It's 9:20 p.m. and I'm at Chesnut Knob Shelter, 21 miles from
where I began hiking this morning at 9:30 a.m.. This is my longest
mileage day to date. Pretty wet day! Overcast all morning and
afternoon. It rained on me before I arrived at the first shelter 12
miles into my day. The sun came out strong, though, and dried
my clothes while I read and fixed dinner. I was so happy, I treated
myself to clean socks and underwear! Big Mistake! About 15
minutes after leaving the shelter, it showered on me again for a
good 1/2 hour! I spent the rest of the day soaked and damp.
The trip from that shelter to this one was a long nine miles of
climbing--except the last two miles which have run over the top of
this beautiful mountain ridge! The trail was nice, clear, and level! I
passed through open fields of flowers, tall grass, and cattails. The
mist from the rain was settling in the surrounding valleys.
I spooked several lone deer and then a group of 5 deer spooked
me. I didn't notice them in the tall grass until I was about 50 feet
away. They snorted and bounded off together toward the treeline,
their bodies arcing over the tall grass as they leaped away with
white tails flashing behind. I passed a small pond near the
shelter. A hiker in the register recorded that he caught 10 breem.
And I dumped my fishing tackle!
...This shelter is called the "Rock Hut", and that's what it is. It's
stone and fairly large --20' by 10' at least. It has surprisingly small
bunk space and a picnic table inside. There are two windows with
wooden shutters I've latched open and a wooden door I've tied
shut. It's in an open field. I hope it's a clear morning tomorrow. I
might get some views.
When I arrived here it was dark, so I had to break out the candles
right away. I've only two short candle knubs left! I have got to get
some more! Didn't get a chance to check the water source. The
guide book says the shelter spring is unreliable. Hope this rain
has it running.
I passed through a lot of pasture land and cattle today. Cow flop
city! Gotta watch my step! Trail followed about a mile of blacktop
back-country road. Nice rolling Virginia hills and farmland. Saw
many farmhouses and barns. Silos filled with I don't know
what--maybe corn, since I've seen a number of cornfields.
I passed white, clapboard homes with red brick chimneys
--sometimes three or four chimneys! Barns full of hay and wood.
Sheds stacked with cords of wood for the winter. Old dilapidated
shacks and sheds leaning with the tilt of the hills and threatening
to fall or already fallen with age. Cows staring dumbly, covered
with flies and waving their tails back and forth like pendulums.
Barbed wire fences and old farming/harvesting devices with
rusted, steel hooped wheels abandoned in the tall grass. A tired
looking white horse in a small square corral. A man in overalls
pounding nails in a tin roof rusted with age atop a weathered gray
barn. Shacks, faded and broken with empty windows, doors
falling off of their hinges, leaning in the weeds growing up their
steps and walls. Streams --brown and shallow and running fast
with hoof prints dotting the banks from thirsty cattle. An old
woman in an apron waving as I walk by. An old man in his yard,
rocking in a chair and whistling --working with something in his
hands I can't see. I wave. He waves.
There is a shiny, silvered chained fence bordering his yard. I
notice that it's made of pop-tops --aluminum beer tabs--thousands
of them linked together and strung between wooden posts.
My clothes are wet and hanging on a line I've strung up. My boots
are wet and I've taken the insoles out to dry. I'm on my second
candle knub. I saw a garden of sunflowers today. Tall and
drooping with flowers --some a foot across!
A friend asked me on the phone the other day if I ever wondered
what I was doing?
Yes, I said.
It was about 7:30 this evening and I was on a stump taking a
water break. I had just had a long half-hour climb up this
mountainside. I was wet from the rain and overgrowth. Sweating
--a lot. I had a red, torn bandanna thrown over my head with my
wet and misshapen hat pulled down over that. My boots
squished. I smelled bad. Flies on my arms and legs --some biting.
Gnats in front of my face, but the hat and bandanna keep them
from buzzing in my ears. It was wet and dark with three more
miles to hike before I arrived at this shelter. Alone and tired and...
"Yes," sometimes I do wonder what I'm doing.
But it's an experience. I'm having an "experience." Not watching
television or punching a time clock.
I saw seven deer today and one turtle --many cows and horses.
Flowers and butterflies. I was rained on and the sun shone on
me. I fell twice. I drank water from a spring and made macaroni
and cheese.
I'm lying on my sleeping bag on a wooden bunk in a rock hut at an
elevation of 4600 feet on a Virginia mountain. I can hear the mice
in the rafters and the crickets outside. The patter of rain of the tin
roof has stopped. Thunder rumbles occasionally. Long shadows
play on the stone wall, thrown by the flame dancing at the tip of
my candle.
