May 12 - Central Virginia

DAY #61
START LOCATION: US-220/Daleville, VA
FINISH LOCATION: Bobblets Gap Shelter
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 18.5
TRIP MILEAGE: 737.6
MILES TO GO: 1,441.5

I was so comfy in my hotel bed this morning. I didn't want to get up.
But, I checked the weather... Afternoon thunderstorms. That was enough
for me.

I completely emptied my pack last night. It was a mess in the room. It
took almost an hour to repack it all! It was a good thing though...
There was so much loose duff, twigs and etc in all the pockets of that
pack. It was a nice spring cleaning. I also threw out some stuff that
wasn't getting used or was just useless by now... My moleskin, some
old ziplocs, a couple dead batteries, yada yada.

I was at the continental breakfast by 8:30... Typical cheap hotel
fare... Donuts, coffee, oatmeal, toast. But I went crazy on the Lucky
Charms and whole milk. I must have eaten 5 bowls of it.

It was pretty humid when I hit the trail at 9:00. The sun was out too
so I was sweating it up in no time. The first two miles of the trail
was funny here. You cross US-220, then you cross I-81, then you cross
US-11. You'd think this stretch of trail wedged between 3 major
highways would be nasty. But, I tell you it was gorgeous... Pastures,
nice woods and babbling brooks. It was the nicest part of the trail
all day. I had a herd of cows grazing in my way that made for some
good pics. They moved on quickly and so did I. I had a thunderstorm to
beat now that the best scenery was behind me. I had brunch at
Fullhardt Knob Shelter and revelled in the glory of passing the 1/3
mark of the entire AT.

The real excitement came when I stopped at my 11th mile of the day at
Wilson Creek Shelter. I was alone and eating... Big surprise huh? As I
was packing up, a whitetail doe came sauntering up looking for food on
the outskirts of the shelter area. I quickly, but quietly grabbed the
camera... A perfect shot for a hunter or photographer. As I stirred
about, she gave me this look like... "Don't worry darlin'. You don't
frighten me." I couldn't blame her. I snapped away some great shots
and she mosied on away. I was very pleased... My first deer pictures.

I left Wilson Creek at 3PM on a mission. I could feel the thunderstorm
brewing. The air was getting heavy and the sky was darkening. I had 7
1/4 miles to go to my goal of Bobblets Gap. I was expecting to be
soaked like yesterday. But the further I pushed without rain the drier
I'd be. So I hauled ass. I assumed a 3mph clip would put me in camp by
5:20PM. You could have set a watch to it. I pulled into camp at
5:17PM. There were some nice vistas as the trail now starts straddling
the Blue Ridge Parkway over the next 100 miles. But, today the storm
clouds over the vistas were more scenic.

I was so fortunate. It rained only about a mile in that stretch and
there was some drizzle off and on, but I was essentially dry when I
reached camp. The shelter was full, but no matter. The weather had
broken just long enough to get the tent and dinner done. Now it is
pouring again. There's a mild thunderstorm that's rolling through. It
should be a nice sleep aid. The air is cool enough for some deep sleep.

-natedog