Nice cool morning, but you could tell it was going to be hot again. We wanted to get to Jennings Creek early in the afternoon so we could go for a swim, but 17 miles still takes a bit of time to walk. A few miles past the shelter I came upon our first crossing of the Blue Ridge Parkway. After that, I was walking along the road about 20-40 yards off in the woods. Then the trail crossed the road again. Then again. It was kind of weird, but we popped out of the woods at the viewpoints, which was nice.
I caught up with the group at a picnic table for a snack. We all left at different times, then saw each other at the next shelter getting water. I stopped to have lunch, but caught up with Little Foot and Timon before another road crossing. We hiked together to the next shelter where there was no water, but there was one Achilles the Red. We chatted before pressing on the last 3 miles to the creek while thunder could be heard in the distance.
Then all of a sudden we were there! We quickly set up our tents while the sky continued to rumble, and just after all the gear was safe under waterproof canopies, it began to rain. Although I thought I would just hop in the river with all my sweaty clothes on while it rained, when it actual came down to it, I was too chilled to do so.
We knew there was a campsite off the trail a mile with a store, so our motley crew left our tents in the rain with Sandbagger and eased on down the road. The store was minimal, but we shot a game of pool while our burgers cooked, then we got hot dogs to grill for dinner. It had pretty much stopped raining for the return walk. Back at our tents we found that Sandbagger had collected an amazing amount of fire wood and had it separated in piles by size. What a guy.
Left Field got the fire going and, after a group trip to the river to soak our feet, we made dogs and chatted it up. So, I didn't get to swim today (Little Foot and Left Field got in, I think), but maybe in the morning...?
Tomorrow is going to be a hard hiking day. We go from 951 feet (here at the creek) over 2000 foot Fork Mountain, back down to 1320, then back up to 4225 feet at Apple Orchard Mountain. I shall eat a hearty breakfast...
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[[Note: I would absolutely love it for anyone to come meet me out here. But I'm afraid I don't know where everything is on the trail ahead of me. Lots of questions like "where does highway x cross the trail in PA?" or "are there picnic tables near the trail head at mile x?" or "how many miles is it from x shelter to x town?" are questions I would have to research. I don't have a computer out here, and I [sadly] rarely have cell/3G service (ugh AT&T!!!). And my trail book isn't always as helpful as I'd like it to be (very few maps). There's a link to the ATC's interactive map on this blog page, on the right. The map is really good to show where roads meet up with the trail and other information. It's very helpful!!
Oh, and if you are planning to meet me out here (to hike or just to say hi), it's best to either pick a place or to pick a day. If you have BOTH picked, I can try to do my best to make it happen, but it can be difficult to pace out, especially when I am hiking with a group. I'll do my best to be flexible though!]]
-- Posted from the trail...
Location:Campsite at Jennings Creek
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