May 18: Catawba Mountain Shelter   Miles Today : 13.9 Total Miles : 149.1

This morning started off the same as the last few mornings - cold and rainy. Colonel, Green Light and I ate breakfast in the shelter and watched the water fall from above. Around 8:30, the rain finally let up and the sky was noticeably brighter. Taking this as a good sign, I quickly packed all of my gear and headed out the half-mile back to the AT. On the way up the shelter trail, it happened - blue sky appeared! This is the first time in four days that the sky has been anything other than white or gray. I could once again see the mountains of Virginia. Surely, I thought, this must be a good omen.

After about two miles, the trail goes by a small outlook on the ridge. As I approached the outlook, I could see Green Light sitting down admiring the view, which I assumed to be the valley we just climbed out of. As I made my way to the top of the ridge, however, I could see what he was really looking at. From one end of the sky to the other was a full-blown rainbow, as big and bright as I can ever remember seeing. It was truly a great sight after so much rain, this full rainbow arching over the foothills of Virginia, the fog still lingering in the valley. Well, if the blue sky wasn't an omen, then this had to be a good sign.

I left Green Light and continued north along the trail. After a few miles, I caught up with The Colonel and hiked with him up to the top of the mountain and Dragon's Tooth. This feature is a large rock outcropping just off the summit of the mountain. The Tooth itself stands about 75 feet high, points straight up and actually looks a bit like a jagged tooth. The Colonel and I played around here for over an hour, as we both managed to get to the top of the rock, and admired the 360º view from the top. Getting down was a bit scary, as we had to slide down searching for footholds, but we both made it unharmed.

From here, it was a tough scramble down following the ridge, and then a really nice three-mile walk through tons of wildflowers. The rain has really helped to bring all of the flowers to full bloom and everything in the woods looks so alive. At the end of the three miles, I popped out on a road with a small store nearby. I met back up here with Green Light and we pigged out on snacks. Green Light bought two chocolate milks and did a blind taste test - he liked the cheaper on better.

Loaded up on Baby Ruth's and Honey Buns, I powered six more miles and caught back up to The Colonel as we walked out to Virginia Route 311. He passed on the Honey Buns. The plan was to wait at the road crossing for Bobba Louie and Shilo, two guys who are hiking the entire trail with daypacks. They have two cars, and they hike essentially from road to road with just daypacks. Bobba Louie has a motor home and offered us and a few other hikers a ride down into Catawba to the Home Place Restaurant. This place is an All You Can Eat family style establishments, and supposedly has some of the best food on the AT. By 4:30, the cast of assembled hikers included Bobba Louie and his wife, Shilo, Green Light, Titanium, Ice, Phone Home, The Colonel and myself. We all hopped into the Magical Bobba Louie Bus and headed down to town.

The Home Place is literally a large house, and has the feel of an old plantation with several acres of cleared land surrounding it. No beer is served at the Home Place, just lemonade and iced tea, but all the food you could want was available. Green beans, cole slaw, baked beans, spinach, biscuits, mashed potatoes, gravy, fried chicken and sliced roast beef were all brought out to the table. Plate after plate, we finished a dish of food, and it was replaced with a new dish. I ate myself to the breaking point, that was until they brought out a small dish of peach cobbler, which I made some room to accomidate. Actually, I made room for two of those, dessert was all you can eat as well.

After dinner, Bobba Louie drove us back to the parking lot and dropped us back at the trail. Stuffed to the breaking point, we shuffled our way two miles up the trail to this shelter. I am very full, and even more content. Today was just a great day with even better people. I love this trail, I love this lifestyle, and I love this community.

-Chomp

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