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[Editor's note: My comments are in square brackets - Wendy]
April 19, 2001 - Near Rte 600 (Elk Garden)
Miles: 23.8 Time 11 hr
I got an early start out of Damascus this morning despite the facts that I got in late from evening dinner and that the hostel was noisy until after midnight. Amber, Elf, Pocahontas, and Morphine, who shared a bunkroom with me, also wanted to start early, but they were all still sound asleep when I slipped quietly out.
It was still quite cold this morning but by mid-afternoon, I was hiking in a short sleeve shirt. The trail twice follows the "Virginia Creeper" bicycle trail for a short distance. On the second stretch I got quite a bit of cycling traffic. One fellow on a bike stopped to ask me whether he was travelling north or south on the AT. (He was going south). The morning hike was relatively easy and I took a fairly long break at Lost Mountain Shelter sitting in the warm sun chatting with "Roscoe", a thruhiker from Onatario (?), Cananda. The top of Whitetop Mountain still has a lot of snow, some drifted to about a foot depth but nothing very difficult to navigate.
It took some time to get settled this evening as I took a bit of effort to find a snow-free spot out of sight of the road. I had a foil pack of tuna with wheat thins for dinner. It was quite good and satisfying.
April 20, 2001 - Near Hurricane Campground
Animals: Lots of deer; lots and lots of wild horses, including very young colts
Miles: 23.3 Time: 11 hr
It was cold, overcast, and windy this morning as I went over Mt. Rogers and through the Grayson Highlands. Both still had extensive stretches of drifted snow (up to 18") and where the previous day's hikers had tromped through slush, it had refrozen into icy footprints leading to a lot of slippery, awkward walking. The views were good, though, and today's sightings confirm that the wild horse population is doing very well indeed.
I was going to stop at Thomas Knob shelter to have a snack out of the cold wind but there were three hikers still asleep there at 9:45am! I managed to find a sheltered spot in the rocks a short distance further on.
There were too many southbound day hikers and weekenders to count in the Mt. Rogers / Grayson area but I didn't see anybody the rest of the day. The thruhiker population has finally thinned out. As nearly as I can tell there were only about a dozen through here in the previous five days.
The sun made a valiant effort to come out and made brief appearances between one and three in the afternoon but it is now overcast again and it sprinkled for about a half minute around 6pm. I don't think it is going to be as cold tonight.
April 21, 2001 - Near USFS 644
Birds seen (s) and heard (h): Whippoorwill (h)
Animals: 1 lizard
Miles: 24.0 Time: 11 hr
Despite the overcast and few moments of rain yesterday, I once again slept "under the stars". It actually did get clear for a while during the night. I woke up a couple of times to find the stars shining brightly. By morning, though, it was overcast again.
I met several crews from PATH (Piedmont Appalachian Trail Hikers) out on their "every third Saturday of the month" maintenance trip. I talked for a while with a couple of people from one group and they gave me a banana and an apple. They also offered to send an e-mail home in case I needed anything. I didn't, but I sent greetings to "home control" and mentioned that I enjoyed the banana chips. They would normally be a bit sweet for my taste but I can't stop eating them here on the trail. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.
I passed a group of (I presume) thruhikers having pizza at Partnership Shelter. The shelter is near the Mt. Rogers National Recretion Area headquarters and Pizza Hut will deliver there!
When I arrived at Chatfield Shelter I found that it had been taken over by a group of seven in just for the night, so I pushed on another 0.3 miles and found a nice spot just past the road. I broke my FIFTH walking stick of the trip today and I have dragged a dead tree into the campsite to attempt to make #6.
The sun made an appearance around midday and it is still clear this evening. It got warm enough to hike in a short sleeve shirt today, but it is rapidly getting cooler as the sun goes down.
I found one of those mini-carabiners that everybody has. I don't know what it's useful for, but I clipped it onto one of my pack zipper pull-tabs, so now I'm right in style.
