.November 7, 2006
Today's forcast: 'A Good Soaking'. Looks like I am in for some rain. We parked by the James River Bridge. I didn't check out the bridge, because I plan to check it out tomorrow. Lynn, Madison, and I crossed the street and began today's hike. Almost immediately we crossed a couple of bridges.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ With the threat of a lot of rain today, I took our old camera. With this camera, if you don't keep your hands perfectly still, the picture will come out blurry. As a result some of the pictures today aren't the best. Sorry about that.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ We had a wide, flat trail to follow along Rocky Row Run.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The trail turned to the left and started going uphill, so Lynn decided to head back while Madison stayed with me. I put a doggy pack on Madison so she could carry some of our stuff. According to the instructions with the pack, a dog can carry 1/3 of his/her own weight. This means that Madison can carry up to about 16 or 17 pounds although I keep her pack at just about 6 or 7 pounds. Sometimes it looks like she is carrying a lot but it is usually because I have stuffed some clothes in her pack. Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer, recommends giving dogs a job to do.
Dogs keep a faster pace than people, so the doggy pack also helps even things out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I bypassed the Johns Hollow Shelter, but with the leaves gone I could see it from the trail. I couldn't afford to stop because I wanted to get to the top of Little Rocky Row before it rained. Maybe I could catch a view before being fogged in. Here's my first glimpse of the valley.
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Madison likes to run and getting her back can be a trick so I don't trust her off the leash yet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I made it to the top of Little Rocky Row as the clouds and fog were setting in.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Here's Madison chest deep in leaves.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I headed off to Big Rocky Row. Along the way I tried to transfer Madison's leash to my other hand and dropped it. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked at me. We both looked at the leash laying on the ground. She looked at me with an almost human look as if to say "Go for it. I dare you to pick up the leash." I felt like I was in an old western where two gunmen were making a move for the same gun. I slowly started to bend to pick up the leash. That was all it took. She immediately sprinted off in the other direction. She ran about a hundred feet or so. I called for her. I couldn't believe it. She actually came back. This gal is learning.
I reached the top of Big Rocky Row. There must be a good view from here, but I was completely fogged in. I pressed on to Bluff Mountain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Just a few yards from the summit of Bluff Mountain I found perhaps the saddest spot on the entire Appalachian Trail. A monument to Little Ottie Cline Powell.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I can only imagine the fear that must of been running through this little boy as he was lost. It is just 2 days from the anniversary of his disappearance. It is cold and rainy. He probably had similar weather. This is a fairly good size mountain at 3,372 feet with rugged terrain. I can't believe this boy who was not yet 5 years old managed to climb to the top of it. Such a sad story. At his monument I found a truck and 30 cents.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I was expecting to find more toys.
Here is a picture from when Runtrails went by this spot on June 17, 2005. (Day 49)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I am trying to think the best of human nature and that the toys were not stolen but perhaps someone takes them inside during the harsher winter months. A few more yards and I reached the summit. There were remains of a tower that once stood there. Looks like there are great views but not today. I began the descent. A few minutes later I met Lynn. She stopped along the Blue Ridge Parkway to come meet me half way through the day. I bypassed the Punchbowl Shelter since I was just a few minutes from the car. I was looking forward to getting out of the rain and warm up a little.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ After eating a snack I headed off. Madison stayed with Lynn. I crossed VA 607.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I came across my first sign today for US 60, my destination for the day. Just a little less than 10 miles to go.
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I came across a section of the trail that had been relocated. It was on my map that the trail would be relocated in 2005 so I had expected that this had taken place.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Just out of curiousity I looked for the old trail and found it. I looked down the trail 2 or 3 trees and could see where a white blaze had been painted over in brown. There's no way you could take the old trail by mistake. The trail crew did a good job of covering it up.
Next I reached Little Irish Creek and found a really nice bridge.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The trail this time of year definitely lacks color. I actually miss the 'long green tunnel' and was happy to find some bushes that still had their green leaves.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Another drawback of going this time of year is that I had to constantly picked the leaves off the bottom of my hiking pole.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I found where the relocated trail ended. Again I found the old trail and once again the trail crew did a great job of hiding it. Next I reached the Lynchburg Reservoir. The trail doesn't come real close to the water and is up a lot higher. I did try to steal a peek of Pedlar Dam through the trees.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Swapping Camp Creek
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I am glad there are so many bridges on a rainy day like today. This was Brown Creek.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Nice, a place to rest.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I rested for few minutes while reading the information on the kiosk. I was walking through the remains of the Brown Mountain Creek Settlement. This community was established after the Civil War for freed slaves who farmed the land. The land was purchased by the US Forest Service in the early 1900's. This is a very small strip of land that follows the creek with mountains on each side. How did they have farms on such a small piece of land? There were lots of stone foundations and rock walls in the area. I crossed the creek for the last time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I checked out the Brown Mountain Creek Shelter since it was just off the trail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ There was a hiker who was already in his sleeping bag for the night. This was the only hiker (or in this case sleeper) that I saw all day. It was a reminder to me that I better get going if I wanted to be out by dark. There was another bench and kiosk at the north end of the settlement.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I ended my day with a 500 foot climb. I hate ending my day going up. Oh, well. A few more minutes and I saw Lynn and Madison coming down. That was encouraging. Another 20 minutes and I reached US 60.
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