Monday, April 25, 2005 -Troutdale Baptist Church Hostel to Wise Shelter
I was up early and packed up everything and left the room at 8 or so. I walked 10 minutes to the general store and
café and had breakfast and bought some food to replace the day I lost not hiking. I also bought some light weight
gloves to keep my hands warm while hiking. After eating a large breakfast I headed out to the corner where Va. 603
headed back up to the trail and started to hitch. It was 25 degrees out so I had to keep walking to stay warm. I got a
ride with the owner of the local motel who was taking the people I had met the day before back to the trail. What
luck! We all got dropped off and they went north and I went south. I met the Galloping gourmet and his wife. This
was to be a very hard day of hiking but the most beautiful. The snow started out at 2 inches then it continued to
increase as I climbed until there was 18 inches in places. The trail was beautiful and my steps were the first since
the storm had stopped yesterday. There were several drifts of 3 feet and at the scales, a horse staging area, there
was a snow fence and a five foot drift. I had to jump into it and roll out to the other side. After getting up in the
grassy highlands area the wind had blown the snow away and hiking was a lot easier. I took some pictures of the
snow and had a pretty day of hiking and made it to Wise Shelter where I will stay tonight. I saw no other hikers on
the trail today. I saw a few ponies up on top too. I missed the trail a few times today too since the blazes were
covered up and there were no footprints. Over all I made it through a difficult day and am resting at the shelter and I
am drying my damp clothes in the very sunny day. I have been here 30 minutes and am hungry again. I will heat up
something hot because it is still very cold even with the sun. I will only go to Thomas Knob tomorrow, which is only
5.1 miles. Late in the evening there were about 12 thru-hikers here and around the shelter. It is always good to get
to shelters early. I met oriental legs, a Japanese man who had hiked too far for his own good today. He ate and slept
till morning without moving. He did snore like a horse all night.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005 - Wise Shelter to Thomas Knob Shelter
I left wise Shelter after sleeping well. I had a pleasant hike to Thomas Knob Shelter where I will stay tonight. This is
the closest shelter to Mount Rogers summit. I saw several ponies today and got some great views. The baby ponies
were 40 pounds. One grown up pony came up to the shelter and stuck its head into the shelter and looked at me. It
didn’t stay long since I didn’t feed it. The outhouse has the only solar powered fan I have ever seen on the A.T. This
shelter is full tonight including the loft. It is raining a lot tonight with a cold wind. It is good to be in a dry shelter
tonight. One hiker came in at 9:45 p.m. He was miserable but glad to get here too. It is snowing again tonight and is
bitter cold. It will be another tough night. I have all my clothes on and am in the sleeping bag. I got a fleece parka at
the hostel that someone had left and it has been a lifesaver to me. I have a place to put my hands together too to
keep them warm. It also has a hood. I will carry this fleece till I am sure it is no longer needed.
I was up early and packed up everything and left the room at 8 or so. I walked 10 minutes to the general store and
café and had breakfast and bought some food to replace the day I lost not hiking. I also bought some light weight
gloves to keep my hands warm while hiking. After eating a large breakfast I headed out to the corner where Va. 603
headed back up to the trail and started to hitch. It was 25 degrees out so I had to keep walking to stay warm. I got a
ride with the owner of the local motel who was taking the people I had met the day before back to the trail. What
luck! We all got dropped off and they went north and I went south. I met the Galloping gourmet and his wife. This
was to be a very hard day of hiking but the most beautiful. The snow started out at 2 inches then it continued to
increase as I climbed until there was 18 inches in places. The trail was beautiful and my steps were the first since
the storm had stopped yesterday. There were several drifts of 3 feet and at the scales, a horse staging area, there
was a snow fence and a five foot drift. I had to jump into it and roll out to the other side. After getting up in the
grassy highlands area the wind had blown the snow away and hiking was a lot easier. I took some pictures of the
snow and had a pretty day of hiking and made it to Wise Shelter where I will stay tonight. I saw no other hikers on
the trail today. I saw a few ponies up on top too. I missed the trail a few times today too since the blazes were
covered up and there were no footprints. Over all I made it through a difficult day and am resting at the shelter and I
am drying my damp clothes in the very sunny day. I have been here 30 minutes and am hungry again. I will heat up
something hot because it is still very cold even with the sun. I will only go to Thomas Knob tomorrow, which is only
5.1 miles. Late in the evening there were about 12 thru-hikers here and around the shelter. It is always good to get
to shelters early. I met oriental legs, a Japanese man who had hiked too far for his own good today. He ate and slept
till morning without moving. He did snore like a horse all night.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005 - Wise Shelter to Thomas Knob Shelter
I left wise Shelter after sleeping well. I had a pleasant hike to Thomas Knob Shelter where I will stay tonight. This is
the closest shelter to Mount Rogers summit. I saw several ponies today and got some great views. The baby ponies
were 40 pounds. One grown up pony came up to the shelter and stuck its head into the shelter and looked at me. It
didn’t stay long since I didn’t feed it. The outhouse has the only solar powered fan I have ever seen on the A.T. This
shelter is full tonight including the loft. It is raining a lot tonight with a cold wind. It is good to be in a dry shelter
tonight. One hiker came in at 9:45 p.m. He was miserable but glad to get here too. It is snowing again tonight and is
bitter cold. It will be another tough night. I have all my clothes on and am in the sleeping bag. I got a fleece parka at
the hostel that someone had left and it has been a lifesaver to me. I have a place to put my hands together too to
keep them warm. It also has a hood. I will carry this fleece till I am sure it is no longer needed.
