Tuesday August 31, 2004 – Jenkin’s Shelter to Chestnut Knob Shelter
This is the last day of August. It has been a good trip with not too much heat so far since July 20th when I left. The
rain has not been too bothersome either. I got up late. My ankle is swollen a lot and many colors of yellow and black
and blue. I almost stayed another day here at the shelter. I went up to the outhouse and it was a cool one. It was
painted psychedelic style with a Lepricon smoking a pipe in it. I later heard that in 2006 the outhouse had been
rebuilt and the old one torn down. The next 10 miles was hard on me and my sore ankle and there was not any
water between shelters except a spring on the road north of Chestnut Knob shelter. There is no water at the shelter
so we had to tank up here. Fred was here getting water too and we had to chase frogs out of the spring to get our
water. This area has been relocated since my 1981 trip. It was said at the time that the trail had been moved
because of water concerns on Big Walker Mountain. Well let me say that the water is more scarce here than over
there. It is pretty on this side and a permanent corridor makes for a better trail. Chestnut Knob shelter is an old fire
warden’s cabin on top of a grassy knoll. A very nice setting to say the least. It has bunks and a picnic table inside of
it. There once was a fire tower here too. It is a shame that the Forest Service has taken down most of the fire towers
in the United States. This is history lost. I only need to go 9 miles tomorrow. It is a really nice evening here with the
tall grass blowing in the wind with views in all directions. This area has 7-10 acres cleared off. The elevation is 4410
and you can look down into Burkes Garden Valley below. We got no rain here today. The storm must have blown to
the east of us. It is turning off a little cool here tonight. It is 7:40 p.m. 58 degrees.
Wednesday September 1, 2004 - Chestnut Knob cabin to Knot Maul Branch Shelter
I slept well with only three in the cabin, warm and snug. I cooked on my alcohol stove this morning and it worked out
well. In the night Triumph heard rattling around and thought I had gotten up to eat something. It was a mouse eating
some gorp I had left out. My left foot is paining me again. My big toe is very tender. I believe I have gout in it. It has
all of the symptoms. I had to take a pain pill to walk. After an hour I sort of walked it out and did fine. As of 4:15 p.m.
we are at the shelter. We three, Freddy Bear , Triumph and I have been here an hour and we have been looking at
my ankle and foot, all black and blue. I took a nap after we got here. I went to hang up my food bag and three bats
were asleep in rafters. I shined my light at one and it got disoriented and fell out of the rafters and started to squeal.
Man could that thing snarl. He keeps coming in and out of shelter. I saw one come back in and I said “Look out
Fred!” As he looked up I grabbed him by the leg and he squealed like the bat. I laughed till I cried! I heard today that
a huge hurricane has taken aim on the area that I live in. It doesn’t look good at this time for me and my trip back to
Georgia. Hurricane Francis is its name. It was a nice cool sunny day here.
Thursday September 2, 2004 -Knot Maul Shelter to Davis Path Shelter
I got up at 5:45 a.m. I had a hard day of hiking and it looks like rain. We hiked hard and got to Davis Path Shelter at
around 3:00 p.m. We had to haul water 3.5 miles to another dry shelter. This is a nice log shelter right on the trail.
The trail runs between the shelter and the picnic table. It still has not rained. The front is coming through and it just
might get cooler tonight. Triumph got here an hour after Freddy Bear and I got here. This shelter looks as if it has
been totally made from materials cut out of the nearby woods. It is very rustic and a little out of level and square but
very water tight.
Friday September 3, 2004 - Davis Path Shelter to Chatfield Shelter
I slept well. After a quick breakfast I headed out with Triumph and Fred still snoring. I was across I-81 by 8a.m. I
headed over to the nearby restaurant for a big breakfast. I had eggs, tenderloin, home fries, coffee along with
biscuit and gravy. I got all this for under $6 dollars. I was real full. I then went over to the truck stop which was close
and took a shower for $5 dollars and bought food for the next four days. I called Virginia and found out that we will
probably have this hurricane visit us for sure. I bought a newspaper and read about it and saw a picture of it and it is
huge. I will go to Partnership Shelter tomorrow and I may stay an extra night for news. It has a phone and is an easy
place to hitch south if I have too. After calling Virginia I walked to the Dairy Queen and bought a pint of milk along
with a fudge sundae. Fred had caught up with me by then and we ate ice cream under a little gazebo at the Dairy
Queen. I also washed out some clothes when I took a shower to get me a little cleaner. This storm is 1000 miles wide
and is going to do much damage in Florida. I left I-81 area at around 1:00 p.m. and I got to Chatfield Shelter at
around 3:00p.m. I stopped by the Settlers Museum and signed the register and looked around a little. It is a nice
place with books to read at the old school house. The bugs are bad here at the shelter. A smoky fire and they
promptly left. It is nice to get to the shelters early so I can write and relax. I have been taking some homeopathic
medicine for joints and it seems to be working. It is sold under the Hyland brand and it is poison ivy pills. I had to
take no pills today for pain. I bought a pack of little cigars today. Man they taste bad. I could smoke a dog turd and
get more flavor. When I was coming off the hill today I had to walk through a cow field. I made smiley faces in the cow
pies for Freddy Bear. If I go past Partnership Shelter I will have to resupply one more time to get to Damascus. The
food I need was just not available at the truck stop today. Fred and Triumph told me today they saw a huge 5 foot
long rattlesnake yesterday.
