Thursday, July 22, 2004 - Rod Hollow Shelter to Dick’s Dome Shelter
I am staying at Dick’s Dome shelter tonight. It was 9 miles of fairly easy hiking today. One mile before the shelter
there was a real nice spring and I stopped for a break and drank the cool clear liquid. It was small but a good one. It
is raining steady tonight. I am glad I got here early today. 12:30 p.m. Dick’s Dome shelter is a five sided shelter
unlike any other shelter I have ever seen. [Hexacuba in New Hampshire is a little like it.] It is lop sided and uneven
but I stayed dry. It is funny that I spent the night with a couple of empty nesters from New Hampshire, around
Hanover. Mark and Debbie. They are about the same age as me, 46-52. I feel like a grandpa on this trail this time. I
am carrying my same backpack from 1981 and it is 25 years old now. It is older than most hikers on the trail. I
bought it new in 1979. It is an external frame Kelty pack which was state of the art when it was new. Oh well it isn’t
broke and I like it so, I will attempt to hike another 2174 miles with it. Kelty has been good to me throughout the
years and has fixed it when the need arose. I will try to get to Jim and Molly Denton shelter tomorrow.
Friday, July 23, 2004 -Dick’s Dome Shelter to Jim and Molly Denton Shelter
I was up early as usually after eating my oatmeal and coffee. I walked a brisk 4.4 miles to Manassas Gap shelter by
9:30 a.m. It has a super nice piped in spring in front of the shelter. A hornet’s nest had fallen in the middle of the trail
today and I came close to getting attacked. I came over some real pretty terrain after a re-supply in Linden. This was
a road walk in 1981. This time I had to walk one mile off the trail to the little store where I bought a few groceries. I
stopped by the Post Office and sent back my little tent. It would save me 3 to 4 pounds of dead weight and my
knees thanked me for that. I had to buy a box for $ 3.50 and it cost me $11.50 to ship the tent out. The post office
has no tape unless you send priority, so I sent it priority. It was about the same cost because the tape was $3.00.
Rip off. I later learned to use a flat rate box which was about $8.00 for unlimited weight, anywhere in lower 48 states.
This was to save me a lot of money over the next two years. I bought 8 ramin noodles, one package of saltines, and
some cheese and spent $12.00. This was enough to get me to a point where I could get more food later. I bought a
hot dog and ate it there. I got a quick ride back up to the trail by a local man passing by. I got to Denton shelter at 4:
00 p.m. It has a piped in spring and a spigot and an enclosed cold shower which is real cold. I mean cold! I took a
shower and washed up some clothes. I got back to shelter and it thundered and rained for 40 minutes at 6:00p.m. It
started to thunder and rain again like cats and dogs. This shelter is one of the nicest I have ever seen. It sleeps 10
or so and the sleeping is up off the ground with T-111 siding exterior and has a 12 by 20 deck attached and 2
double bunks on each side. It also has a privy and a covered area unattached with a fire ring and a picnic table.
Whew! It has a setting area on the deck on one side and an Adirondack chair for 4 people. Stellar! It has one half
acre of lush green grass bordered with raspberry bushes with fruit. The Holiday Inn isn’t any better than this at any
price and this is free. I just smoked a cigar. The mosquitoes are not bad at all. So far some of the trail is overgrown.
Something big just fell on the shelter during a huge windy rain storm. What you are about to read is true but
unbelievable even to me and I saw it. A man left the day before me at the same place and has not yet entered any
words in a trail register or a log book. People coming toward me see him everyday. I will soon catch him I think. He is
going to Damascus Virginia. Every shelter he dumps off gear which has become too heavy for him. Here is a list of
some of the items. 1- Coleman propane single burner stove. 2- pair of long jeans, 3- pair of big boots, 4- a T shirt,
5-rain parka, a heavy one, 6- 10 pound tent with rain fly. Since I sent my tent back I had no emergency rain fly so I
took the rain fly. 7- One bed roll, 8-a radio, 9- big aerosol bug spray. People who see him say his pack is still heavy.
When I was at the post office yesterday I sent home some reading glasses along with a small funnel. I left an extra
water bottle at a shelter too. I don’t usually leave anything at shelters but if it is usable, someone will carry it on for
sure. It is getting late and still raining here at Denton shelter. There is no one else here yet. Oh, I got another nice
map here too left by guess who? I hiked with Pete Peterson in 1981 and this was his adopted shelter then. It doesn’t
seem to be the same shelter as then. It has probably been rebuilt since the trail is now on permanent property. After
8p.m. Triumph, who was from England came into shelter. I would hike with him on and off for the next 40 days. I met
a man heading north today who would be done with the entire trail when he got back to Harper’s Ferry. His trail
name was Goat. Just Goat.
Saturday, July 24, 2004 - Jim and Molly Denton Shelter to Tom Floyd Wayside Shelter
Today I made good time to Tom Floyd Wayside shelter. My pack feels very good and very light for me, about 40
pounds. I am going to Gravel Springs Shelter tomorrow. There is a man here who showed me how to make a
denatured alcohol stove out of a pop can. It is really neat. It was wet on the trail today and my boots got wet but my
feet are O.K. My left tendon hurts a bit down near my ankle, but it should be fine in a couple of days. I had ramin
noodles twice today with some cheese. I saved my tuna for tomorrow.
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