Wednesday 14th -- 3.4 mi
IV (my brother) and I drove 6.5 hours from Columbus to Damascus. Arrived at Lone Wolf's home at 5:30pm. After short introductions (great guy, meet Gypsy as well) and shifting of gear into his truck, he shuttled us out to Fox Creek. We were on the trail by 6:30pm.

We stopped at Old Orchard Shelter, 3 folks were setup in the shelter and 2 more were setting up their tent in a small field near by. IV hit the privy while I decided to pull out the digital camera (Fuji 602Z) for a few test shots. I pushed the shutter, camera makes a weird noise like it is focusing, but it doesn't take a picture. Repeat several times. Power cycle. Same results. At this point, I think the camera is broken. So, I "reset" it back to factory defaults. Disable the sound. Same results. ***?!?! I pushed the shutter a few more times, and then I noticed that the available frame count was decreasing? I think to myself, "How could that be? The camera is not taking pictures." Then I remembered that I had disabled the sound in an attempt to save as much battery as possible. Turned the sound back on and everything "sounded" normal. The camera was fine. Mental note to self: "Digital Camera's do NOT sound like analog camera's when they have their 'sound' disabled" :D

Great spot, but we decided to head on. Made it to the "crest zone" (bald) where the AT intersects the Pine Mountain Trail. Decided to setup camp. IV found a good tent site, while I was able to find a couple of nice trees on the crest side of the fence for my HH. We stayed up talking until 10pm. Slept fairly well (mid 40s, little to no wind), but I soon realized I needed a bit more insulation along my back besides the reflector pad I brought along (See Gear section below).

Thursday 15th -- 9.3 mi

I was out of bed by 6am. I walked to a near-by rock pile (they were everywhere throughout the crest zones we passed through the next couple of days). Watched the cows and ponies. Pulled down our bear bag and got IV out of bed.

The forecast called for rain. We had a few drops right at dawn. We figured that was going to be it for the day. Boy, were we wrong!

Stoped at the Wise Shelter around 11am for a snack, continued on to just north (AT north) of Massie Gap, where we stopped for a "lunch". Had great views of what I think was Haw Orchard Mtn. On the way to Massie Gap I stopped to take several dozen pictures of the ponies as my daughters are currently "into" ponies and horses. Continued on to Massie Gap.

About 1:30pm, the rain started. Within 10-15 minutes it was raining quite hard. Straight down, not a big deal. Passed a group of 4 older (70+) couples who were using cue sticks as walking sticks. Out for a day hike, they had "wind breakers" on (Yikes!!). A moment later, we passed another man out for a day hike who, too, had just a light "jacket" on. Later we figured out he was lost, as he told us the had passed a sign (we saw it later) 2 miles back that told him he had 2 miles until he reached Massie Gap. We told him he had at least 2 more miles until he reached the parking lot. Seems as though there is another trail that provides a more direct route to the lot that he missed in the rain.

I hope all of these folks made it back to their cars. Probably learned quite a lesson that afternoon as well. As the weather was getting worst.

Moments after we passed the lost man the wind picked up. Now the rain was horizontal and thunder was starting. We could see lightening off in the distance (8-10 seconds away by count). And we were still heading UP hill. We needed to find a place to sit out the storm fast. We saw a smaller rock pile (maybe 15' x 15' x 7' tall) about 50 yards between 2 much taller rock piles. We figured that would be a good spot to sit out the storm.

We leaned up against the protected side of the pile and waited. Within a few moments we were quite cold (wearing our shorts and rain jackets). We able to cover up our legs with our pack covers while still covering the packs. It helped for a bit, but we were both getting colder. At this point, I think we were both staring to shiver a bit. We dug out our rain pants and our fleece vests. We now had been sitting against this cold rock for ~20-30 minutes.

The extra layers helped, but it wasn't long before we were both cold again. I finally told IV to pull out his pad so we could lean against it and/or sit on. While I dug out my HH fly. Using the fly we were able to wrap up and completly block out the wind and rain. With a few minutes we had warmed up a bit. But the damn wind and rain still had not let up. After sitting there for 90 minutes, and after convienceing ourselves that the lightening was far off, we decided to head out.

We quickly stuffed in the fly and pad, and headed back into the wind and rain. The hood on my jacket was pulling my hat's bill down, such that I could only see 10-15' in front of me. Which meant I had to "look up" from time to time to make sure I was still on the trail.

We made to "Fatman Squeeze" (nice shelter from the wind/rain). Waited a few more minutes. At this point, a woman wearing shorts and a poncho (!!) heading NOBO walked by. She told us we had over a mile before we would be in a protected area. We suggested that she hang out in the squeeze until the storm passed. She continued on. That was quite an odd situation, here we are freeze our butts off, "hiding" from the weather and this person walks by in a poncho and shorts like nothing is going on. Later we learn, she is from Ontario, CA. She had told the folks in next shelter that it was too "warm" not to hike. Wow!

So, after swollowing a bit of pride/ego, we headed out into the storm. Within 30 minutes, or so, the rain slows. The winds are still around, a bit of sun (what's that) starts to peek through the clouds.