My 56th day on the trail is ending.
where I began hiking this morning at 9:30 a.m.. This is my longest
mileage day to date. Pretty wet day! Overcast all morning and
afternoon. It rained on me before I arrived at the first shelter 12
miles into my day. The sun came out strong, though, and dried
my clothes while I read and fixed dinner. I was so happy, I treated
myself to clean socks and underwear! Big Mistake! About 15
minutes after leaving the shelter, it showered on me again for a
good 1/2 hour! I spent the rest of the day soaked and damp.
The trip from that shelter to this one was a long nine miles of
climbing--except the last two miles which have run over the top of
this beautiful mountain ridge! The trail was nice, clear, and level! I
passed through open fields of flowers, tall grass, and cattails. The
mist from the rain was settling in the surrounding valleys.
I spooked several lone deer and then a group of 5 deer spooked
me. I didn't notice them in the tall grass until I was about 50 feet
away. They snorted and bounded off together toward the treeline,
their bodies arcing over the tall grass as they leaped away with
white tails flashing behind. I passed a small pond near the
shelter. A hiker in the register recorded that he caught 10 breem.
And I dumped my fishing tackle!
...This shelter is called the "Rock Hut", and that's what it is. It's
stone and fairly large --20' by 10' at least. It has surprisingly small
bunk space and a picnic table inside. There are two windows with
wooden shutters I've latched open and a wooden door I've tied
shut. It's in an open field. I hope it's a clear morning tomorrow. I
might get some views.
When I arrived here it was dark, so I had to break out the candles
right away. I've only two short candle knubs left! I have got to get
some more! Didn't get a chance to check the water source. The
guide book says the shelter spring is unreliable. Hope this rain
has it running.
I passed through a lot of pasture land and cattle today. Cow flop
city! Gotta watch my step! Trail followed about a mile of blacktop
back-country road. Nice rolling Virginia hills and farmland. Saw
many farmhouses and barns. Silos filled with I don't know
what--maybe corn, since I've seen a number of cornfields.
I passed white, clapboard homes with red brick chimneys
--sometimes three or four chimneys! Barns full of hay and wood.
Sheds stacked with cords of wood for the winter. Old dilapidated
shacks and sheds leaning with the tilt of the hills and threatening
to fall or already fallen with age. Cows staring dumbly, covered
with flies and waving their tails back and forth like pendulums.
Barbed wire fences and old farming/harvesting devices with
rusted, steel hooped wheels abandoned in the tall grass. A tired
looking white horse in a small square corral. A man in overalls
pounding nails in a tin roof rusted with age atop a weathered gray
barn. Shacks, faded and broken with empty windows, doors
falling off of their hinges, leaning in the weeds growing up their
steps and walls. Streams --brown and shallow and running fast
with hoof prints dotting the banks from thirsty cattle. An old
woman in an apron waving as I walk by. An old man in his yard,
rocking in a chair and whistling --working with something in his
hands I can't see. I wave. He waves.
There is a shiny, silvered chained fence bordering his yard. I
notice that it's made of pop-tops --aluminum beer tabs--thousands
of them linked together and strung between wooden posts.
My clothes are wet and hanging on a line I've strung up. My boots
are wet and I've taken the insoles out to dry. I'm on my second
candle knub. I saw a garden of sunflowers today. Tall and
drooping with flowers --some a foot across!
A friend asked me on the phone the other day if I ever wondered
what I was doing?
Yes, I said.
It was about 7:30 this evening and I was on a stump taking a
water break. I had just had a long half-hour climb up this
mountainside. I was wet from the rain and overgrowth. Sweating
--a lot. I had a red, torn bandanna thrown over my head with my
wet and misshapen hat pulled down over that. My boots
squished. I smelled bad. Flies on my arms and legs --some biting.
Gnats in front of my face, but the hat and bandanna keep them
from buzzing in my ears. It was wet and dark with three more
miles to hike before I arrived at this shelter. Alone and tired and...
"Yes," sometimes I do wonder what I'm doing.
But it's an experience. I'm having an "experience." Not watching
television or punching a time clock.
I saw seven deer today and one turtle --many cows and horses.
Flowers and butterflies. I was rained on and the sun shone on
me. I fell twice. I drank water from a spring and made macaroni
and cheese.
I'm lying on my sleeping bag on a wooden bunk in a rock hut at an
elevation of 4600 feet on a Virginia mountain. I can hear the mice
in the rafters and the crickets outside. The patter of rain of the tin
roof has stopped. Thunder rumbles occasionally. Long shadows
play on the stone wall, thrown by the flame dancing at the tip of
my candle.
My 56th day on the trail is ending.
Aug. 25, 1990 --Saturday
| A Wonderful, Wet Day |
| Copyright 2008 by Lewis Harris. All rights reserved. |
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