Howard Johnson Motel, Daleville, VA to Cove Mountain Shelter , VA: Daily miles 24.9, Total miles 743.3
Slept in a bit and packed up around 8:30 am. Ate the continental breakfast at the hotel with some other hikers. I got hooked up with alcohol for my stove which was awesome because there was nowhere to buy it and the outfitter was closed. It is little things like that that make your day out here. The people are great. Resupplied at the grocery and hit the trail about 9:45 am. the hiking was nice, easy rolling climbs and not too many rocks. The trail ran along the Blue Ridge Pkwy for a while so it was pretty flat. The leaves are finally coming out and it really is starting look like spring. it was 75 degrees and super humid when I started but the clouds rolled in by noon and it threatened to rain all day. The creeks were all swollen and flooding from yesterday’s storms. It was tough crossing some of the streams because the normal stepping stones were submerged. The shelter I am in tonight doesn’t have a water source so I had to carry in a gallon of water from the previous shelter 7 miles back. When I approached the shelter to fill my bottles I came across a sight I never expected and won’t soon forget. As I descended the hill I came upon two 40+ year old people having sex on the picnic table. I made a bunch of noise and they got dressed before I got to them. They sat there awkwardly and eventually made really uncomfortable small talk but I had a hard time not laughing at them. Another good story from the trail. In a shelter for the evening and there is a storm rolling in. Feeling good, still a bit sick but I had a good hike. Hopefully the weather clears tomorrow but oh well, can’t fight the weather.
