Matt’s Creek Shelter, VA to Cow Camp Gap Shelter, VA: Daily miles 27.8, Total miles 800.8
It is cold! 42 degrees in the shelter with a fierce wind outside. Woke up early but had a hard time getting motivated to move. Sat in my sleeping bag from 6:15 am to 7:15 am. It’s tough some days getting moving, everyday is pretty much the same routine: get up and walk north. The monotony is tough on the motivation. That is why I am so excited to have my parents coming. A change of pace an someone to talk to who won’t be behind me on the trail and out of my life in 5 minutes. These next 4 days are going to be ripe with anticipation. I finally got moving and made it onto the trail by 7:45 am. The sun was put and it was beautiful, but there was a very light rain falling. That’s about the perfect slogan for the AT “It even rains when the sun is shining” or “even the flat parts are uphill”. But, oh well, it was nice walking. Rolled my ankle really hard in the first mile and thought I may have broken it. Every rock and root seems to conspire against me. It’s still sore, but I think it’s fine. All the rain made for some awesome waterfalls along the trail which was a nice surprise. Crossed the James River via a cool footbridge and went under some train tracks with a train rolling past overhead. It was pretty neat – got my Kerouac dreams flowing. A few nice views and a couple big 1800+ ft. climbs. Didn’t see many people, maybe 4 all day. Freezing wind all day up high, but nice temperature, maybe 65 degrees. But that ended about an hour before I hit the shelter when the wind kicked up and the temperature dropped. The shelter was a half mile off the trail, adding to an already long day, but worth it to escape the wind. I have the place to myself again and cooked and ate in my sleeping bag to stay warm. Had a double dinner tonight and am feeling good. The trail is getting less crowded as I get further ahead of the main pack of hikers. Saw some orange salamanders, a two towed grey lizard, a 6 ft. black snake, and lots of deer today. Pretty good wildlife day. Got to the shelter at 6 pm so I had plenty of time to write. Feeling a little tired and a little lonely, but really excited for my parents to get here.