Thomas Knob Pony
Wednesday, April 27, 2005 -Thomas Knob to Lost Mountain Shelter
I was up at dawn and had hot chocolate and oatmeal for breakfast. It was a long day for me so I got started at 7:15 a.
m. It will be 12.2 miles to Lost Mountain Shelter. I would like to split this day but the weather it real bad and a shelter
is a must. I hiked off Mount Rogers and into Deep Gap where I first saw ramps in 1981. The shelter is gone now but I
took a break there. This is a pretty spot. It really should be a camp site again. I then hiked down to Elk Garden. It
was snowy there too and very scenic and beautiful. I met Popeye at Elk Garden going north to Harper’s Ferry at
about 25 miles per day. I do 10 and he does 25 and we both didn’t understand each other. That is how it is on the A.
T. Two hundred feet from the road going south there were trash bins and some beer left by trail angels. I never
drink much but that cold beer was good! It gave me a lot of energy going up to the Whitetop Mountain. As I was
ascending Whitetop it began to snow and by the time I got to the top I had 2 inches of snow on my pack. I was
hoping the snow would not get worse. At least the trail skirted around Whitetop so it spared me from going over the
summit in such bad windy weather. I stopped on top a short while to eat some gorp and kept moving to stay warm. I
got to Lost Mountain Shelter at 3:00 p.m. really worn out. I laid my stuff out in the shelter and went down to get
water. The shelter will be full again with 3 tents on ground outside. This new breed of hiker is different then in 1981.
They are on the most part a bunch of dumb asses and a few sane ones. Their pack weight runs around 25 pounds,
they carry denatured alcohol stoves, and if they get in trouble they have nothing to help them in their packs. Some
carry only one pair of socks. No one cooks for breakfast. They eat junk for breakfast. They then will do three 20 mile
days and take 2 days off in every town. To them the towns are the place to get to. I am hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Towns are for resupply and I am gone. Everyone has a right to hike the trail as they want to but trail etiquette should
be taught or learned before going out on such a long trip. In the mornings when I leave most hikers are still in bed.
They then want to hike 20 miles and come into the shelters very late, sometimes 9:00p.m., or later and disrupt the
others. There again, hike like you want but camp out as not to disrupt others. The new hiker is lazy. They walk into
the sleeping platform with dirty boots on and don’t understand why I tell them out of the shelter with you boots on.
They say everyone does it. I look at them and usually ask,” Do you walk on your bed at home with your dirty boots
on?” When they tell me of course not, I tell them, “Then don’t do it here.” They then get to thinking about it and then
sometimes apologize. I know now why only 18 percent of hikers make it to Maine. I slept well and will go to Saunders
Shelter tomorrow.
Thursday, April 28, 2005 -Wise Shelter to Saunders Shelter
I left the shelter at 7:00 a.m. with most still in bed. I had two small pots of coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. I made it
to Saunders Shelter by 11:30 a.m. and cleaned out unwanted things from pack and will send some things unwanted
home in Damascus when I get there tomorrow. I was here a short while when Vision Quest stopped by for a break.
She is a thru-hiker. I later saw her in a magazine so I know she finished. I have been writing here at the shelter for
an hour to catch up on my writing. The last few days it has been too cold to hold a pen! It is also hard to write when
15 hikers are all around the shelter. I like solitude. That is why I am here on this beautiful trail. I hiked on the railroad
that I remember from 1981 and when I passed a small pond I recognized it as a camp site I used then too. I am
staying at Saunders Shelter tonight. My wife Virginia and I stayed here before this new shelter was built and we
spent the night with many Boy Scouts, one of which ground his teeth all night! Each shelter has a story each time
you visit. Take the time and savor the moment at each beautiful shelter. I have been at this location for 4 hours and
no one is here yet. This is a super fine location for a shelter though the water is a ways down. There is a lot of grass
and camping areas around and the deer are here at night a lot. I jumped a big deer when I got here. I have been
eating ramps everyday. I carried some to here for dinner tonight. The thru-hikers are here now. Tom Cat , Ninja,
Num Tum, to name a few. I believe all three made it to Maine. I got one mouse in the trap I am carrying. It rained
hard all night but we are in a clean dry shelter. Later in the evening I popped the remaining pop corn I carried from
Partnership Shelter. It went fast with 4 thru-hikers in the shelter.
I was up at dawn and had hot chocolate and oatmeal for breakfast. It was a long day for me so I got started at 7:15 a.
m. It will be 12.2 miles to Lost Mountain Shelter. I would like to split this day but the weather it real bad and a shelter
is a must. I hiked off Mount Rogers and into Deep Gap where I first saw ramps in 1981. The shelter is gone now but I
took a break there. This is a pretty spot. It really should be a camp site again. I then hiked down to Elk Garden. It
was snowy there too and very scenic and beautiful. I met Popeye at Elk Garden going north to Harper’s Ferry at
about 25 miles per day. I do 10 and he does 25 and we both didn’t understand each other. That is how it is on the A.
T. Two hundred feet from the road going south there were trash bins and some beer left by trail angels. I never
drink much but that cold beer was good! It gave me a lot of energy going up to the Whitetop Mountain. As I was
ascending Whitetop it began to snow and by the time I got to the top I had 2 inches of snow on my pack. I was
hoping the snow would not get worse. At least the trail skirted around Whitetop so it spared me from going over the
summit in such bad windy weather. I stopped on top a short while to eat some gorp and kept moving to stay warm. I
got to Lost Mountain Shelter at 3:00 p.m. really worn out. I laid my stuff out in the shelter and went down to get
water. The shelter will be full again with 3 tents on ground outside. This new breed of hiker is different then in 1981.
They are on the most part a bunch of dumb asses and a few sane ones. Their pack weight runs around 25 pounds,
they carry denatured alcohol stoves, and if they get in trouble they have nothing to help them in their packs. Some
carry only one pair of socks. No one cooks for breakfast. They eat junk for breakfast. They then will do three 20 mile
days and take 2 days off in every town. To them the towns are the place to get to. I am hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Towns are for resupply and I am gone. Everyone has a right to hike the trail as they want to but trail etiquette should
be taught or learned before going out on such a long trip. In the mornings when I leave most hikers are still in bed.
They then want to hike 20 miles and come into the shelters very late, sometimes 9:00p.m., or later and disrupt the
others. There again, hike like you want but camp out as not to disrupt others. The new hiker is lazy. They walk into
the sleeping platform with dirty boots on and don’t understand why I tell them out of the shelter with you boots on.
They say everyone does it. I look at them and usually ask,” Do you walk on your bed at home with your dirty boots
on?” When they tell me of course not, I tell them, “Then don’t do it here.” They then get to thinking about it and then
sometimes apologize. I know now why only 18 percent of hikers make it to Maine. I slept well and will go to Saunders
Shelter tomorrow.
Thursday, April 28, 2005 -Wise Shelter to Saunders Shelter
I left the shelter at 7:00 a.m. with most still in bed. I had two small pots of coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. I made it
to Saunders Shelter by 11:30 a.m. and cleaned out unwanted things from pack and will send some things unwanted
home in Damascus when I get there tomorrow. I was here a short while when Vision Quest stopped by for a break.
She is a thru-hiker. I later saw her in a magazine so I know she finished. I have been writing here at the shelter for
an hour to catch up on my writing. The last few days it has been too cold to hold a pen! It is also hard to write when
15 hikers are all around the shelter. I like solitude. That is why I am here on this beautiful trail. I hiked on the railroad
that I remember from 1981 and when I passed a small pond I recognized it as a camp site I used then too. I am
staying at Saunders Shelter tonight. My wife Virginia and I stayed here before this new shelter was built and we
spent the night with many Boy Scouts, one of which ground his teeth all night! Each shelter has a story each time
you visit. Take the time and savor the moment at each beautiful shelter. I have been at this location for 4 hours and
no one is here yet. This is a super fine location for a shelter though the water is a ways down. There is a lot of grass
and camping areas around and the deer are here at night a lot. I jumped a big deer when I got here. I have been
eating ramps everyday. I carried some to here for dinner tonight. The thru-hikers are here now. Tom Cat , Ninja,
Num Tum, to name a few. I believe all three made it to Maine. I got one mouse in the trap I am carrying. It rained
hard all night but we are in a clean dry shelter. Later in the evening I popped the remaining pop corn I carried from
Partnership Shelter. It went fast with 4 thru-hikers in the shelter.
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