May 4 - 17.0 / 703.7, May 5 - 15.4 / 719.1, and May 6 - 5.0 / 724.1

Lions, tigers, and BEARS, oh my! I had already typed up the Q&A so I figured I would leave my response the way it was. I was hiking along a creek when all of a sudden I heard an animal running through some leaves. Normally, the noise is just from a squirrel, bird, or lizard (all are loud), but when I looked over this time I saw a bear running up a mountain about 50 yards away. I was unable to tell if it was a baby or a young adult. All I could really see was its rump. It ran for about 20 yards, stopped, looked at me, and then took off again. I had no chance to even pull out my camera as I saw it and it ran away into some brush in about 2 seconds. So I have now seen a bear. I expect to see more, perhaps in the Shenandoah National Park. The SNP has approximately one bear for every square mile. I will try to get a video or picture next time too. Well depending on how scared I get.

I forgot to mention two things from May 3rd. First, I crossed a significant continental divide when I hiked over Sinking Creek Mountain. Water flowing down the western side drains into the Mississippi River and eventually the Gulf while the eastern side drains into the James River and eventually into the Atlantic. Secondly, I stopped and observed the Audie Murphy Monument. Murphy was the most decorated American soldier of WWII. He is probably most known for single-handedly capturing a large number of German soldiers.

I planned to do a large number of miles on the 4th. I was thinking Dragons Tooth was a lot closer to the shelter. However, after hiking for an hour and a half I had not seen anything too exciting to be given a name. Then I came to a sign stating it was ahead on a blue blazed trail. It ended up being about 2 miles further up the trail then I thought. I climbed up the rocks indicating Dragons Tooth and got a really cool view. The climb down DT and even down the mountain was intense. It was some good size boulders. I guess it was just a preview of the Whites in New Hampshire.

TW and I ended up hiking for most of the morning and afternoon relatively close to each other. She caught up to me when I was about to cross the road heading to Catawba. The plan was to skip Catawba and hike a mile further to a shelter for lunch. As we started to cross the trail head parking lot and road, we heard some ask if we wanted to go to town. I looked over and it was Prime Minister in a rusted out pick up. TW and I discussed quickly and decided we would go to town only if the guy could give us a hitch back out. He said he would so the three of us rode a few miles into town. I bought a turkey sandwich and a few drinks from the gas station. TW got a few drinks and snacks and even got some stuff for her brother for when he arrived at the shelter. Frank Haranzo was the gentleman that gave us a ride. Something impressed me with Frank as soon as I started to speak with him while waiting for PM to get back to the truck. It was one of those feelings of knowing this guy was genuine and I hadn't even known him for 5 minutes. Frank was probably in his 70's, but gave much of his time to help maintain the trail around Catawba. As Frank dropped us back of at the trail head, he mentioned the shelter that we were planning to eat lunch at was a memorial to his son. Not really offering more to the story, we said our goodbyes to Frank and headed on. I'm telling you, something good struck me about Frank. We got to the shelter. In the shelter was a plaque saying the shelter was dedicated to John Haranzo. There was also a new paper article on one of the walls. The article gave the story of John and how he ended up taking his own life. Frank wanted to give back to the trail that his son had thru hiked years ago. So he called up the ATC and said he wanted to do something in honor of his son. They told him there was a dilapidated boy scout shelter along the trail right near Frank's home. So Frank donated a few thousand dollars to repair the shelter. Now he goes out there a few times a week to maintain the shelter and the trail around it. The day we were out there, he had cleared out the nearby spring so hikers would have drinking water. Frank doesn't have to do that, but he does in order to keep the dream alive for others to have the experience his son had. It was a true honor to meet him that day.

PM, TW, and I all ate lunch at Johns Creek Shelter. We waited for the others to come in. Eventually Donner and Samurai arrived. We weren't sure about SR and even thought he might have passed us while we were in town. We were about to head out when he arrived. Turned out he left the shelter, walked the .3 miles back to the trail, but turned left instead of right. He hiked about a mile before he realized he had turned the wrong way. He was glad to see us and even happier about the soft drink his sister had bought for him. We were about to start hiking again with 10 or so miles left on the agenda. Donner said he had a better idea in that we should only hike a few more miles to McAfee Knob to catch the sunset. We all agreed that was perfect. So we gathered our stuff and hiked the 2.5 or so miles up to the top. We sat up there for about 4 hours, ate dinner there, and watched the sunset. It was great.

McAfee Knob overlooks middle VA and is probably the place where the most pictures are taken on the trail other than Springer and Katahdin. There is a rock overhang. Hikers sit on the edge of the rock. Don't worry, I got my picture made and will get it posted. (A side note, I have sent a memory card off as I am going to get help in posting pictures. I usually don't have the time or a computer available when I get to a town.)

We had 15.4 miles to go to get from Campbell Shelter to Troutville/Daleville, VA. Somehow PM, Samurai, Donner, TW, SR, and I were all out hiking by 7 am. I rolled into town by 12:30. Only if I could hike 15 miles everyday by lunch time. We got some more good views during the day. We crossed Tinker Cliffs which gave us a view back toward McAfee Knob. Samurai and I were about a mile from town when I saw a girl walking southbound on the trail. I asked how she was doing. She said well and also told me Wazi said hello. Wazi and I have a mutual friend, Margaret. Wazi started a few days after me, but passed me before the Smokies. He has been about 3 to 5 days ahead of me. I told he thanks and kept walking. Then it hit me, how does this random girl walking the trail not only know Wazi, knows I know Wazi, and knows to tell me without me even saying my real or trail name? Perplexed, I stopped turned around and asked, "Do I know you?" She turns around and says, "Yeah, I am Mike's girlfriend." This is the Mike I hiked with for a few weeks and goes by Super Mike or Speed Stick. He ended up slowing down to meet his parents in Damascus. Dark Star should be with him too. Anyway, I met Ashley (his gf which already goes by the trail name Apple Pie) back when she visited Mike in Hot Springs, NC. She is now hiking south to meet Mike. Once, they meet up, she will start hiking north and join him for the duration of his hike. She had also met Wazi the night before and I guess my name came up. I'm becoming a legend out here.

Samurai and I hiked on to town to the Pizza Hut where we all decided we would meet. PM and SR were already there. Eventually, TW and Donner arrived. We all had lunch and went and got rooms at the Howard Johnson across the street. It was SR, TW, Samurai, and I in one and Donner and PM in another. The afternoon was spent sitting around and walking down the street to the local outfitter. Later in the evening, all 6 of us went across the street to a Mexican joint to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It took over 4 hours to get a table and get our food. Luckily, we didn't have to be anywhere.

Today, we washed close, ate at Cracker Barrel, and resupplied at Kroger. All left town except for Donner who decided to rest his feet one more night. The plan was to leave by 3 and hike 11 miles. But as always, the vortex to town kept us there until 5. We got 5 miles in to the first shelter.

The plan is to make it to Waynesboro by next Wed night. We will then try to hitch 200 miles back to Damascus for Trail Days. If anyone might know of someone who could give a few hikers a ride, then please let me know.

Also, the latest on SB and DM is that they are still hiking. They ended up going back into Pearisburg to rest and gather their feelings about the trail. I definitely don't want them to give up on it. There are days when we all feel down. However, we have to keep strong and continue the push onward.

Have a wonderful evening. Let's all be a little like Frank H and pay it forward.

BowTie