We eventually reached Thomas Knob Shelter at 5pm. There were at least 15 folks hanging out in the shelter. A large group of them were heading out as we arrived. 10 of us decided to stay the night.

Laid out our bags and ate dinner (gear note, the pot cozy rocks!).

Talked with "56" and her boyfriend/husband Brian (never did get his trail name). They were through hikers heading SOBO doing a mini flip-flop (from Atkins) so they could get back to Trail Days. We saw quite a few thru-hikers doing this over the next couple of days. Great folks. Gave IV plenty of advice for his planned (next year) thru. They were quite the ultra-light couple. GoLite umbrallas, tennis shoes (not trail shoes), etc. 56 told me that if they didn't use something for a week they sent it home. Luckily for them, the were in a hostel when that mid April storm hit the south. As they had already sent home their "really cold" winter gear. They loved the idea of the pot cozy. Told them that antigravitygear was going to be in town (they ended up buying one).

The only other interesting folks in the shelter were "Peanut butter" (that's we we called him as he wouldn't stop offering peanut butter to everyone in the shelter, probably because he brought a full 20oz container) and "U-Turn". A father/son pair. Both, IV and myself got the impression that these two do not really "know" each other. The father was quite into himself (marathon runner) and seemed quite ridged and "disciplined", while "u-turn" (just got the name becuase they left the shelter before the rain started, and managed to get the both of them lost on a side trail, but somehow ended up back at the same shelter just before we arrived!) was out for his first backpacking trip. Dad was always telling him how to do things like he was 10, but he had to be at least 30+. Interesting "Springer" (as is Jerry, not Mtn) moment, we learned that U-turn's brother in-law had been his brother in-law twice. Married 2 of his 3 (?) sisters. This same brother in-law crawled on his hands and knees (peanut butter carried his pack) along a ridge line in the smokies becuase he was afraid of heights. Wow!

Slept well, even though I only had a 1/8" pad.

Friday 16th -- 18.6 mi
We hit the trail by 7:30 am. 56 and Brain were planing on reaching Damascus that evening, 31 miles away. Ouch! We ran into them in town later during the weekend. They made it. Several folks we passed along the way told us they were almost running down the trail. That just doesn't seem like fun to me. I hope there was something in town waiting for them. Because I can't see why you'd need to get back into town on Friday. Most of the "activities" were on Saturday.

IV and I decided to cut back on the stops and pictures and try to get in a few miles so we could get back to town Saturday night (we just wanted to check out he vendors Sunday before they left town).

We had great weather this day. Clear skies (most of the time) and plenty of views. Made up for the storm yesterday.

Ran into plenty of ponies, some even on the trail with their foals. The foals were quite curious with us, but yet a bit afraid. Got plenty of pictures for my daughters.

Stopped at rt 600's parking lot around 10 am to air out our feet and eat a snack. At this point we saw a shuttle drop off a few thru hikers who were doing a mini flip-flop to get back to trail days. We also told the farmer, who was using the field that the AT runs through, that one of his cows and its calf were two hills away (they didn't come down the fence like the rest of herd).

We continued onto Buzzard Rock where we ate lunch and had awesome views in every direction. It was at this point that pain began for me, the next 7 miles were downhill. And quite steep at times. My knees were already bit sore from all of the damn rocks along the trail in the crest zones and the down hills didn't help. I was in so much pain that I could barely go 20-30 yds without stopping. Took a couple of Advil, that helped for a bit, but the pain came back later. It was a very slow day.

We reached the Lost Mtn Shelter at 3pm, had a snack. Decided it was too early to quit (are we stupid or what?!?!) and continued onto Saunders Shelter.

The last 2-3 miles are all uphill. This old man (35) was out of gas. Must have taken us 2.5 hours to do that leg. We arrived at the shelter around 7:30pm (12 hours is just too much). Five folks were already setup. I found a nice place for the hammock (just about fell asleep during my strech test). While we were setting up camp, we could hear someone off in the distance singing and playing a guitar. Later we learned he was actually praying. HYOH, I guess.

Ate dinner, fell into bed at 9:30 pm. Slept quite well, only woke up a few times to my fly flapping in the wind, or to adjust the fleece vest I was laying on.

Saturday 17th -- 9.4 mi
After looking at the profile maps during breakfast, I knew this was going to be another painful day. 2 miles down hill, 3 up, 3 more down followed by a flat mile into town. I took some Advil before I left camp at 9am.

The first bit of downhill had quite a few switch backs. The knees still hurt. Part way down the Advil kicked in and I was able to finish the rest of that hill with a bit less pain.

Stopped at US58 to air out our feet. I noticed I was getting a blister along the back edge of my right foot where the superfeet meet sides of my NB 806 (there is a separate thread on this subject elsewhere on this board). Drained it, and coverd it up with duct tape. Eventually got larger under the duct tape.

Made it up the last hill (Cuckoo Knob) without issue, but the downhill side is the steepest hill I have ever had to deal with. Needless to say I almost cried most of the way down the hill. Took us 90+ minutes to do that downhill section.

