Day 37 - Nearing Virginia

Sunday, May 10th - Had a few spritzes of rain overnight. Got up at 6:30 am, 48 degrees,
windy, but reasonably clear overhead. We were tent camping on a saddle on a side trail several hundred yards down from the VanderLeer Shelter, which had been full when we arrived yesterday. The trail led another 200 yards further down to a water source, which I had
struggled down and back up from the previous night. Four other people camped on the saddle with us, one solo guy and a trio of girls (The Birds) in a 3-man tent. Not the safest campers we had seen, but having a fire the night before kept them safe despite cooking meals in their tents and hanging their bear bags over their tents.

We got going about 7:10 or so, with the long climb back up to the shelter being a tough start to the day. No one had left the shelter or surrounding area yet by the time we passed, so we're first out again. Found a plastic canteen about a half mile up the trail, and carried it (empty) in hopes of reunification, but alas, that never happened (we ended up leaving it in the Hiker's Box at the Mt. Rogers Outfitters in Damascus the next day). At 8:30 we stopped at a nice overlook for breakfast, could STILL see Lake Watauga - the thing is huge, we've been passing it now for 2 days. Had 4 bars on the phone - doubtless there's a c.p. tower somewhere above the lake - so I made a bunch of phone calls, including to my parents to wish my mom a Happy Mother's Day, and also to Pete Davey to let him know that I was back online again (as it were). Mark also called his mom and wife Brenda, and we finally made reservations at a B&B in Damascus (the Montgomery Homestead). We were lucky to get even that, as all the less expensive accommodations were already locked up for the entire week by people zeroing in Damascus right through Trail Days.

After about an hour we continued on, under bright, sunny skies, our best day in quite a while. The trail here was also much better than we had seen almost since starting the trek. Ate lunch at a memorial (possibly the gravesite???) of a well-known hermit who had resided here in the late 1800's/early 1900's; he died in 1923, and the memorial was erected in 1925. [Sorry, I have forgotten the name. -Ed. - His name was Nick Grindstaff, or 'Nick the Hermit'] This guy apparently made a fortune out west in the 1800's, was robbed of every penny, and returned to this area to live out his life in total seclusion. He was 72 years old. The memorial was built into the original chimney of his house. The rather stark epitaph read: "He lived alone; he suffered alone; and he died alone." I think I'll pass on that life-choice, thanks anyway...

Continued on past 2 shelters, both empty - we were trying for the Abingdon Shelter, 23 miles in, only 10 miles from Damascus. It is very small (5 spaces), so we had no expectation of sheltering there, but rather knew we'd have to tent camp. But it would be a water source, anyway. Passed several roads as we hiked, but no trail magic today, even though it was a Sunday - I guess we're getting greedy now after all the luck we've had with weekend Trail Magics. At one road crossing we found a hiking companion, Salty Dog (John); he was linking up with relatives for lunch. His cell phone (Sprint) didn't work there, so I let him use mine, and he was able to confirm his location with them (in fact they showed up just as we were leaving).

Another long climb after that, then rolling country to the first of several occupied campsites, which we continued past. We decided to fill up on water at a creek along the way in case we preferred or had to stop before we made the shelter. We finally ran out of energy around 7:00 pm, and took an unoccupied site about 3 miles short of the Abingdon shelter. And again, we expected the shelter and nearby tent sites to be a zoo anyway. So a 20 mile day, not bad, and "only" a 13 mile semi-nero to Damascus tomorrow. And also about 10 miles to the TN/VA border. After setting up and eating dinner, Mark turned on the weather band radio, and we were both stunned to hear that (despite the nearly clear skies overhead) we had a 70% chance of rain after midnight. So we completed a full camp setup, and once again battened down the hatches and got everything under cover. As it turned out, it started raining around 2:45 am, arriving suddenly and fairly hard. I must say, this rain sure is getting old! But as the saying goes: "No Pain, No Rain, No Maine." Well, we've had plenty of the first two so far!
- Bob