Day 56: A Tights Night

The frogs were still croaking in the morning and the chill was still in the air. Little Foot got an early start on everybody, but I beat the boys out around 9. Lovely lovely morning walk! Crisp, dry air... Downhill or flat... And beautiful wooded scenery in the morning sunlight... A little spiderwebby, but it was ok.


I didn't see anyone until I ran into Little Foot and Moped at a great spot by the creek. Warm sun, cool rushing water, a foot bridge. LF has just had a swim and was headed up to the shelter a mile away. Moped left a bit later after the boys showed up. I soaked my feet and took a photo of the snake, then ate lunch with Xan and Neutron. Delightful.

After almost an hour, I headed up to the shelter while the boys stayed at the creek. Lovely shelter spot! Only Moped was there, reading, so I picked up a magazine that was there and read an article before taking a nap. Slept about an hour (?). Woke up when Alpine made her way in. Chatted with her and then Sandbagger and his friend, Jolene, showed up. Chatted a bit more before geting on my way. The boys were still down by the river!



More pleasant hiking before coming to US 60. There were a few miles by the creek that used to be inhabited by a small community of freed slaves around 1900. There were still reminants of foundations and walls along the trail. Apparently the land was sold to the Forest Service in 1920. It was cool to walk through a little history.

At the road, Little Foot was chatting it up with Superman (who I hadn't seen since Demascus) and Cope (whom I hadn't met yet, but had seen his entries in the shelter registers). They had just been in town and they had a Wendy's chicken sandwhich for me!! Aw yeah. Chatted in the shade with them at the picnic table until the boys finally caught up. We were all procrastinating before the big climb of the day. A 2000 foot climb up to 4000 feet in 2.8 miles. That's twenty football fields up (minus the end zones). And then we came back down to 3100 in one mile, the back up to 4000. Tough climb, but good temperature for it and a few nice lookouts along to way to catch a glimpse of the views. The rumor is that Virginia is flat. Not so. But Virginia does have flat parts, though, which most other states seem to lack. So the rumor should be: Virginia isn't flat, but it HAS flat.



I caught up with the boys plus "John in the Woods" and Papa Smurf at the summit of Cold Mountain. We snacked and watched the sun set for a while before getting chilled and moving on the 1.3 miles to the campground we were aiming for. When we got to the road, Loon and East Wind were there with a bunch of friends. We chatted with all of them (East Wind's wife was in town - all the way from Hawaii!!!), and we got an update on Loon's leg. He had fallen a few days ago and now it looked quite bad. A good bump below the knee AND swelling/discoloration in the ankle/foot. And his toes were painted orange!?! He's still walking on it though.

We set up our tents at the campsite and ate dinner as the light faded. Chilly chilly up here! Definitely a night for tights. Will sleep fast as we will try to catch the free lunch offered at a hostel/B&B called the Dutch Haus about ten miles away. Lunch begins at 11am, so we'll try to get outta here by 7:30....?

(17.6)


-- Posted from the trail...

Location:Hog Camp Gap