Have you ever been in that state of sleep yet slight consciousness all night that you feel you didn’t sleep a wink? That’s how it was for me except after turning to get comfortable so many times, I began feeling like a rotisserie chicken! I also should mention this cat lady’s house is VERY close to the railroad that runs by at 10, 11, and 12 at night. Shouldn’t you mention that in your write up? I need a little humor here before the end of this blog so let me just describe this place.. she has kept DYMO Label maker in business by labeling virtually everything in the house, even huge long labels that don’t stick to wooden bedroom doors so well that say “keep door closed to keep cats out”. To say you needed a sticker for that was hilarious! You could look at the aging, stained carpet to tell the cats love those huge litter boxes called bedrooms! There was a sticker that said “forks” when all there is is forks. In the kitchen alone there must have been over 70 stickers labeling stuff, even each spice jar that already has the name of the spice written on the jar! Sticker in the bathroom, “close shower curtain after shower”, she comes out after showering and oh wait .. the shower curtain is pulled back bunched together. Lock on the bathroom door, you say? There is a random piece of toilet paper in the old timey looking key hole, I suppose so you can’t peek in. Since you can’t lock the door why not “accidentally “ open the door? Oops!

As we left, the one mangy looking cat was laying atop a discarded window unit next to the compost heap. I wonder if the A/C unit will turn to dirt if left there long enough? Oh I could go on but it just gets embarrassing… Nice lady though! She hocks loogies out the car window pretty good too!
The morning was cool and what a nice change that would be as I try out the pack, my boots, walking on rocks, climbing earthen steps of various sizes to see if my ankle is better or not. It turns out it is not, in addition to my previously hurt knee starting to strain a bit. I have made the hard decision to just take this ol’ body home to SC to heal up properly. My sister Jane and friend since 9th grade, Mary Beth, hopped at the chance to help!

I spent the day back at The Mountain Home B&B with Scott and Lisa waiting for them to drive the seven hours to pick me up. I learned how to make grape juice and can’t wait to try it out once I get home. I also picked up a copy of Grandma Gatewood, the first woman to hike the AT from one end to the other non stop at the age of 67 and began to read it while I waited. Mind you I like reading but I believe my last full book I read was a Nancy Drew book!

Emma Gatewood endured a lot in her life and always found calmness, solace, and peace in the woods. While reading of her hike I found myself at the same places as her, knees hurting stretching to climb that big boulder, pounding step over step on cantaloupe sized rocks, ankles twisting, pack bouncing, boots so full of water you can hear the sloshing. At the end of the day or upon seeing mountains in the distance, the peacefulness of the woods draws you in. By the time Jane and Mary Beth arrived I had read the entire book, one worth reading. I hated leaving the trail behind but it’s not that far away and I learned so much thus far from my journey. We headed home and soon stopped for the night, got caught up on things and slumber set in. I woke up in the middle of the night to shake the dew off the lily after the pain in my leg brought my sleep to an end. There was no headlamp to reach for to clear the path of critters of the night, no searching for the best spot, no climbing back into the tent and into my sleeping bag to listen to the night sounds as I fall back into the arms of peaceful sleep. There was however the faint glow of the microwave in the hotel room, lights blinking from smoke detectors, and battery chargers lighting my way, not worrying about things that go bump in the night.

As I return to my bed for the night, I lie down between two sisters, two friends that would go to the ends of the world for me, ones who need no trail names to define them or to make it easier to remember who they are months later; they will forever be my trail angels who retrieved me from the woods. There were no frog sounds, no crickets, or owls, only breathing sounds and gentle snoring to lull me to sleep once more. My toenail is black, my hip chafed and bruised as I feel every heartbeat in my red, swollen pinkie toe. I survived on my own, missing family and friends all the while making new friends along the way. I still miss Larry every day, getting his advice, enjoying his company, but God has helped take away the pain I felt in my heart and replaced it with solace knowing we all have more living to do, more adventures to take, more people to meet all the while keeping 40 years of memories locked inside to be released whenever I want. There is still a sadness along with the laughter but I will always have His words, “ Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled”…

