April 25
End: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter
Miles: 34.6
Total: 2661.7
My hoped-for early start eluded me as Tommy Lee Jones left before me. It did not take more than a few miles for me to catch up to him, though.
After a few unmemorable miles I saw the James River from above. Seeing the river reminded me that I was near the area where I grew up. The bridge across the river was familiar, and after that I was climbing for a long time.
There were several long climbs which required me to take many short breaks, but I did them all. I found the plaque from 1891 dedicated to the young boy which I had heard of before starting my trek. Supposedly hikers left trinkets at the site, but there were none there.
I kept on walking and completed the series of mountain climbs before descending down to the Brown Mountain Creek area. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the history of the small community of freed slaves which lived there a hundred years ago. I assumed that the stone wall along the creek was from that village. I could not imagine what it would be like to live in such a remote place back then.
As rain threatened my happiness I hurried onward and got to the shelter before any real precipitation fell. I met a few hikers there and explained for the hundredth time that I had started hiking in Key West on New Year’s Day. Two of the hikers were from Houston, where I used to live. We chatted and after my dinner I went to bed after another big day on the trail.
