Tuesday, June 2nd - Up at 5:45, clear, 58 degrees, light breeze. As noted in yesterday's report, we were camped at the apex of an old power line or telephone line cut, since abandoned. This was roughly halfway between Lambert's Shelter and Troutville, so we had a 4 - 5 mile hike into Troutville. Got going at 6:20, easy trail, but already hot and getting hotter by the minute. Got to Rt. 220 around 8:45 - very busy place! Troutville is at the intersection of 220, I-81, and Rt. 11, and it was hopping so hard it was actually difficult (and dangerous) to cross the various roads. Stopped briefly at a Sunoco/Mini-Mart for some drinks and to check out the possibility for resupply (as previously noted, these little gas station mini-marts are often superior to grocery stores for short-term resupply, because they sell things in individual packets as opposed to 4's, 6's, 8's, etc., and we only needed about 2 1/2 days' worth).
After a bit we headed down about half a mile to the Shoney's for brunch, managing to avoid getting run over in the process. We found Fidget there (about 9:50), but he was already leaving - apparently his 10:30 invite was mis-dated; he had meant the previous day. "Oh well." Anyway, for the first time on this trip I managed to out-eat Mark at an all-you-can-eat buffet (it was more than pretty good). Mark called his mom to reassure her that we had made it and that Mark's new boots were working out for him. We spent an hour there, then headed across the street to the Dollar General, but they didn't have a lot of individually packaged stuff, so we ended up buying about half of what we needed there, then returned back up the street to the Sunoco for the rest. Quite hot by this point, and even more traffic.
Back on the trail at noon, walking through pasture-lands for a bit, with loud traffic noise from I-81 closely nearby (kind of a jarring disconnect and contrast). The open areas were saunas. Eventually we got back to the "actual" woods, and continued on to the Fullquart Knob (sp?) Shelter - no spring there, but rather a cistern system that collected water off the roof and purified it. Well, it was rather brownish, so I collected a liter and purified it twice, but decided to keep it in reserve - hopefully I'll be able to find something more appealling down the trail! Pushed on to the next shelter, passing Salt Pond Road (the 726 mile point, one third of the way to Katahdin!) on the way. Someone had scraped an AT symbol into the gravel there, which was kind of cool looking. Also we ran into Solar System and Naneek there, and Solar System was giving away large chocolate chip cookies that here grandmother had mailed to her (we got 2 each; they were pretty good). An unexpected trail magic (especially for a Tuesday)!
Came across a few creeks soon thereafter, so I used the brownish water from the last shelter to give myself a quick shower (head only), which felt most excellent, and refilled with better looking water. Pushed on to Wilson Creek Shelter; nice spot. The shelter only had two people inside, and maybe 8 more were camped around it, due to the number of biting bugs - a growing problem - we also tented it. Chachee and the Birds came in a bit later. I went down to the creek and gave myself a minor (and private) bath, and also washed my clothes, both issues being badly needed. "Slowly" walked back up the hill to avoid breaking a sweat. In all, probably 15 people were at the shelter by 8:30. Mark went to bed around 7:45, but I stayed up a bit longer to do recording and hang up wet laundry, etc. It was a pleasant night, but unfortunately interrupted regularly by those night birds (whipporwills?) that sing all night long, with a very loud and very distinct call; not good for a light sleeper! But clear, and with a light breeze. Total today, about 16 miles.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment