May 19th: The Mongolian Horde

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Waken from a sound sleep again! About 11:30PM it sounded as if our tent was
center court at an NBA game. Headlamps threw a kaleidoscope of ever changing
shadows on all sides of the tent. Loud voices barked commands as some huge out
of control train wreck of a camping group descended on the shelter and
surrounding area. This ruckus continued for an hour and fifteen minutes as they
settled in for the night. Once they were in bed all was quiet the remainder of
the night.
Sunlight was cresting the ridge around 6:30AM as I emerged from the tent.
Elements of the 14th Mongolian Horde were also rising. Since retiring from the
Army, I have become a kinder, gentler soul. For a brief moment that old crusty
Ranger First Sergeant started out of his hiding place, but I held him in check
until the situation could be fully assessed. It was a group of about 20 young men
ages from say 8-16, with about eight adult males. I did not ask their
affiliation to any certain group, but headed to the man who seemed to be in
charge as all other adult males were huddled around him like a quarterback. In a
calm, collected and quiet tone that could only be heard by adult ears I said,
"Never have I experienced a more rude, inconsiderate, loud, obnoxious, out of
control people in a camp sight - ever. As the loudest and rudest individuals were
adults, I held no malice towards the young people. They were only following the
poor examples set for them." Then quietly walked to the outhouse. These people as it turned out belonged to a group who professes to
know the outdoor rules and teaches them to young people. Not in this case. Later
as CC and I walked out of camp past the leader I asked how far they intended to
walk today, as they were going south like us. He answered about 10 miles and
wanted to know why I should ask. I just told him I just wanted to know how far I
needed to walk to stay ahead of him and the unruly mob of his.
1,650' was the climb out of the shelter to the top of Sinking Creek Mtn. over
about 2.6 miles. We then rolled along a ridge line that was filled with two car
garage sized and larger slabs of sandstone driven up by the shifting plates of
the earth. Walking with toes down, toes up or ankles rolled to awkward angles
making for a painful walk. There was a cold, strong wind blowing most of this
stretch causing CC to keep her coat on most of the time. After about 8 miles we
descended into some pastures and past the "Keffer Oak." It is a very large white
oak. 18+ feet around in the Sinking Creek Valley, estimated to be more than 300
years old. It was a very impressive old tree. We continued across pastures for a
few miles and bumped into the most unlikely looking hiker. She was with a younger
woman and a man about her age (40-50yr range), dressed like Daisy Duke, hat,
shorts, big ear rings and not smelling like she had been on the trial for no
more than 10 minutes. Pleasantries were exchanged and they went north, we went south. We crossed VA42 and started up toward Laural Creek. The climb was tough but we knew it would only be a few more miles to the end of the day.
For those of you who have never had the pleasure of walking through a wild
Rhododendron thicket, you should come down to this area and go for a hike. The
only thing missing to make you think you were in the Central American jungle
are a few exotic birds and a few primates. Most of the blooms are gone, but the
twisted, contorted, tangled, intertwined mass of trunks with a cool stream
running amongst them is breath taking. This is what we climbed through from the
road (2,100') to near the shelter at 2,720' over almost two miles. In between
two thickets I spied an old house sitting in a small hollow. It was a two story
clapboard house that must have been over 70 years old. Got a picture then
pressed the last half mile to the shelter.
Some have asked how the trail is marked and what is the trail made of or like.
The last part of today's walk was poorly marked, one missing white blaze and CC
headed off up a deer trail in a rhodie thicket. We only went a short way before
discovering our mistake, back tracking and regaining the proper trail. Coming
north on the trail was a local day hiker. He warned us not to make a wrong turn
as he had on his last hike. He had wandered for over an hour in the thicket
trying to find the way out.
After 12.4 miles we walked into the Laural Creek Shelter. There were a few
other folks there, but we found a perfect tent spot and settled in for the night
praying the Mongolian Horde would not wake us up again. The temp is quickly
dropping and the strong wind has returned causing both of us to layer up before
bed.

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

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Comments

[W2RWA- Dick]

Missed Call!
Pat... I think you missed your call... -You should have been a writer!... Excellent Commentary... -We, on the Carrier net are finding lots to talk about while you head evermore south... -Keep 'em coming!.. -Dick