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Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - John’s Hollow Shelter to Matt’s Creek Shelter
I had a good night of sleep at the shelter alone. I got up at 4:30 a.m. and left the shelter at 5:15 a.m. with a
headlamp on to see. I made good time down to U.S. 501 and got there at 6:15a.m. I tried with no success to get a
ride. I walked for one hour and after two hours a man stopped who had passed me in the morning the other
direction. He dropped me off at the closest store and I bought what I needed and called Virginia and caught her up
on everything. Virginia said there were two hurricanes brewing in the Atlantic and that we would be getting a lot of
rain here in the next few days. I bought 40 dollars worth of food here. August has not been too hot yet, but is
starting to heat up now. I will leave from Matt’s Creek shelter early tomorrow to beat the heat. I get up early anyway
so I might as well hike. It will be a 13 mile day tomorrow and with the afternoon thunderstorms it is good to get in
early. The bugs are really bad here and I have built a smoky fire to run them off. Triumph came in to shelter at 7:15
p.m. He stayed outside on the ground. There is a nice little creek out in front of this shelter and a few great soaking
holes to get in. The water is beautiful and we followed the creek up from the James River.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - Matt’s Creek Shelter to Thunder Hill Shelter
Matt’s Creek to Thunder Hill shelter. I was up at 5:00 a.m. I had hot oatmeal and coffee as usual and was gone 40
minutes later. The first hour I used my headlamp to hike and the climb was up but not steep. I made good time with
limited views on a fairly clear day. I stopped one mile before and at the Marble Springs camp sight to take a break.
On my 1981 trip I remembered that there was a shelter here. It had been taken out soon after I was here then
because this area had been made into a wilderness area. The shelter had been moved 20 miles away to the south
and renamed Cove mountain shelter. I was about to do something few people had ever done. I stayed in the same
shelter, 25 years apart, on two hikes, in different locations, renamed!!! Whew. One other shelter which is in the
same category as this one is the Springer Mountain shelter in Georgia. The 1981 shelter is now at Stover Creek,
and Springer Mountain has a nice new one. I didn’t stay in the Springer Mountain shelter in 1981 because it was full.
I made it to the Thunder Hill shelter and will take the rest of the day to rest sore tendons. As I write this a 9 point
Buck walked right up and looked at me 20 feet away. It is a young deer and a little skinny but in good condition until
the first 10 minutes of hunting season when it will surly die if it doesn’t get any smarter than that. The deer hung
around for 15 minutes and left. I had to take some aspirin for hurting tendons. The next few days the shelters are 6,
5, 5, miles apart and I will hop to each one to let the tendon heal. Well, the buck is back looking at me! He is eating
the nice green grass out front. It rained hard 90 minutes before getting to the shelter again today. I am going to heat
up some water for tea now. At Marble gap I met two locals scouting for bear. The season will start soon for them. I
also saw 4 grouse and 12 turkeys today while on the trail. The one man scouting had no teeth and said “Hav yo
seen any Bar???? It took him three times and his buddy told me what he said. I felt bad but I could not understand
him. I said “no sorry.”
Thursday, August 12, 2004 - Thunder Hill Shelter to Cornelius Creek Shelter
I was up later than normal since I have a short 6 miles to hike. I left the shelter at 7:30 a.m. I hiked to the shelter,
Cornelius Creek, after a pretty hike. I saw a 240 pound, 14 point buck today on the trail. It is 1:30 in the afternoon
and raining very hard. I am glad I got here early. Triumph stopped here for a while and went on to do more miles.
Freddy Bear was here yesterday for lunch. There is no one else much on the trail these days this far south. I did
meet two north bound thru-hikers today at Parker’s Gap. If I go to the next shelter tomorrow it will be a 5 mile day
and fairly easy. I must be patient and do the smart thing in letting my leg rest a bit. Everything else is holding up fine
with my body at present time. I just smacked a mouse with my hiking stick. He won’t be back! When I got to the
shelter I found a blue tarp and I made a ground cloth out of it to keep my sleeping bag clean while in these
sometimes dirty shelters. I cut a 3x8 foot piece out of it. It also protects the pads from an occasional nail sticking up
through the floor. My new pad is working out real fine. I have been sleeping much better. It is still raining quite hard
here in the late afternoon. I am glad I stayed here as it is pouring. I took an inventory on my food and I will be fine till
Cloverdale Va. in 6 days or so. After Cloverdale I will resupply for two days to get to Catawba Va. It is comfortable
here and not even boring looking at the rain knowing I don’t have to hike in it. It is cool for me at 58 degrees. I
thought August would be hot but it has been really cold so far. I tried without success to find mushrooms to eat
today. All of this rain we are having will grow some soon. I tried also to start a fire with no luck. Everything is soggy.
Friday, August 13, 2004 - Cornelius Creek Shelter to Cove Mountain Shelter
I left the shelter in the fog, hoping it wouldn’t rain. Fortunately it was cloudy all day but it didn’t rain once. I made
good time to Bryant Ridge Shelter and this one is in the top 10 shelters on the entire trail. It is multiple level, post
and beam construction with a picnic table inside of it. There is a nice creek out front. I took a long break here and
almost stayed but continued on. This shelter had 4 prong hooks to hang food and packs on, something that would
be common in the days ahead. My leg was feeling better so after an hour I moved on. I had heard that a hurricane
was bringing more rain so I needed to hike now in case I need to set later. I stopped at Jennings Creek and got in a
deep hole and washed up in this big creek. This area is very pretty and seems to get a lot of use. I washed out some
stinky wet clothes and hung them on my pack with safety pins which I carry just for that. I had a hard long climb to
the next shelter and Cove Mountain doesn’t have water so I will have to carry it up. I was told that one half ways up a
dependable little creek has water in it as of 3 days ago. Four miles from the shelter there was a small creek and I
added 10 pounds of water to my pack. I got to the shelter a little later than usual and it is an isolated one. This is the
shelter which was relocated in 1981 after I stayed there at Marble Springs. About 300 feet from the shelter is an
excellent view of the valley where I went up to see a nice sunset this evening. My leg did well today but my shin is still
sore. Tomorrow is a 6.4 mile day and an early departure is a must because the rains are a coming. It is a little after
6 p.m. and I have had supper and brushed my teeth. It is a little breezy here which will dry clothes out. I feel pretty
clean after jumping in the creek today. It had been one week since my last shower. I had been a bit too stinky, even
for me. I talked to another hiker today that gave me a weather report and it doesn’t look good. He was headed back
to Bryant Ridge as a day hike. It was cool today with no sun out and it is chilly tonight. I had Mac and cheese for
supper tonight. I don’t eat it as often as I did in 1981 but I still like it. After supper I still have 3 quarts of water left. I
will make it easily to next water source tomorrow. This Cove Mountain shelter had an old sign in it which said to my
best memories “Make sure and burn and crush all cans before putting them in the garbage pit.” This is a throw back
from the 50’s and 60’s when it was customary to do this dump thing. I ended up spending the night alone at this
shelter. In 1981 the sight here had been prepared for this shelter being moved here and I stopped and cooked a
steak here. I had bought the steak in Buchanan Va. I still remember how good it tasted, 24 years later. It is 6.4 to
next shelter and the next water is there too.