Wednesday, June 3rd - Got up at 5:45, surprisingly still clear, with a light breeze (the forecast had called for an overcast morning and thunderstorms late). Again got going around 6:20, nice trail to start (not as good later on). Reached the Blue Ridge Parkway about an hour after we started out, so another milestone passed. We stayed alongside the parkway on and off for awhile, but eventually took a large swing away after mid-day. Kicked out deer three times during the morning, came across a box turtle just off the trail, plus various skinks or lizards, a very large toad, and finally a rather sizable black snake (I got a picture of him).
Got hot again quickly again (which is why we're starting earlier and earlier, to avoid some of the heat at least to start). We're trying very hard to stay hydrated, but it ain't easy when you're humping heavy packs in hot and humid weather. At Bobbitt's Creek Shelter (off the trail by about a quarter mile or so), Mark watched the packs while I went down to get water for both of us. We drank everything we had left, then filled up both liters because the next shelter (Cove Mountain) was listed as having no water at all; not good when it's so hot out.
Started hearing distant thunder, eventually getting quite noisy - but it blew itself out on the ridgeline to our west. Then a second storm redeveloped to our east, but that one also missed us. We stopped for awhile at Jenning's Creek, about a half a dozen hikers there, where Mark semi-swam for a bit (I just waded for awhile). A nice relief from the heat, albeit temporary. Around 4:00 we pushed on to Bryant's Ridge Shelter, really humping it late as (finally) the weather closed in and a shower began to fall; so much for our swim/wade back at the creek. Made it just before the rain got heavy. The shelter is a really nice one (capacity about 20 people), but its placement is terrible - down at the bottom of this dark, wet ravine. Probably due to the mositure, the biting bugs were myriad here, and the shelter register was filled with complaints about them. And with good reason, as we very soon discovered - it was pretty bad overnight. Fidget, Andrew (and his dad and dog), and a couple who we didn't know, shared the shelter with us. We believe that most everyone else stayed at a commercial campground near Jenning's Creek.
The rain faded around 8:00 or so, but the bugs did not. One good note on a personal front; that being, the pain I have been experiencing in my right shin has finally faded away, about 2 weeks after I first injured myself. I can still feel it when I massage my shin, but I'm no longer getting shooting pains down my leg with every step. Thank You, Lord. 21 miles today, and we just (barely) reached the 750 mile mark. A good day, though not such a good night!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment