May 7th: The Punchbowl Shelter

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10.5 miles today, should have been 9.5 but a trail relocation added one extra mile. We haven't said much about any other hikers or flowers or trail conditions so I'll try to catch you up.
We see between three and a dozen northbound hikers every day. Most started in late January to early March. Most are real lean when we see them and they are all moving much faster than us. They have trimmed down their pack weights to the minimum. Here are some of the trail names we have met.
Professor, Bobsled, Zero, Dogfather, Snakebite, Littlefoot, Dragon Breath, Ladybug, Junebug, Acorn, Natural High, Twofer, Snack Break, Dirty Blond, Boone, Backbend, Grasshopper, Wing-Heart, Spike and Mt Cameron. I'm not sure what the men to women ratio is, but they are about 8:1 I would guess. We see more section hikers around weekends but thru hikers out number the weekend and section hikers. All in all they are a happy go lucky group with only the rare grouch who has had a bad day.
The plant life changes as we go up and down the mountains. There is still little foliage out above 3,500'. Standing on the higher mountains you can see the green tide creeping up the mountain slopes. Dropping down into the valleys brings a flood of scents to us. Today we walked through a pine wood with some Mountain Laurel and Rhododendron thickets all in bloom. There are many flowers I can't identify all in bloom filling the air with sweet smells. The sun baked pine needles have a smell all their own and feel like you are walking on clouds. The trail itself goes from graded old road beds to crushed gravel to hard packed red clay with the odd section of non-technical boulder climbing. On the steeper mountains switchbacks abound and in places there are even hand laid stone or log steps. I guess what I'm saying is there is no real common trail type. It's like the weather, wait a short while and it will change. We have taken many pictures and know Matt will post them as he can.

Back to the days walk

Started at the Brown Mtn Creek Shelter where we spent a restful night tented by the stream. Got up around 6:30AM and made scrambled eggs with bacon chunks. It was one of the commercial meals our daughter Joline gave us for Christmas. Boy was it good with a cup of hot Joe. Speaking of hot Joe, those of you who know me real well here's a shocker - I am down to just one cup of coffee in the morning and sometimes I don't even get that every day! Well after chow it was down the valley. This valley was settled by freed slaves in the 1800's where they sharecropped until 1920 when they sold out to the US Forest Svc. This was what a nice sign out in the middle of the woods said. Walking along the stream we noticed their stone works were still standing, hiding among the trees and vines. The trail we walked down was their main road in and out of this beautiful valley. Rhodies were blooming and the greens of the trees and bushes are in a dozen hues. The streams aroma added the icing to the cake.
It was all down hill to the Pedlar Dam and Lynchburg Reservoir, down to about 900'. Then back up, to the top of Rice Mtn at 2,210'. Then there were a few "PUDS" Pointless Ups and Downs, a technical Thru Hiker term. Over the Blue Ridge Pkwy at MP 51.7 and up the last steep grade to Punchbowl Shelter at 2,500'. It was a nice shelter with a small pond out to the side. There were already three gentlemen there filling their water containers for the next day. We had a nice chat over dinner and "Mt Cameron" came in for a short rest, dinner and then more walking. It amazes me to see how many of these young men will walk until dark or into the night. They are always looking for "That High Mileage Day."

Patrick, Deborah Mooney aka OD & CC
All Who Wander Are Not Lost

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