Ate lunch along the VA creeper trail. And then walked into town at 2pm. Well ahead of our schedule.

Dropped off our gear at our car parked at Lone Wolf's place (1 block off the trail), headed out to watch/participate in the Trail Day's festivies.

Saturday Night/Sunday Trail Days
We got into town just before the parade started. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I sure most small towns do these things, but wow, it sure was a shock to me.

Miss Trail Days, bag pipes, cops on horses, local badasses on horses, pageant babies (most photogenic 12-23 months, etc.). 15' tall V-8 powered grocery cart (I still get a kick out of that one). High-school punks driving their sooped up (barely) cars (think small town crusing without the loud music at 3 mph). And, of course, the hiker parade. Including squirt guns and water balloons.

Headed over to the "fair" portion of the events. Stopped by and ate the best hot dog I have ever had for $1 (some church fund raiser). Normal dog, covered with brown mustard, onions, meat sauce and coleslaw. Yum!

Stopped by Moonbow's, HH, Speer's Hammocks, and Sixmoon Designs. Side note, both the Moonlite pack and the Europa II are much bigger in person than they appear on line. If the pad case were larger (to handle 24" or 27" pads used with hammocks), I'd buy a Moonlite pack with vest harness in a second.

My brother ended up buying a HH ULA for $118 (including snake skins) and ordered a gearskin from moonbow.

Must have talked with Tom Hennessey's brother (Bob??) for an hour plus both Saturday, and again Sunday morning. He seemed quite interested in his brother's venture. But wanted to get a handle on well this hammock thing was doing to in the real world.

We found the hiker's camp at the edge of town. Setup our tent in the only available flat spot we could find. As we were setting up we were warned that it was going to be a noisy night. We should have listened.

At dinner at Sicily's pizza place. Good food.

It started to rain at 9pm lasted until 11pm. We went to bed.

At midnight, the drums were brought out at the fire ring (50' from our tent). I was actually able to fall back to sleep after listening to them for 10 minutes. They stopped at ~2:30am. At which point a 3 piece blue grass band started playing right in front of our tent. That lasted until ~4am (I think). At ~5am, a group of loud folks were just outside our tent given our dear fried Baltimore Jack a hard time about something he said earlier. The worst part had to be this one woman's laugh. It was quite piercing.

Sunday we got up (if you want to call it that) at 7am. Ate breakfast at The old Barn and Ice cream shop (great food). Ran into Lone Wolf and Gypsy there. Thanked them again for the shuttle and parking spot.

Went back to the tent city and packed up. Left town at 10am.

Gear

I bought NB 806 before this trip. Wore them around town/work for a week, or two, and took them on 4 mile metro park hike. Loved them. On the trail, however, they proved to be qutie the blister boxes. Not sure how to proceed yet (See separate thread). Beside the heel blisters, they were quite comfortable on the trail. Steping over rocks, shallow puddels, etc.

Rain Shield's O2 rain gear. Picked up a top/bottom for $30 (total) at Wal-mart. They worked great. Very light. A little snag on one forearm, but nothing major. Not sure how well they would handle a thru hike. Saw Frogg Toggs at one the vendor's booth, Rain Shield's are definately thinner/ligher than Frogg Toggs.

HH ULA A-Sym. This was my first trip with it. I still need to work out a good means to keep my back warm. I hate having a pad in my hammock, so I guess I need to look into the taco a bit more.

Pot cozy. Again this was the first trip with it. It rocks. I brought my MSR pocket rocket on this trip. I would run it for 3-5 minutes and then shut it off. Drop the pot into the cozy and wait 15 minutes. Food was usually too hot to eat.

Western Mountaineering MityLite. Again, 1st trip. Kept my body plenty warm throughout the trip. No complaints. It is almost too hot unless it temps dropped near 40F.

Silk Sheets (1st trip). Worked fine. The only problem I had I still don't quite know what the issue is. Whenever I would get inside them, I would immeiately feel like I was sweating and sticky, but yet I was cold. Weird. Maybe salt on my skin from sweating all day on the trail?

Body Glide (1st trip): No chafting problem. Works great. Once, or twice a day application seemed to work for me.

SGT Rock 3 stage butt cleansing program (1st trip): Worked like a charm. This was my first "monkey butt" free trip ever!!

Medical Note
Went to the doctors today to have him look at one of the blisters (it looked a bit infected). He cleaned it up, but said I should just wait it out as it meds would be overkill at this point. I asked him about my knees. He is the "team doctor" for a local HS team, so I'm sure he has seen quite a few knee problems. After twisting and pulling, pushing my knee caps every which way. He told me that the pain was most likly a congentive joint disorder and/or arthritis. Great! Just what I wanted to hear. Talke about ending your hiking career. Mentioned that I should try Glousemine for 4 weeks before my next trip. He also mentioned controinen (?). The pharmasist told me that recent studies have shown that its molecules are such that it is very, very difficult for the body to aborb it. And that I shouldn't waste my time using it.

I'll have to wait 'till the next trip to see if this treatment works.

That's it.

I'm sure I left something out. But I have to go to sleep now. I'll post a few pictures later.