TRAIL DAY 73
Tue, May 3, 2016 There was nothing unusual about rising and departing the shelter that morning – except IT DIDN’T HAIL!
Wildcard left before me without a word. It was another overcast, wet morning. Better rain than hail – at least for the sake of the tent.
A little over a mile in, I crossed Price Ridge Road (VA 608) which the trail followed for a little bit and then turned back into the woods. Less than 50 yards from the road, there sat Wildcard in short growth along the right side of the trail. He was having a snack – or maybe his breakfast. He did not look or act as if he intended Theo or me harm.
“You spooked me when you asked me my trail name,” he said.
I should note that, for a thru-hiker, nothing is more common than to ask a fellow hiker his trail name.
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” I said.
There were some inconsequential niceties intended by me to keep him calm and non-combative. I wanted him to think, “Hey! He’s OK No point in roughing up his day.”
I bid him “Good-bye” and went on my way. He would surface again.
AWOL notes that Trent Grocery is (0.5W) on VA 606 which is 6.4 miles from the shelter and .1 mile beyond a suspension bridge over Kimberling Creek. I believe this bridge is the first built-for-thru-hikers structure I saw as a NOBO on the AT. It inspired awe and amazement at the time, effort and expense of trail officials to make a thru-hike of the AT possible. I had a little fun with Theo as we crossed.
Surely these structures weren’t there “in the early days” of the trail – when Earl Shaffer, born in York, Pennsylvania, known as “The Crazy One,” did the trail in 1948 or when Grandma Gatewood, one of 15 children and mother of 11, did the trail in 1955, 1960 and 1963. There was a lot more road walking then and maybe that’s how they got around difficult river crossings. I will be forever grateful that the road walking is minimal now and grateful, too, for the dedication that has kept the trail in the woods no matter the obstacles.
The (0.5W) road walk to the Trent Grocery was optional and not part of the AT. But – they had food! Oh. . .you will hear more about food. You will be amazed at what a thru-hiker can eat and I’m not just talking about the thru-the-roof metabolism of someone like Magic Man. I’m talking about your average Sojo.
At Trent’s I ordered a couple of burgers with toppings and a coooold soda! Oh! That went down so easy. Wait until I get to New York.
As I was sitting in a Formica-benched booth, in came Wildcard. I had seen him outside while I was hanging out with another hiker who had a dog. I wish I could have gotten a covert frontal picture of Wildcard but had to settle for the one inside from the back.
While having my lunch, I heard conversation from a group of young guys behind me. I turned around and saw a table with 4 young men and one fellow who seemed to be their leader, maybe 5-10 years older. The leader was telling tales and giving advice about this or that and the young men seemed to accept his words freely and happily. There was none of the you-think-you’re-so-cool or we-don’t-have-to-listen-to-you in anything said. It was more like thank-you-for-your-interest-in-our-affairs and we’re-grateful-to-have-your-guidance-and-your-company. I was mindful of my suburban New York upbringing, the not-so-thin layer of cynicism I carry, loss of innocence and mild nostalgia for a time long gone, beyond memory. Feeling other-than, I was still happy for the men around that table and the goodness they shared.
I left Trent’s, the animal traps and logging operation and returned to the woods. In 1.8 miles I came to the (0.3W) trail to Dismal Falls. It was mid-to-late afternoon and there was another 6.2 miles to the Wapiti Shelter where I planned to spend the night. Did I want to make it a 6.8 mile trek?
I decided to make the side trek. The guys behind me at Trent’s were there. We all dunked and took pictures as Theo watched.
The water was good and cold and set off my Raynaud’s disease which is caused by blood vessels going into spasm and restricting blood supply to a region of the body. It goes away.
The fellas hiked on in their suits while I bundled up. They would surely be at the shelter long before me.
I remember the long trek from the turnoff to the falls northbound past the raging stream called Dismal Creek. The sound of rushing water was incessant to the point that I began, as I would at other times farther north, to look forward to a reprieve.
A short one came with a nice surprise. Two of the ladies from MOJO’S were heading southbound. They were happy to do sections, in either direction I guess. Some people would check the terrain ahead and figure whether it would be easier to take it SOBO or NOBO. For me, anal and unidimensional, one way! NORTH!
It was delightful to meet these ladies from Damascus again. I wish I could remember their names. I would see them again and one of them months later. It was as if the trail made you cousins or something – you were related – we were family out there.
We bid our happy hellos to one another and continued on our separate ways.
More rushing water and then, at last, a turn away from Dismal Creek and the return of forested balm. En route, I saw a sign that said 2.1 miles to the shelter. What followed was another time like the one that preceded the pine grove on Mount Rogers. Your bones tell you somebody has made a mistake. “Surely I have gone 2.1 miles already. . .surely, I have. . . . What the bleep?” I remember thinking 2.1 had turned into 3.7 at least. I think my bones were right.
The guys were already cooking supper at the shelter. I talked to the leader and asked him if he’d send me the pictures he took of me dunking in the pool beneath the falls. He said he would but I guess right then wasn’t the time. “Thanks.”
I pitched my tent just north of the shelter not far from some rhododendrons and hung my food north of the tent in a large tree. I can picture everything, including the orientation of my tent and crawling in with Theo. I’m glad I didn’t know some things about this location I learned later. Wildcard would have been all the more on my mind. I slept well.
Day #73 Jenny Knob Shelter > Wapiti Shelter 14.5 miles