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June
16, 1983 Thursday (1593.9 mtg) From
Gonzo!s Appalachian Trail journal
Caught
part of the sunrise this morning, but the sun came up before I knew
it. Chestnut knob is a place for sunsets, but not sunrises. Too
much of the eastern sky is obscured by the adjacent hillside. The
day consisted of a lot of ridgewalking. As a result, this section
of trail is quite dry. Springs rarely emerge from the top of a mountain,
they are usually somewhere down the side. Had lunch at Jenkins Shelter
and while we rested we thought about where to spend the night. The
decision seemed to be hinging on the availability of water. We could
go another ten miles and camp, with the last five miles carrying
water for the evening and next mornings, or we could dry camp. Apparently
this was not a very popular idea. I suddenly came up with the idea
of going all the way to Bland, Virginia, where I was sure that we
could get some water from some resident, and a place to plop could
be found somewhere. We set out with that in mind and soon found
ourselves walking along some nice cliffs with views off to the left
into an area known as Burckes' Gardens Valley. We passed through
an interesting section of tall ferns that were somewhere in the
neighborhood of waist height. We crossed the same stream over ten
times, but the stream was not in the right location for us to stop
and camp, we needed more miles. Water in just one area is not
helpful over a long distance. Part of the trail once again went
along the ridge of Brushy Mountain. We finally emerged from the
woods at the road crossing of US 21 & 52 and began our walk
to the right to the town of Bland, Virginia. We finally secured
a ride down the mountain after walking about a mile. A local named
Ron was nice enough to pick us up in his black pickup and transport
us to the town where he proceeded to show us the location of the
post office as well as a possible place to camp near the town park.
He suggested we also inquire at the local grocery store about a
place to stay. We had reached the town at about 5 pm. The Post office
had closed, but luckily the store stayed open later.
We took our gear down to an area next to the baseball diamonds that
seemed somewhat "concealed" by bushes. The vegetation
surrounded a couple of picnic tables where we stashed our gear while
we went to see the town. We were allowed to fill up our water bottles
at the store, and I bought myself a pint of chocolate chip ice cream
for $.89 and began to eat. Jim got angry because he thought we were
buying a half gallon. This made me upset so I gave him some money
and said "go buy one!" I helped him eat part of that too.
To cap off the evening, I bought a Dr. Pepper and headed down to
the baseball fields, where all the locals were involved in a hot
game of softball. I only watched part of the game before returning
to our secluded hideaway nearby in the bushes. Rather than set up
our tent, we chose to sleep on the top of the picnic tables that
were provided. This was the second night in a row that we slept
on an elevated wooden platform provided by a picnic table. We seemed
sure it would not rain. I did not get to sleep until after the activities
at the ballpark came to an end.
Gonzo!
Appalachian Trail Journals ©1983
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