Sunday, 5/17

AT Miles = 21.6 / 777.0
Other Miles = 0 / 30.5
Total Miles = 21.6 / 807.5

After Trail Angel John left last night, Andrew and I were left at the shelter.
We decided to have a fire for the evening, and when I say we, I mean that I sat on the picnic table bench while Andrew buillt a fire. We discussed all the usual topics, and managed to solve about 90% of the problems in the world. Now all that is left is to implement our solutions.

At one point just a few minutes before dusk, we spotted a deer hanging ou at the edge of the trees just to the side of the shelter. We stared at each other for a few minutes, then the deer finally decided to wander off into the woods.

Around 9:00 or so the rain that had threatened all afternoon finally arrived, with a vengeance. It was raining hard enough that I sat in the shelter until nearly 10:00 beforee the rain eased enough that I could make a dash for my hammock and get tucked in all nice and cozy.

It was still raining when I woke up this morning so I went back to sleep and tried again an hour later. Well, it was STILL raining, but not as hard. Due to the rain I got a late start. It was a long day, and I pushed hard for 21 miles. I have now crossed the James River, which feels like an accomplishment.

I have been pushing really hard lately, and I need to ease up. My feet are taking a bating, and I did something to tweak my knee today. It's quite sore now. I've taken some ibuprofen tonight, which I rarely do.

Last night's storm was caused by a cold front coming through. The temperature is in the 50s right now, and the forecast is calling for the temperature to fall below freezing tonight!

This shelter site is hopping with people. There is a big group from some private residential school camped here. They must have gotten really wet in last night's storm, as when I got here there were sleeping bags haqnging from the trees.

Monkeywrench
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com