Saturday April 20, 20.0mi/32.2km

Route 501/Glasgow (786.7) to Brown Mountain Creek shelter (806.7) (VA)

We got a ride from the hostel at 8am, Donna drove us the 6 miles to the trailhead, and Bob, Lightfoot and I started hiking at 8:30am. It was a colder day, but nice and sunny.Bob and Lightfoot quickly pulled ahead, and I enjoyed a slower hiking morning going up the big hill. The top of the climb had some nice views looking back down at where I had just come from.The brown river seen in the photo is the very flooded James River, after the 2in/5cm of rain we got yesterday.The trail stayed on a high ridge to the next peak, Bluff mountain. I made it to Bluff!At the summit there was also a memorial to a young child, poor kid.The descent from Bluff mountain was through a bright green forest, coming alive with spring!And then, as I crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway once again, I got really excited when I saw this.A rubbish bin! Thru hikers get really stoked on getting rid of any extra weight, and trash is easy weight to lose.

A mile later, I crossed the 800-mile marker. Progress!After another hour, I took a late lunch at a swingbridge.Bob was there taking a break too, and after lunch we hiked the last 5 miles to the shelter together. We arrived by 4pm to find Lightfoot already there, and Cedar arrived a little while later, as did Recall.

After dinner, two more hikers showed up. A German named Toast, and a US (Boston) named Speedy Gonzalez. Speedy started on March 15, and is hiker #930. I finally met a hiker who started after I did!! (and has a higher number, I’m #838). Haha, it only took 40 days. I probably won’t see him again, since he did 35 miles today to get here. It’s a nice cool night in the shelter, perfect for sleeping!