April 22, 2001 - Lick Creek
Flowers: Dandelion, Buttercup, Gill-over-the-Ground, Columbine
Birds: Redwing Blackbird (s,h), Rose-breasted Chat (h), Meadowlark (h), Field Sparrow (h), Falcon (s), Cardinal (h)
Miles: 21.1 Time: 11 hr
I was quite warm walking today. The sun was hot and there are no leaves on the trees yet. I did a "short-term" resupply at the mini-mart / Texaco truck stop this morning. The popular item there seemed to be cigarettes, which people were buying 5-10 cartons at a time. I met "Corndog" there - he had stayed at a nearby motel along with "Soar, a.k.a. Ralph". They are camped somewhere around here this evening along with a half-dozen weekenders/section hikers.
The milestones for the day are one month on the trail and 1/4 of the trail completed.
April 23, 2001 - Laurel Creek
Snake: 1
Miles: 21.3 Time: 11 hr
It was another day with relatively moderate air temperature but hot walking in the sun with no leaves yet on the trees. (Some of the deciduous trees are beginning to show a hint of green). This problem was compounded by the fact that most of the morning and early afternoon hike were along the top of Chesnut Ridge where water is scarce. There are good views of Burkes Garden (nicknamed "God's Thumbprint"), a large, somewhat circular valley to the west. It is green and rolling and dotted with farms.
Once again, there are a half dozen or so other campers aound, but once again, I have found myself a fairly quiet spot away from the group. I managed to fall into the stream this evening while getting water. I guess that's one of nature's way of providing a bath and laundry. My clothes have almost dried while writing the journal entry but the boots will have to dry while walking tomorrow.
April 24, 2001 - Kimberling Creek
Flowers: Dogwood
Snakes: 1
Miles: 25.4 Time: 10.75 hr
Just north of last night's camp somebody had built up a raised three-foot square flower garden off to one side of the trail. It contained daffodils, pansies, and grape hyacinths. The weather today was overcast, cooler, and with sprinkles. It appears to be a weak cold front, so I suspect not a lot of rain will be associated with it. I have unrolled the tent, ready to pitch if need be, just in case, though.
And today was ham radio day. I saw a car parked with call letter licence plates and talked to the fellow driving. It turns out it was his uncle's car and he was waiting for his uncle to return from turkey hunting this morning. Then, not ten minutes later, I met "Gadget" and "Slack" getting a late start out of Bastian. It turns out that they are ham operators also and that their housesitter, "Lone Star", had just gotten his licence just so he could play with all the ham gear around the house.
April 25, 2001 - Near Pearisburg (North)
Flowers: Painted Trillium, Phlox
Miles: ~26 Time: 12.5 hr
It was a nice easy going walk this morning along relatively flat trail in a mixed evergreen / deciduous forest. After a short, sharp climb up a mountain, the trail followed along an old road for most of the way along the ridge top. Several good views of the valley toward the east were to be had in the the last few miles before Pearisburg, but it wasn't clear to me which rock outcrop was supposed to be "Angel's Rest".
I saw an unusual animal on the way into Pearisburg. It bounded down the hill and then stopped about 100 yds from me. After a staring battle of a half minute or so, it turned and ran the other way. It was definitely a cat of some sort. It was about the size of my backpack, very fluffy looking, and brown. I would have guessed a bobcat but I'm sure I saw a reasonable length tail as it bounded away. Actually, it looked for all the world like a lion cub.
I stopped at the market near the New River bridge and picked up a few things to last me to my next mail drop / resupply. The only thing I bought on a whim was a bag of peanut butter cup "miniatures", which was a mistake, because I've eaten half of them already instead of saving them for hiking.
From where I'm camped, I have a beautiful view of the lights of the Pearisburg Celanese plant at night.
