suggested that I camp out at Jennings Creek because it was a steep climb to Cove Mountain Shelter and no water source. But I wanted to push on. I told her I didn't drink much water. You should she said.
My feet were sore after nineteen miles of walking. My feet had gotten soft again after a few showers and four days of no walking.
There were four twenty-somethings in the shelter, laughing and playing cards.
Why do people think I'm stupid a girl said.
I got in my bag and fell asleep around seven-thirty.
May 22 Troutsville, Roanoke Va.
I woke up at six-thirty, ate a couple of power bars, and left the young people sleeping away at seven-thirty. The girl who wondered why people thought her stupid was up in her bag eating peanut butter out of a jar.
Be safe she said as I stepped onto the misty trail.
Thank you I said.
Kindness is better than intelligence in my stupid opinion.
I stopped after six miles at Bobblets Gap Shelter where I met Lightening and Sherpa. Sherpa was going off the trail after hitting 800 miles. He was sick of the mud and the rain and the dirty dusty shelters. He was bored of the views. They all look the same he said. I signed his pack Crocs.
Lightening brought out a pipe and smoked some pot.
It makes the hike a little smoother he said.
Some people smoke pot or have a flask of liquor with them on the trail. I have no problem with it. It's your hike and you can hike it as you wish.
I do have a problem with it if you are doing it around people who object to drugs (including liquor) around them. There is no reason why smokers can't go behind the shelter or into the woods and light up.
I personally like to have my head together when I hike.
It was rocky and foggy after I left Bobblets Gap Shelter but the elevation stayed at around 2000 feet with lots of PUDS, pointless ups and downs. I was headed to Fullhardt Knob Shelter, fourteen miles away from Bobblets. That would be a twenty mile day.
I set out ready to do it.
A few miles out I noticed that the AT paralleled the Blue Ridge Parkway. Why am I walking over rocks and roots when I could be walking asphalt I thought.
Because you are walking the AT the AT Purist said.
But I'm still walking the distance I said to myself so what does it matter? I said to myself as I stepped across a few logs and almost fell down a steep embankment to the highway.
Following my AT guidebook I walked six miles on the highway and then got back on the trail. Along the way I saw some very nice views that I would not see on the trail because of the fog.
I didn't and don't regret my decision.
Then I walked eight miles to Fullhardt Knob Shelter. When I got there it was five oclock.
Why stay here the night when it is only four more miles to Troutville? I could get in on Monday night, rest up Tuesday and
Wednesday and get my bridge in Wednesday at five.
So I walked a few miles and called Karen who was surprised to hear from me so soon and she called Byron to pick me up in a half an hour.
I had a half an hour to reach the road and the map showed it was all downhill. I booked it and when I got to the bottom of the hill I crossed a fence into a pasture. The road had to be close.
Then I looked up and noticed there was a hill from hell in front of me. Straight up. Damn, you gotta be kidding me.
I was overtired and breathing heavily.
I needed a rest and looked at the guidebook and noticed a little line going up through the word Troutville. There was the hill.
I booked it up that hill, took a picture at the top (had to rest), and fell down the hill to the road and Byron wasn't there.
About five minutes later he showed up and I suggested we eat at a diner that Karen said was around. I felt he might want to do join me.
We ate at a reconverted Waffle House with a patio.
I was hobbling in the parking lot, wearing my tongs,and could barely keep my eyes open through two large chocolate milks and a large salad and baked potato.
I got to the house, took a shower, and went to bed.
I had done 23 miles, my longest day on the trail. .
I had also covered 42 miles in two days, my longest run.
It began raining that night.
May 23 Roanoke
I woke up sore of course and can't totally remember what I did that Tuesday; mainly lying around and soaking my feet in a bucket with Epson Salt.
It rained all day. I was glad to be inside.
May 24 Roanoke Va.
Karen loaned me her car and I ate at Denny's; then bought her her favorites, glazed donuts and Oreos, and some gelato for Byron.
Then, at five, I drove twenty minutes to the dentist and had my permanent bridge put in.
That took about forty-five minutes.
I sat up and talked with Karen and her daughter. Karen has helped many hikers throughout the years just like me and is one beautiful soul. I love knowing her and having had the chance to meet her.
I wrote some on my blog that night which was weeks behind. Not much though. I had a big day tomorrow. It would be muddy after all this rain.
It's going to thunder and rain tomorrow lovely and kind Karen said. Maybe you should consider leaving Friday.
No rain, no pain, no Maine, quote I.
May 25 Matts Creek Shelter 782.1
I was expecting a muddy trail on a thirteen mile walk to Matts Creek Shelter but not what I got.
Karen took me up to Thunder Ridge Lookout this morning and after a heartfelt hug goodbye and I set off down the path to Matt's Creek Shelter.
About six miles into the walk, I noticed water streaming from uphill down onto the trail. It was as if a small river was pouring down from the hill through the grass and shrubs. The trail was a river and the trail's bank was loaded with water. I saw that the water ran down to the trail as it switch backed below me.
Now this was a challenge.
I had to walk along the bank stepping from stone to stone and around and into shrubbery for about a mile. It was tedious but I didn't want to walk in wet shoes. Blink would have walked in it I thought. But my Gore-Tex "waterproof" shoes held water more than his trail shoes, drying out slower.
But I did it and came out about an hour later with just some damp shoes and socks. Yeah!
A few miles later I met Lumberjack who was separated from her married couple partners; they were a day or two ahead of her. We walked from Petites Gap for a few miles and then ran into Jay Bird and Towhee, the Birdies couple.
They told us that the stream a few miles north was flooded and impassable. The river was rushing hard and there were people tenting up alongside it, waiting for it to go down.
They were going back the six miles that Lumberjack and I had just traversed to catch a shuttle.
So wait at the river or go back and catch a shuttle to town. Maybe I thought, I could catch a shuttle around the Creek.
So we back the six miles, meeting up with a young guy named Knight-ro on the way who joined us on our trek back.
It wasn't all bad. The Birdies walk slowly but I hung back with them and learned about some bird calls (the pileated woodpecker sounds like a howling monkey) and about some plants, flee leaves in three (poison ivy) and you will know wild sassafras if the plant has leaves as if designed by Peter Max, curvy and psychedelic.
We waited two hours at the road for the shuttle. He took the Birdies and Lumberjack to town. Knightro and I waited for him to come back and take us to the road before the next shelter. I had just got out of town.
He came back an hour later and it was raining. He dropped us off at the highway beyond the very high James River and we walked up to the shelter, having to take off our shoes and wade a stream along the way.
May 26 Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Knightro and I left together around 8AM and after a few miles I powered ahead of him. Then a couple of hours later he passed me while I was eating a snack and airing out my feet on the trail.
I crossed another flooded stream by jumping from a rock in the stream onto the roots of a downed large mossy log and then climbing carefully over the roots to straddle the log like a horse and inch my way across with my pack.
Then I had to stand up from the straddled position so I could stand on the log. That really tested my thighs. But I did stand up shakily, and was able to grab a branch before I fell over the side.
Then I walked across a mushy beaver dam to the bank.
Whew!
M
No comments:
Post a Comment