History Preserved

From Helen:
Jay told us about a plaque he hiked past on which many hikers had placed little mementos and coins. The plaque was in memory of Ottie Cline Powell whose body was found on April 5, 1891. It is a sad story about a 4 year old who strayed from the school yard and was forever lost. For the complete story, go to http://www.blueridgecountry.com/archive/ottie-cline-powell.html .

Mark carefully avoided any hint of poison ivy to allow us to
get a picture of him by this old stone wall.

To think of people who lived in these mountains so long ago and went about their daily lives brings me a sense of connectedness that extends deeper than the back-to-nature joy I feel whenever I'm outdoors. I appreciate so much that people care enough to put memorials and post stories about the history of these mountains. When Mark and I were hiking with Jay we passed a stone wall. It didn't look particularly ancient, but we enjoyed thinking about what might have been.

Giant natural stone couch along the AT in VA,
near Buena Vista.

Nature even gives us pause by putting stones and trees together in a way that makes one think of prehistoric days or fantastical tales. We came upon a "couch" of boulders during our hike with Jay. Sitting on it made us feel the size of a child's dolls. So many things to see when we're out there!

Sarah is on the Trail Again

From Helen:
Ruth and Jack dropped Sarah off in Wind Gap, PA to join Jay's hike just a few days ago. She'll be with him for about 6 weeks. The first update we received from them, just 24 hours after they got back on the trail, was that it had rained all night. (Ferocious thunderstorms hit Knoxville that night, too, and we wondered how much of it Sarah and Jay would get.) Sarah said they stayed dry in their tent. They have passed into New Jersey at this point and are doing well. We know Jay is happy to have his "apparition" back by his side.

Shelters with Denizens

From Sarah via email (about 3 weeks ago):

Mark and Jay by tents at a campsite.
Even though Jay's tent is bigger, it
weighs about the same as ours
because it uses hiking sticks as poles.

Jay has refused to sleep in shelters so far on the trip, preferring to pitch his tent, even when he stays near shelters. Many hikers prefer the shelters, feeling better about sleeping on a wood platform off the ground, and with three solid walls around them. 

One night in Shenandoah National Park, he got into the shelter area late, and for some reason EVERYONE had pitched tents. The shelter only had two hikers in it! There was no room to pitch his tent, so he decided what-the-heck; after 900 miles maybe it was time to sleep in a shelter. As evening deepened into dusk, the ever-present rodent population began to make its appearance. One hiker teased Jay as he went to bed, saying, “Aahh, guess I’ll retire to my mouse-proof tent while you deal with the scurrying denizens!” 

Night time friend,
not one of the denizens

Jay said the night was long and filled with mice running up and down the walls, across the platform, and along the rafters. He doesn’t think any actually ran over him, but the dark was certainly full of the creatures! He doesn’t think shelters are worth the fuss. The tables and porches are nice for sitting and talking and eating, but sleeping is better in a tent.

This hiker was congenial, if a little on the slow side.

After he spent the weekend with Mark and Helen, he went through a few days where hikers were in little cliques, and no one seemed interested in talking to him. He finally passed them all up and fell in with a much friendlier crowd. He said the group he has hiked with for the last three days has been really nice and lots of fun to talk with. He even stayed near shelters through Shenandoah National Park, instead of stealth camping, thanks to the amiable hikers. Jay has spent several hours each day conversing with one hiker in particular, Peregrine, a recently retired gentleman who knows all the bird calls. Jay says it is like walking with his own personal talking bird encyclopedia, because Peregrine can identify the calls of every bird he hears. I'm envious!

Pennsylvania

From Helen:
Jay passed through Port Clinton, PA on Friday. He is now about 3 weeks ahead of his itinerary. He's doing well, and Sarah will be joining him on Tuesday. We hope to have more news to post soon. Jay plans to slow down and relax a bit with Sarah there.

Done with Virginia

From Helen:
Jay has passed Harper's Ferry and is still about 15-16 days ahead of his posted itinerary. Below are a couple of trail vistas early on in Virginia.

Shuttling

From Helen:

When we planned to meet Jay we had to find a safe place to leave our car for the weekend and a reliable shuttle to the trailhead at Hog Camp Gap. After gathering a lot of information and calling several leads, we settled on the Dutch Haus near Montebello, VA. See http://www.dutchhaus.com/  The owners, Lois and Earl Arnold, are a wealth of information and go out of their way to help AT hikers. We drove our car to the Dutch Haus, and they were able to shuttle us down to Hog Camp Gap. After the hike we called them from Spy Rock Road. They came to pick us up at the Fish Hatchery parking lot, about a mile downhill from Spy Rock Road.

Hog Camp Gap trailhead

Even though they were booked for Memorial Day weekend, they still allowed us to come in and look around their Bed and Breakfast. They have lunch for AT hikers every day during summer months, no charge, and it is one of those home-cooked lunches that backpackers drool over - lots of great protein, carbs, great taste, and out-of-this-world desserts. While we were there we met several thru-hikers and got to chat with them. Dutch Haus is beautiful and charming, and Lois and Earl are some of the best hosts we've seen.

Earl dropped us off at Hog Camp Gap and told us about a rope and plank swing in the field, just after you get on the trail. It was part of the adventure to go find the swing before we started our hike. Hog Camp Gap is a beautiful trailhead with lots of area for camping and a well-marked water source. Our timing couldn't have been better... We hiked up to the first view and ate a quick lunch. As we were packing up Jay wandered up the trail after his 6-mile morning hike. We were so glad to get to spend time with him on the trail! It may be our last direct contact with him until we see him after his journey.

Swing at Hog Camp Gap

First Bear; Last Blackberry Milkshake

From Sarah via phone conversation with Jay:

Jay told me he saw a bear, first bear sighting on the Appalachian trail for him.  "It was a BIG bear, I mean BIG, tall in the shoulder and really fat, round like a barrel.  Fortunately, when the bear saw me, he veered off into the underbrush and headed down hill." 

Tree that a porcupine has ravaged, in Georgia.
Fortunately there are no bear photos from Jay's trip,
yet. Rattlesnakes pose and smile for the camera
a lot more willingly than bears do!


"Another hiker told me that he saw a bear coming down the trail a few days ago.  The hiker stopped, then began backing up, giving the bear room like the books say.  Well, the bear just kept coming!  The hiker thought, 'this could go on for a while', so he stopped backing up and began walking toward the bear, with his arms outstretched, and doing 'crab hands', while saying 'Yah! Yah! Yah!'  The bear stopped, looked really startled, then turned and headed off the trail.  But the bear just went a few yards, then ducked behind a tree, with his head hidden, but his rear still sticking out!"

I had told Jay last week that the guidebook said Elkwallow, VA was the last place in Shenandoah National Park for northbound hikers to get blackberry milkshakes. 

"Well, I did get a blackberry milkshake today,"  Jay told me.  "It was really good, so, I got three. But it is all your fault." 

"How is eating THREE milkshakes my fault?" I protested.

"Well, you're the one that told me about it, and then I had to eat one for me, and one for you, and one for Daniel," Jay laughed. 

It is so nice to know he is remembering his family during this adventure!