I was so excited about being started on my big hike, that I climbed the first stretch using nothing but adrenaline, I think. But the climbing continued. I soon set into a good stride and was making great time. I took in views of the James River Gorge and was amazed at the thought of a river slowly cutting it’s was through a mountain range. I also took note at the changes that came with increased elevation.

Many of the changes are subtle, but they are there if you look. The Rhododendrons that had been in bloom at the beginning of my hike were only showing buds by 2000 feet. The vegetation was thinner in general, especially the leaves on the old hard woods that cover these mountains. Over the course of the day, I went from walking under a lush green canopy at 700 feet to bare limbs with only the hint that a leaf would someday be there at 4000 feet.

The day was going to be a challenging one and we knew that going in. We would be gaining over 300 feet of elevation over the course of the day, but actually climbing much more that that. The day broke into 5 climbs; a 1000 foot climb out of Matt’s Creek Hollow to Big Cove Branch, another 800 foot climb that would bring us up on a ridge and then to Marble Spring, a 600 foot climb up High Cock Knob and the 600 feet back down to Petites Gap, an 1100 foot climb up Thunder Ridge, and finally a 700 foot ascent to the shelter.

I reached Big Cove Branch and took off my pack and grabbed my water pump and two 32 ounce Nalgene bottles. I pumped water from the stream into the bottles. The pump is actually a filter against microorganisms and other nastiness, a necessity when all of your water comes from unprotected sources. I took the bottles and sat in the shade and proceeded to ‘camel up.’

There is a school of thought that believes that the best defense against dehydration is to get more water than you need in you before you actually need it, not unlike a camel storing water in its hump. Then as your body needs the water it can absorb it from your stomach to the cells that need it. Also this means that you aren’t carrying the weight of the water on your pack, only to drink it after your body already needs it. They say that by the time you feel thirsty, you are already beginning to dehydrate.

I sat in the shade and drank the contents of both 32 ounce bottles. I clipped the bottles and the pump to my pack and started walking again. In addition to ‘cameling up,’ I also had a water bladder in my pack that I was able to sip water from a tube as I walked. I sipped sparingly knowing that the hottest part of the day was still ahead of me.

Again I climbed. Finally I reached the ridgeline at an elevation of over 2500 feet. As the trail leveled out, I picked up my pace to take advantage of the easier walking. After a mile or so of walking I saw Capt. Shutter for the first time since early that morning. It was now about noon, the sun was nearly directly overhead and shade was scarce. We stopped and reviewed the map. We weren’t quite halfway, but we did seem to be on pace to make it to the shelter at a reasonable time. We decided to walk another mile or so to Marble Spring and have lunch there.

It didn’t take long to get to Marble Spring. I sat on a fallen tree to make my lunch, while Shutter wandered down to the spring to get water. I mixed tuna from a foil pack with mayo and relish from single serving packs and put it on a tortilla. It was delicious, but messy. I made a mental note to just eat the tuna in the foil pack and have the tortilla on the side on the next day. I went down to the spring and filled 2 bottle and drank them.

Haven eaten and ‘cameled up,’ I felt ready to to tackle the rest of the hike. I left Shutter to preparing his lunch and headed out, guessing that I would be at the shelter in three or four hours.