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[at-l] December 19 - 29 Hike part II



	I was walking by 8:30 on Dec. 20th. The last time I looked at my 
thermometer last night it was 9*. I slept with one bottle of water so 
that I could have coffee before rising and making the few steps to the 
creek for more water.
	Only got up twice during the night to check the water in my tires. 
Boy did I ever jump quickly back in to the sleeping bag. That was a 
zip it up all the way and fasten the chest baffle night. I drew the 
mummy hood up till only my nose was sticking out. I slept very well 
last night. For breakfast I ate only a half pack of Loaded instant 
potatoes and coffee of course. I started out wearing my wind pullover 
but quickly became too hot climbing up Big Walker Mountain. It warmed 
up to 16* in the first hour.
	Now here is a winter problem that I?ll bet there is a good cure for. 
Often times walking in snow the string that loops under my arch and 
secures my gaiters will start forming a snowball. By the time the 
snowball grew to the size of a golf ball it made walking difficult in 
the mere two inches of snow. I could make a kind of stomp and slide 
effort with my next step and burst the snowball from my foot. This is 
a little annoying to have to make a special step every half a dozen 
steps. That night my arches had the beginnings of blisters from 
walking on my arches. So what?s the cure? Maybe some neoprene is 
needed for the strap instead of 550-parachute cord or maybe a piece of 
wire?
I stopped at Knot Maul Shelter and cooked up a Ramin with some chicken 
added. Whoa this is taking a lot more effort than I had planned for. 
Darned heavy pack was making me crawl along on the steep climbs. Whose 
idea was this anyway. I could be zipping along in a 30# pack instead 
of creeping along hauling this load. My automatic pace setter did not 
seem to be working properly. I kept going to fast and having to stop 
for short rests. Well here is the last big climb of the day. FS222 is 
where I met Hopeful for the HATT hike. From here it is 4 miles uphill 
to Chestnut Ridge Shelter. Temperatures stayed around freezing but the 
winds grew stronger and the snow grew deeper the higher I climbed 
Chestnut Ridge. 4 or 5 inches of snow made the walking more difficult. 
The bitter wind blew up knee-deep drifts that had to be crossed. I 
began to think that I might just camp at the pond where I must stop 
for water. When I reached the pond I headed into the wrong cove for 
the spring. I ended up stepping through the snow and submerged my foot 
in the seepage. Then I spotted the larger inlet with the spring house 
that I was looking for. I debated and decided that the comfort of the 
closed in Chestnut Ridge Shelter would be worth another hour of 
drudging through the drifts. The shelter was a relief to see in the 
dim light. Today?s hike took 9 hours for 16 miles total elevation 
change 8890 feet. I was happy with the accomplishment but I was pretty 
sure I did not want to do the same thing every day of my vacation. I 
wanted a more relaxing trip not a marathon.
	I settled in the shelter and put on my warm cloths. The wind was 
howling. The door kept banging open and shut. There was a cord 
attached to the door. I pulled it up tight and hooked it on a nail. 
That didn?t last long. The nail would rotate and release the door. 
Finally I was able to bar the door using the broom and tying the door 
to it. This shelter gets a lot of use from unlearned locals. They 
leave food and trash behind for volunteers to haul out. A fire road 
lets them drive 4 wheelers up close so they can bring lots of junk 
with little effort. There was a two-pound tub of pimento cheese 
sitting on the mantle.
	Well I did have an appetite tonight but I didn?t mess with that 
pimento cheese LOL. I had a cup of soup and put some veggies on to 
reconstitute. I used the veggies and some meat with some Stovetop 
stuffing for a delicious feast. I brought plenty of water but when I 
opened my pack I found that my Nalgene canteen bag had leaked. Since 
it was in the top of my pack it leaked down on everything. Fortunately 
I had everything double bagged. Typically I line my whole pack with a 
large silnylon bag and extra water would be carried outside that bag. 
That bag wasn?t large enough for this Kelty pack and so was not used 
this trip. Everything else, clothes bag, sleeping bag, tent, down coat 
all go into individual silnylon stuff sacks. Each stuff sack is lined 
with a tall kitchen size plastic bag. The silnylon stuff sacks protect 
the garbage bags from punctures and everything was dry. I keep a 
plastic bag in my tent sack too. Just in case I have to pack up the 
tent wet. No sense in having it drip on everything else.

Day number three I planned to just walk to the next shelter and that?s 
what I did. Leaving Chestnut Shelter I placed the outside door brace 
provided against the door to keep it shut. There was a beautiful view 
of the valley below this morning. Snow had blown across the trail 
making some knee deep drifts. They were not hard to negotiate since I 
was heading mostly down hill. When I reached the gap I went east on 
the road a short ways to get water. Climbing out of the gap the 
snowdrifts made things more difficult going up hill. I met a bear 
hunter on the ridge. His two-way radio was blasting out so loud that 
you could hear him coming before you ever saw him. He said the dogs 
had run a bear up here this morning. I told him I had not seen dog or 
bear prints so far this morning. As always it was a nice walk to 
Jenkins shelter and being only ten miles away and 5460 feet of 
elevation change it took a lot less effort than the previous day?s 
journey. I settled in laying out my bed, made a trip to the creek for 
water and then I built a nice little campfire. It was nice having a 
whole afternoon to sit by the fire. The first time I stayed here I 
shared the shelter with Tommy Chong. I ended my first 20-mile day ever 
north of the shelter, since the shelter had been full that time.

Day 4 I headed for Helveys Mill shelter. That?s about 15 miles I 
think. I had never walked the high water Blue trail and just on a whim 
I decided to check it out. It looked like a nice graded forest road 
and that sounded better than bunches of creek crossings and walking in 
watery trail that was the usual for this section. I didn?t think there 
had been enough precipitation to make the AT difficult and I had no 
idea how much longer the High Water Trail was but I took it anyway. It 
did turn out to be pleasant walking for this weather. Besides it was 
something different as I had walked the regular trail and enjoyed all 
the creeks several times. I ran up on a man and wife out hunting. The 
fellow told me the AT was flooded! So I had made a good choice, quite 
by accident. The wind was really blowing today. The trail kept 
alternating from the windy side of the trail to the calmer side. When 
I got to the I-77 crossing I started making a wrong turn. Later I 
remembered doing the same thing in the past. You see the road splits 
to either side of this big rock. The road to the right and the AT lead 
to the other side of 77 via an overhead bridge. The big rock blocks 
your view and it has a big white arrow on it pointing the wrong way. 
While standing at the big rock you cannot see the correct blazes. This 
leads you down the ramp towards 77. Leaving the highway I reached the 
former site of Warren?s bathtub and began my climb up to the shelter. 
I made the semi long trip down to the creek for water and settled in 
for a nice hot cup of hot chocolate. Day number 4 had a total 
elevation change of 5490 feet.

Day number 5 I planned to walk to Jenny Knob shelter ten miles away. 
When I got to the shelter I thought about moving on a ways and tenting 
it. My problem was that I did not have enough food to make it into 
Pearisburg walking with the daily mileage I preferred. Normally I 
could stop at Trents store just before Dismal Falls and get some 
supplies. However today is December 24th and the store will probably 
be closed for Xmas. After I loaded up with water I debated a little 
while. Actually I debated too long and was starting to chill. Time to 
put on some cloths or get moving. One mile ahead at the next road 
crossing Crandon is only .8 mile away. I had never stopped at that 
store even when driving on 42. The ALDHA guide didn?t say anything 
about the store there being seasonal so I thought I would check it 
out. A short ways down the road I saw a young man outside a house. I 
hollered up to him and inquired about the store. He said the store is 
open till two o?clock today! And we are heading that way in just a 
little bit. I told him I best just keep walking to stay warm and that 
I needed supplies to make it to Pearisburg. He replied, we are going 
to Pearisburg in a little bit too. I had about twenty minuets before 
the store closed, plenty of time. The Man and Wife owners of the store 
have ran it 35 years. They said they used to get a lot of hiker 
business when the AT was on Big Walker and ran down through Crandon 
past their store. I purchased a cake and went outside to eat it. Even 
though it was in the twenties the shock of going in a heated building 
was a little bit much all at once. Besides I could be a messy eater 
and enjoy the cake more outside. The fellow I talked to arrived with 
his Grandpa. Slowly duhhh the idea came to me. With my reduced mileage 
I was going to have to trouble someone for a shuttle when time ran out 
and I had not made it to my car at Daleville. Hmmm this sounds good. I 
can be in a motel, with beer, pizza, clean cloths and a bath for Xmas, 
yaaa. I asked if I could get a ride with them and offered to pay. They 
said sure, we would just go back home and get the car so there is more 
room. While they were gone a local man stopped in for a case of beer. 
He said I don?t mean no harm but somebody dropped you on your head to 
be out in weather like this! He said look! You know he is cold he has 
ice in his beard! I enjoyed our conversation on the way to Pearisburg. 
Gramps was 70+ and had interesting stories. I think that maybe I 
didn?t stop my elevation log until I reached the motel 7810 feet total 
change. Turns out my driver was heading to the same shopping center 
that I planned to stop at. They would not accept any money for the 
ride. I figured I better hit the grocery today cause they wouldn?t be 
open Xmas. Well I bought a bunch of junk including a 24 oz beer. The 
one thing I forgot is batteries for my camera. At the begging of the 
trip I though I had fresh lithium batteries in the camera. But no, 
they were dead that first day so I took no pictures this whole trip. I 
walked down the hill to the Rendezvous Motel which is where I usually 
stay in Pearisburg. I took my pack off and walked in the office. But 
it wasn?t the office I walked into an employee?s only area with the 
family all sitting around. The lady said can I help you. And I replied 
yes I would like a room. She said you will have to come around to the 
office. I apologized as I left the room and notice the employees only 
sign. LOL Hey I didn?t know they had remodeled, that used to be the 
office entrance ?. I got change for the laundry and called Pizza Hut 
Hey the motel has unlimited long distance calling for free. That needs 
to be in the ALDHA companion! Folks that have a lot of calls to make 
should know this info. Pizza Hut said they didn?t deliver till 4:00. I 
said fine bring it then and ordered a large meat lovers pizza. I 
started my laundry and jumped in the shower, my room didn?t have a 
tub. I really like a nice hot soak in a tub after a good hike. After 
the laundry was done I stuffed myself with pizza and beer. Finally I 
laid out all my food to plan out the days to come.
chase