Sunny with a chance of murder!

Day 36 - 5/20/10
Today the weather finally turned around, so I woke up to sunshine instead of rain. It was a very welcome change.

I was the first to leave, which I did so at 8 o'clock. The morning was glorious, and seeing blue skies again was such a good feeling that I had to stop so I could take several huge inhales of fresh mountain air. It felt like forever since I had seen a morning like that, so it was necessary to take in the full experience.

One annoying thing about being first to leave though is that you're the one that walks through all the morning cobwebs. These tiny little catapillers put them up all across the trail, from trees to plants, plants to leaves, sticks to trees, and so on. They're almost invisible, but every time I go through one I can feel it get stuck in my beard, face, armhair, nose, etc. It's very itchy and uncomfortable. I've only been first a few other times, and sure enough its happened every time. So there are some downsides to getting that headstart.

The walk to the first shelter flew by, and by 12 I had made it the 10 miles to it. I stopped for lunch, a healthy blend of pepperoni and Snickers. As I geared up to leave many people who had stayed at the last shelter with me started rolling in. It seemed like many of them would do the 14 to the next shelter like I was planning, so I said, "See you there," then pressed on.

I made it to 606 (a road) at 2:45 and stopped to take a break. Just before that I had crossed this long, narrow suspension bridge that was wooden and wobbly. It was really fun to cross, and made me feel like Indiana Jones. Just missing the lasso. Anyway, at 606 there was a general store about .5 miles down, and I almost went to get a burger or pizza, but decided against it. I figured I'll be in Pearisburg soon enough, and I'll get myself a treat then. Plus I still had 8 miles to go.

The last 5-6 of those miles were terribly boring. It was just very flat and dull. It'd be like this: Long flat stretch. Small bridge to cross stream. Slight uphill. Repeat. Over and over. Finally I made it to the shelter, and the two guys who were here, Trashman and Laid Back, completely agreed about how boring it was. So if you want to section hike, don't choose this one. I also talked with them about the history of this shelter. Apparently a murder took place here at Watipi shelter. The guy was caught and went to prison, then 20 years later when he was out came back to the same area (I guess a few miles away but very close to the shelter) and attempted to kill two other hikers, but they both lived. That was actually one thing I was thinking about a lot while hiking that boring section alone. I did get creeped out a few times, and looked over my shoulder more than I normally do.

I cooked up some rice with garlic for dinner, and it was getting later, maybe around 7:30, and still no one had shown up. I was surprised because it seemed like many had planned on it. Now it's 9 and still no one has come, so I'm glad these other two were here, especially with all the disturbing history of this place. I wouldn't want to be here alone. I'm going to do a nearo (near zero) tomorrow to this hostel that's supposed to be very nice, they even do massages. It's around 6 miles, so it'll be an easy day. However, if they don't do shuttles into town (Pearisburg) my plans might change and I'll probably just push it to town for resupply reasons. Let's hope they do a shuttle.

Total miles: 609.8