The night was interesting with the kids going to bed at around 10pm and me trying to figure out how to be quiet at 7AM! We were lying side by side like sardines but all was well. You could see lightening off in the distance before drifting to sleep. Sometime during the night one of the boys joined in with the frog musical and began snoring musically. Sounds of dissatisfaction could be heard all around me various times during the night. I sorta giggled at them because they have it for four more days! It was a weird sounding snore so it really didn’t bother me that much and off I drifted again.

JJ and the early riser with me, another American-Asian boy, came up the hill from their breakfast to tell me good bye, I thought it was sweet. I passed several NOBO section hikers. Three of them had head nets like mine! What a lifesaver from webs and gnats and flies! I ran across a chipmunk and a couple deer and saw LOTS of bear scat! Deer are just fine for me! All of a sudden as I was descending a mountain I hear what sounded like large limbs from fallen trees snapping and cracking as if two junior sized cubs were playing amongst them. Creeping very slowly down the hill I would look as far as I could and stop when the noise stopped, it started and my creeping did too, I wanted it to be someone weed whacking but there was no motor to be heard when finally I smelled it.. freshly cut grass smell. I tried not to scare the guy using an ELECTRIC weed eater coming up behind him but I did, I thanked him for clearing the path and went on my way relieved that there were no bears!

I stopped at Elkwallow Wayside, a place right off the trail for some food. There I met Monk Hood so named by his students at Georgetown who was on a section hike. Apparently he got carried away talking about the blue flower of the same name and the students were like…”yeah yeah we get it already”. Jersey came over and talked to me for awhile until his wife and grandkids came to drag him away, he had thru hiked last year. I was on my way and it wasn’t long before I heard thunder, I hoped it was going to wear itself out before it got to me but I had about 2.7 miles left to go and the skies opened up. The thunder was coming from behind me and I prayed and talk to it to stay that way knowing that the worse would be behind me and the welcoming rain would cool me down. I had already stopped and but my rainfly on my pack, rain pants on to protect my phone, and get the number of a hostel close by. I hadn’t planned on stopping but my ankle was hurting pretty bad so I thought I could use some ice, so back to town I went; Luray, VA this time.

The hostel resembles more of a cat lady home. She and her son are in a local play so they went to rehearsal. I talked with a girl staying here enroute to Asheville to visit friends. When she leaves her apartment in Harrisburg, PA, she rents it out on Air B&B. I did get to soak my feet in Epsons salt and ice my ankles, feet and knees but they still hurt. I am hoping I can still make good miles tomorrow to Big Meadows Campground where I stayed many years ago. If my ankle gets more bruised I may take a zero and let them both rest for a day. We will see. It’s getting really late so off to bed I go! Good Night and Sweet Dreams!

It was great waking up in a cool, old cabin. Yes, I took another shower because I could! Breakfast was nice in the main house and hearing of its history was fascinating. Asia kept hitting her snooze button, glad I was awake. If she intends on rowing with the big teams she will have to get up the first time it goes off. She graduated from the University of Tennessee and rowed for them. I am either getting used to the humidity or else it wasn’t as bad as I climbed to 3300 feet. The trail was pretty good today, nice and wide, but good grief, I didn’t know there was a paint shortage in VA!

The blazes were almost nonexistent and when I came to where 3 trails joined, I was clueless. Turns out there is a half inch wide metal band around a concrete pole at the intersection with words stamped on it… like I could read that! I swore I wasn’t going to check my Gut Hooks App so much today but I had to several times to be sure I was going the right way! I stopped at Tom Floyd Shelter for an early lunch. It was kind of junky with a bunch of fallen trees and larger rocks laying around. I made good time, I thought, but not what I would like. My feet are hurting today from maneuvering over the rocks going up and down causing them to bend so differently than before. I passed several people out for a week hike not stopping for conversation. Like I said, the trail was pretty good except for the rocks.