Saturday September 4, 2004 - Chatfield Shelter to Partnership Shelter
I got up at 6:00a.m. I made good time to Partnership Shelter. It was all hiking today for I need to get to a phone. I
was at the shelter and called Virginia by 11:00a.m. The shelter is 200 yards from the visitor center and a telephone.
I stayed here on the back porch in 1981 on Mother’s day where I called my mother. On this day I had lunch and took
a shower at the shelter. Yes, a hot shower, and out back is a washtub with hot water too. This shelter has running
water and a gas water heater. Virginia told me the winds of storm are 105 m.p.h. It should pass a little to the south of
where we live but we will still get hurricane force winds. I will call her one more time tonight to get an up to date
forecast. It is going to be a long night. I will stay put here tomorrow if they are not out of the woods. It is 6 miles to
interstate 81 and a long hitch south. I went up to visitors center and bought 3 snickers bars and an A.T. pin for my
hat. Their electricity is out here and none of the pop machines are working. We can order pizza here for later and
they will bring it to the shelter. The Whiz Kid, a south bounder thru-hiker came through earlier. He is the first of many
behind us. We almost got the Whiz Kid to stay and eat pizza with us but he is all about the miles and not the smiles.
He went another 10 miles on this day. We ordered two large pizzas and are waiting out by front gate on a stone wall.
We looked up and saw pear and apple trees with fruit on them and ate many waiting on the pizza. We ate pizza and
drank Pepsi and Mountain Dew until we were very full.
Sunday September 5, 2004 - Partnership shelter to Wilson N.C.
The phone was ringing at the visitor center at 6:00 a.m. The hurricane almost hit our area directly and it did much
damage at my house. Home is more important than hiking so as for now I will have to go home and take care of the
damage. It took me 42 hours of hitchhiking to get back to Florida. There was no damage to my structure but I would
be unable to repair things and get back up to hike this year. I will start again where I left off early next year. So long
for now. The ride back is an interesting story in itself. I will write about it at a later date. Rowmin Goat.
After talking to Virginia I walked back over to the shelter and told Freddy Bear and Triumph goodbye and told them I
would let them know what was going on by calling Fred’s wife Alison. I packed up all my stuff quick and got out on
the road by the shelter and started to hitch. It took me about 15 minutes to get a ride by a man who left early to go
to church. He said something had told him to leave early and he knew now that it was because of me needing a ride
to I -77. I am near I-81 and it connects to I-77 south near Wytheville. There is a truck stop here and it would be a
place to maybe get a long ride home. The nice man dropped me off and I sat there for 4 hours until I finally got a
ride by a young fellow, 25 years old heading to Winston Salem N.C. It was not a direct route to Florida but it got me
closer to home. After that ride I went up to a nearby fast food joint and got some food and walked back down to the
on ramp to hitch some more. I sat here till about 7:00 p.m. Finally an 18 wheeler stopped to my surprise and gave
me a ride farther east to Wilson N.C. Wilson is on I-95 and I should be able to get a ride directly south. It was dark
when I was left off so I made a sleeping camp in the woods near the interstate to wait till morning to hitch in the
daylight. I did not sleep well because of all the traffic going by but I did feel safe. At 4:00 a.m. I was awakened by a
little rain hitting me. I quickly packed up and started to walk on the interstate. I had no choice doing this because the
truck had left me off on the side of a large interchange last night. A car stopped after 30 minutes and told me I
should not be walking on the road so I suggested he give me a ride to the nearest on ramp, which he did. The man
then suggested that he take me to the Greyhound Bus station to get a bus ticket to Florida. I said that was fine.
Since the hurricane was a big one the bus would not go into Florida for the next two days. He took me back up to the
interstate and I thanked him for that. I then went to the end of the on ramp where I was harassed by the state patrol
every hour or so. I did not budge. I told the officer I had no choice other then to hitch hike home since no other way
to get there was running at the present time. After the third time the cop came by I thought he would throw me in the
back and give me a ride to jail. The cop said he sure hoped I would soon get a ride. About one hour after that which
was about 11:00 a.m. A migrant farm worker family who were going back to Sebring stopped and the man got out of
his four door truck and said, “You going to Florida?” I said “yes” He told me that he would take me there. He
apologized that I would have to get in the back of the open pickup because he had his family and kids inside. I did
not care. I had my gor-tex raingear on and I would be dry. I had started to rain quite hard by now and for the next 14
hours I was in the back of this truck till we got to Ormond Beach Florida. It was after dark when the nice family let me
off. I told them they were the best of people and we laughed and said good bye. I tried to pay them for the ride but
they would only take $20 dollars for gas when we stopped once for a break. It was now about 12: a.m. I was 45 miles
from home and this intersection at state route 40 and I-95 was crowded with people displaced by the storm. A man
stopped me after pulling off the road and asked me if I knew how to get to Tampa Florida without going on I-4. I said
I did if he could give me a ride in that direction. What luck? He said yes and I gave him good directions how to get to
Tampa as he let me off 8 miles from my house. Now I was 8 miles from home in the middle of 40 M.P.H. winds. The
road I needed to hitch on had hundreds of trees down on it and I did not even know if it was passable. However
some cars were coming through and a few passed me as I hitched. One hour later a man stopped and wondered
why I was out with a backpack on such a bad night. I explained why and he immediately told me to hop in and he
would give me a ride to my house. Most of the people who gave me a ride on this trip told me that they never give
anyone rides but that I seemed different as they passed. I will always be grateful to the people who helped me get
home. Whoever you are, thank you.
Rowmin Goat
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