Behold, Virginia!
M and I have enjoyed good weather on this trip. I mean, we have had ridiculously good weather, especially for starting in early March. I can count on one hand the number of days that we've spent trudging through rain, but it's bound to happen sometimes.
Just north of Sarver Hollow Shelter, we passed a tree that had been struck by lightening during the previous day's storm. Given that it had been raining most of the night, it was rather disturbing that the tree was STILL on fire. I won't be hanging out on the ridgeline during a thunderstorm anytime soon. The fog that we woke up to didn't lift all day. The leaves have come out, so the forest was a muted version of the brilliant green of spring.
Along the ridgeline, we scrambled across a lot of wet, exposed rock face, barely keeping our footing. The views would have been spectacular, if not for the thick and persistent fog. Our rain gear became soaked from the inside out and the outside in. As the day progressed, the rain continued, and it didn't seem like it was going to stop any time soon. My shoes were soaked all the way through, so that every step I took made a little squishing sound. We were planning to make it to the Pickle Branch Shelter, and despite the weather, were doing ok with pacing, making the shelter long before dark. However, when we got there, we found the shelter already full of hikers, who had been holed up all day waiting out the rain.
From under one of the sleeping bags, we heard, "There you are, Cocoa and Monkey..."
It was Flick! We had finally caught up with our long-lost hiking partner, who we had been separated from for the past several weeks. He had linked up with some very cool people and they all quickly moved over to let us in the shelter, even though there was hardly any room left. That night we slept with Jake, Golden Boy, Caboose, Pegasus, Bushwacker, CB and Flick in a 6 person shelter. It rained persistently through the night, but by morning it had stopped, with most of the moisture coming down from the soggy tree leaves. Bushwacker spent two hours cultivating a fire using wet wood and a little bit of dryer lint, and eventually had a fire going hot enough to nearly melt his shoes and enough to partially dry out our clothing. We set off for the Dragon's Tooth with Pegasus and Flick about ten o'clock in the morning. It was a real shame to hear that Pegasus and Caboose were getting off the trail to go to a wedding and then to return to the world of paid employment - among other things, their packs contained the travel version of Settlers of Catan. We wish Pegasus the best of luck as he embarks on his new teaching assignment in South America.
Again, the views from Dragon's Tooth are reportedly spectacular, but we could see nothing but a big white cloud. The rock formation was impressive though and Pegasus' voice rang through the valley as he scrambled to the top and shouted, "Behold! Virginia!" - which has become something of a catch phrase for M and I. We started down the mountain, and after a brief detour as I mistakenly went down into a ravine, instead of the trail, we made it to the road crossing at Catawba. We walked about a mile into town to the Homeplace Restaurant, where we met Wirenut and his wife, who was visiting him on the trail. They offered a ride into the next town that had a motel. Since my feet were so wet that three of my (already damaged) toenails had fallen off, our clothes soaking wet, our sleeping bags damp, we jumped at the chance, and in a blink of an eye, were speeding down I81 to Daleville, VA with Wirenut, Mrs. Wirenut and Johnny Mudd. God bless the Econolodge and their hiker rates.
So does this mean that M and I skipped a portion of the trail? Well, at that moment, yes. But the next day, Johnny Mudd made it possible for us to go back to Catawba and hike properly into Daleville, so we can still claim to be authentic thru-hikers, although we have to admit that we are a little weak in the face of temptation, when it comes to rainy weather and motels.
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