Groseclose/Atkins, VA
(my notes for this hike have been misplaced, this is from memory, but the shelter pictures and other images at whiteblaze.net were immensely helpful!).
22 or maybe a little more hiked
My feet looked like hamburger. When I took my socks off at the car, they were bloody. Those shoes have been taken to the dump -- never again will I wear iffy shoes. The reason I wore them was that my Montrail Kinabalus, which are the best shoes I've ever hiked in, had blown holes in the heels and I couldn't wear them. As it turned out Montrail later replaced them for me, but said I should have a cobbler put some leather in the heels so that the lining wouldn't go.
Anyway, I took some pictures between (I think) Wise and the South Fork of the Holston River. I remember the area after that being kind of bland at first and then muddy and rhodo-y. The muddy and rhodo-y parts were stunningly humid. It was sunny, but all the water on the trees, etc was turning into vapor.
Cows in the trail. They ran away from me shortly after that. This is something every AT hiker encounters sooner or later.
This school bus was sitting in a pretty meadow. Some year soon, you won't notice it at all!
Here's the view down the trail. The school bus is off to the left.
I took a load off at Partnership and dried my socks and shoes in the sun. I Bag Balmed up my feet and went on. That was one nice shelter. I think I washed my face too, but I didn't take shower.
This is the phone at the Mt. Roger's Visitor's Center. This is the one used by folks at Partnership Shelter to order pizza. You better have a credit card if you want to call anywhere else -- this phone doesn't take change and you can only make local and 800 calls from there!
Here I am at the Mt. Roger's visitor's center. I'm sunburned. Oops. That's one of those things you don't notice right away. The sunburn wasn't much. Much less bad than my feet