April 26, 2001 - Wind Rock
Birds: Chestnut-sided Warbler (?) (s,h)
Flowers: White Trumpet Trillium
Miles: 24.8 Time: 11.75 hr
I met three "southbound" thruhikers today, none of which were really southbound. The first was "Mountain Man" who was slack packing (hiking without his pack), having gotten a ride from Pearisburg to some road to the north. He was disappointed that I didn't have a trail name and insisted that "We'll have to do something about that". The other two were newlyweds "Mailman" and "Caboose" out on their honeymoon doing an "inverse flip-flop" (Harpers Ferry to GA followed by Harpers Ferry to ME). They said that this was recommended to them in an REI co-op seminar on hiking the trail as a way to avoid the spring crowds in the south. They also mentioned that they heard that the crowds were getting so bad that there was serious thought of limiting the number of people who could start from Springer on a given day.
Caboose was also worried that I didn't have a trail name and suggested "full cycle" for my work-hike-work-hike history. But to be a real full cycle, I'd have to go back to work!
April 27, 2001 - Sarver Cabin
Miles: 18 Time: 11 hr
Except for one view of white farm buildings with perfect green roofs, there was nothing notable trailwise today. The weekend has started and I saw three Virginia U. students just starting out for a weekend.
About noon, I noticed some abdominal pain but didn't pay much attention to it. By 4:30, it had become so bad that is was difficult to walk. I loosened my hip belt and let the pack hang from my shoulders, but that didn't seem to help much. It took me most of two hours to go the final mile and a half to the turnoff to Sarver Camp. I at first thought that I would camp on the ridge and just go down the 0.3 mile steep trail for water but I was afraid that even with no pack I might not make it back up. As of right now, the pain has localized on the left, a little toward the back. I have been vomiting, very unusual for me. It seems to be mostly water. I have moved my wallet from my pack to my pocket so I won't forget it (ID, health card, etc.) if I need to leave my pack behind tomorrow and work my way to the nearest road.
April 28, 2001 - Lost Spectacles Gap
Birds: Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Flowers: Azalea, Fire Pink
Animals: 3 Goats
Miles: 20.4 Time: 11.25 hr
Well, I had to get up to urinate at three in the morinig and, amazingly, I felt fine. In fact, I was very thirsty and drank about a half quart of water with no ill effect. I felt just as well this morning and spent some time looking at maps and mileages trying to decide what to do. I finally decided to proceed forward cautiously and bail out at the least indication of a repeat of yesterday's problem. But there wasn't a hint of anything wrong today. All systems seem to be functioning normally. I have been drinking a lot of water, though.
When I got up this morning, I was immediately buzzed by a hummingbird. It took me a moment to convince him that I was not a flower (the red jacket fools another bird!). A couple of miles out of camp, I was accosted by three goats who insisted on licking my arms, pants, shirt, etc. In the Niday Shelter log, about 4 miles further on, I read numerous accounts by other hikers who had the same experience. Apparently, these three goats just hang around the trail all day eating the vegetation and waiting for the salt licks to walk by.
I saw several million girl scouts today. They were "helping" to maintain the trail in the Brush Mt. / Trout Creek area.
April 29, 2001 - Lamberts Meadow Campsite
Birds: Scarlet Tanager
Flowers: Blackberry, May Apple, Mustard (type To Be Identified)
Miles: 17.1 Time: 10 hr
It was yet another nice day for hiking - sunny and cool. It was a bit crowded aound Rte 311 with lots of day hikers out enjoying a Sunday and admiring the view from McAfee's Knob. It is quite a spectacular view and you get a repeat of the same view at a slightly different angle from Tinker's Cliffs with far fewer (i.e. none) people. Due to camping restrictions, this is as close as I can get to Rte 11 and my mail drop pickup tomorrow.
There has still been no hint of a repeat of the mysterious ailment that afflicted me on the 27th.
April 30, 2001 - Troutville, Va
[No trail journal entry provided - will probably arrive on the next stagecoach]