In the afternoon I surrounded by 5 to 6 foot tall beautiful fields of flowers, little yellow and orange ones from the same family, large golden ones, and tiny white ones. They were as if to say “ Welcome, My Lady, Enjoy”. There were quite a few flies, horseflies, and hornets about today but as soon as I lit out I used my head net. Why I didn’t use it before I will never know. I think it helped in making my time a little better as I didn’t have to stop to swat bugs, pull spider webs off my face, or get gnats out of my eyes which they seem to like to do. A couple of people wished they had one too.

As I topped North Marshal Mountain I finally got a view! It wasn’t long before I turned into Gravel Springs Hut, the guide says it’s .2 off the trail but I beg to differ! Now to walk back out..ouch! As I passed Marshall Mountain I noticed a couple kids ahead talking loudly and hoping they were going to the same shelter as long as they were nice. Well, when I arrived I found 10 young kids, all beginning freshmen except for three upper class men who have brought them out here for a couple days for a pre orientation for Georgetown. Some were from Jersey and one from DC, some from Chicago, and JJ from Boston. He is a Junior and very polite. He asked my advice at times and invited me to where they cooked away from the hut while I ate.

The three were teaching them to use the stoves and how best to cook the food they brought, working in groups of 3. It’s getting late hiker time and they haven’t gotten their beds ready, they are talking about their plans and stories; I wish I could hear them. Hopefully they will come up soon because my body is pooped and I may need to scoot over to make room for us all. They didn’t mind making room for me, again a nice group of kids! I am going to stretch my muscles and lay down while I wait for them, oh wait, here they come so Good Night and Sweet Dreams!

I had a good nights sleep and was thankful for all the company I had. During the night I got up to, well, you know the drill, anyway, it was so bright outside from the lights around the church that I didn’t need my headlamp. After emerging from my tent I saw the largest, brightest moon, not quite full, and NO street lamps. What a beautiful sight! There were too many city lights to see but the brightest stars, which were few. I said goodbye to Lucky and Penny, knowing I will probably never see them again, nor the other 6 that I met last night. It made me realize that going back south bound that I will have to make new friends along the way. It started out warm and I almost regretted not going a little further but by 10 I had to put on my jacket.

Rooster left some food he didn’t want to carry with him so I sat on the trail for awhile waiting on any thru hikers to come along and share it with them. I met Woobie with his toothless grin, from Atlanta; we talked for awhile as he enjoyed the chips I gave him. It is fun being a Trail Angel because I know as a hiker how good it makes you feel. An older couple who were taking a short hike got turned around so we showed them the way to go and gave them some of the water I had. They were most appreciative. Ben showed up in no time and we lit out SOBO. Many things went through my head as we drove to Hagerstown, Ben thinking I am a wuss, me knowing that I would have made it work NOBO, catching a ride if I needed or acquiring warm clothes but the decision was made so that was that. He said not to make excuses and although it was hard to hear, he was right. We always told the kids growing up the same thing, just do your best. I know that I did not do my best. Ben convinced me to start back at the halfway point in Harpers Ferry instead of further south and at least I will have gotten half of the trail under my belt.

So we will head there next, although he did try to dump me on the side of the road next to the AT trailhead close by that we came upon with his “eat s..t” grin on his face. We stopped at a Home2Suites hotel for the night, brand new, so clean, neat, wonderful facilities, with washers and dryers (a plus for any stinky hiker!). I have been in some fancy pants hotels before but this one would run circles around them! Okay, okay, I have been in the woods you know… After putting the clothes in the washer, a shower was where I headed! Boy howdy, the simple things we miss! (I smell better too). The laundry is in the exercise room with comfy chairs to sit in, the dryer is almost finished, and I will be on my way to bed. Good Night and Sweet Dreams!