Saturday, May 23rd - (At Jenny's Knob Shelter) - Got up at 5:45, clear but quite damp; I guess we were just at or above the dew point by dawn, so the humidity was just starting to condense out out on everything. Hiked hard for about 2 hours, then stopped for breakfast at a nice overlook (actually I forced myself to stop, since I was doing so well).
Once again drinking a lot of water. Crossed "Dismal Creek" (what a name!) and its tributaries multiple times, so water wasn't a problem for the first part of the day. Leapfrogged several times with Windbreaker (Patrick, the former Philmont staffer at Rich Cabins). Got to Wapiti Shelter (about 14 miles in) and ate lunch there, now noticeably hot (1st time over 80 on my thermometer); no one else there, but another sectional hiker arrived just as I was leaving. Just after Wapiti, the trail climbed about 1500 feet over about 2 miles to get back up on the ridge. Tough hiking in the heat of the day - and no more water once I reached the top of the ridge, either. So back to water-rationing again, a few swallows every 30 minutes.
No butterflies today, so I guess May 22nd was the big dance, and I hope no one missed it! But I did have two "interesting" bits of Trail Magic: First, I began hearing banjo music (shades of Deliverance, perhaps?), and about a quarter mile later I found Patrick playing his trail banjo at a rock overlook with a great view of the valley below. He's pretty good, actually! Then an hour or so later I came up on Patrick again, photographing a deer near the side of the trail - but when I walked up, it turned out he was photographing a newborn fawn, still wet and barely able to stand up yet. Something I have never seen in all my years in the woods. The doe (a quite large doe, I will add), was watching us from about 20 feet away, but didn't seem all that concerned about our presence. Nonetheless, I decided against taking off my pack, which I felt might startle or agitate her, and we moved on a minute later. So no photos for me, but a pretty amazing interlude anyway.
As we climbed further up the ridge, the trail deteriorated again - very rocky, especially from Horse Gap to Sugar Gap to Doc's Knob Shelter, and my right shin and left knee both started complaining pretty loudly. Let's just say that taking a zero day in Pearisburg was looking more attractive with each step. Patrick split off at Sugar Gap to go to the Wood's Hole Hostel, which had been advertised in shelters and at road crossings for 20 miles. I suspected that most northbounders would be going there, but since I was planning to be in Pearisburg the next day, a hostel stay didn't seem worth it. The situation with my right shin, and a steep, half-mile long downhill to the hostel, both played a role in that decision!
As it turned out, I was alone in pushing on past the hostel. Finally reached Doc's Knob Shelter just before 7:00 pm, pretty good for 23 miles (for me, anyway). That makes just over 100 miles in 5 days, which for me is pushing pretty hard. There was a single southbound sectional hiker at the shelter, Dick Brown, about 60 years old; he had through-hiked the A.T. about 10 years ago. Nice guy. No one else showed up, so I'm guessing Wood's Hole was doing a booming business. Checked the Register - Yoon had come through 8 days before, Happy 4 days before, and others I know (Salty Dog, Thunderpants and Sis, Rusty, Holdout, etc.) were all 1 or 2 days in front of me. Drank a liter and a half of water with dinner, and needed it. Hit the rack around 8:45, with the intent to get up at 5:30 am and push on into town early. A good day but another long one.
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