4/22 Sore but fast

24.1 miles hiked today, 581.5 miles N
Helveys Mill Shelter

This morning started out great. I awoke to an orange streaked horizon with a warm glow of light reaching up into the still dim and murky sky. The tarp positioning was perfect and it was a real pleasure to watch the sun slowly rise without having to even remove my arms from my sleeping bag. I took a few photos but I was lazy and never got any of the sun over the horizon. I napped for a little while longer and then got up and packed on the early side. I think I was out of camp by 8AM.
I think my early start was in large part possible because the weather was simply perfect. I t was maybe mid 50s. I think we have passed the point where there is that shock of having to leave a warm sleeping bag when it is time to get up. The trail along the ridgeline from the shelter was very level but rocky so I made good time. However I think I should have taken it easy as by lunch my hips and knees were sore. I think the rocks were too soon for my still stiff joints. :( I am going to make sure to keep an eye out for that in the future.
The view from the ridge was much the same as yesterday; neighboring ridgelines with lush green pastures and an occasional road tucked in between. None of the view were free of tree obstructions so I couldn't get any good photos.
As I was again on the top of a very level ridgeline the water sources were few and far between. Fortunately last night I knew this was going to happen and had treated extra water. Still it is tough to cover near 10 miles with 3 liters of water, especially on a warm day. I did good running out about 2 miles short of the next source.
When I started to descend to the side of the ridge and the water sources became much more numerous then. The first was an underground river. I was standing in a boulder field and could hear the sound of gurgling water everywhere but could see any open pools. I looked around an found a gap in the rock where I could dip a bottle and chugged a liter of water before moving to the next, I knew near, water source. It was a stream where I could more easily fill my water bladder. After that I came acrosds a large stream and I took the oppertunity to rinse out some of my clothes down stream from the trail and let them dry tied to the pack.
At Jenkins I hung out with pretty much the same bunch of hikers as I did at the shelter in the morning and we all enjoyed our much needed break. The privy out back was something to behold. A pedistal on a platform with no walls just 30 yards behind the shelter. Later I heard this was becuase of ADA. Invisable Man was saying he had heard that the reason we have been seeing all the new shelters build with ramps, wide aisles, and grabber bars was because any structure with walls and a rough was mandated to be ADA compliant, even if it is the middle of the woods accessible only by rough trail. At Jenkins the trail maintainers decided to avoid this complication by loosing the walls.
In the shelter there was a sign announcing that a local church picks people up from the next crossing, feeds them breakfast, and shuttles around as needed. I had enough food to make it to a small grocery and after Fal and Hercules I didn't feel much like being preached too so I decided to push on while everyone took a short day to wait out the breakfast.
The trail from there was very fast and easy and I made good time and covering a great distance easily. One reason was a highwater reroute that was along a old level logging roadbed. The trail normally should have gone down hill and navigated a river valley but it was closed and as I later found out one of the key bridges was washed out. I did an easy st reach that led to a steep down hill and into a road where I had to walk for about a mile to meet up with the junction of the next part of the AT.
There I saw the washed out a bridge or at least the impressive 5-8 foot talk concrete pillars it had rested on. Whatever had washed it away must have been massive. A party was going on at the ruins and they invited me to relax and join them for a pop. They turned out to be a lively bunch of locals and we talked for long while. They heard about my food situation and the story behind my trail name and gave me a whole bunch of food to augment my dwindling stock. They gave me some energy bars which were very yummy, a orange which was divine, carrots, and rice cakes. The rice cakes were a bit of surprise in that I assumed they were not going to be very good hiking food but they turned out not only to be very tasty but also packed with calories. They have around 130 calories per ounce and have a decent mix of fat to carbs. I didn't catch all of their names but two of them were Captain and Moma Hen. I hope I can see them again when I get to Pearisburg.
Since I had pushed ahead of the big crowd for the day I had the benefit of seeing a wild turkey which hadn't had a chance to be spooked by a previous hiker. It was off to the side of the trail and when it heard me lept up and flew down the side of the mountain.
The end of the day was largely disappointing because it involved a long downhill on road to get to a bridge to cross a major highway. That surface is very hard on hiking feet which are used to irregular surfaces. At the bottom of the road walk it was a short and steep climb, 30-45 minutes to get to the shelter where I have found Invisible Man, a great person to spend the night with. As it seems is the case with most of the rest of the day I was out of water so I had to make a about half mile round trip down and up 200' feet to the water source. I have learned that when the guide book doesn't venture a guess as to how far away the water is it means I don't really want to know. I had actually passed others earlier but I try my best not to drink any water down slope from a road.
It looks like it is going to be another warm night.