- Miles 541.1-552.4 (11.3 mi.)
- Total ascent: 2375’; descent 2976’
As a kid, I could’t understand the appeal of birdwatching. Why not mammal-watching, or reptile-watching? Why not just hit a ball around on manicured turf and keep an eye out beyond the rough?
I had one of those experiences today that helps me understand the excitement of sighting an unusual bird: I saw, though I couldn’t get a photo of a scarlet tanager.
No natural object I have seen is so red as the chubby torso of the tanager. It almost glows in contrast to its deep black wings. They prefer the canopy of mature trees, making them tough to spot. They also seem to be more afraid than many birds of humans, despite its “don’t mess with scarlet tanager” coloring.
Birdwatching strikes me as emininently compatible with hiking. I will take advantage of my time in the mountains and Google Lens to identify more.
I also saw another beautiful, reddish sight today: rhododendron blooms. I have no fewer than a dozen blossom pink shots on my phone right now. The blossoms are fist-sized, unfurling as half a dozen flowers from a fuschia crown.
All sorts of flowers were out today, including buttercups, violets, fuschia, dogwood, honeysuckle, and what we think may be strawflowers. My allergies aren’t a fan of something’s pollen, but I do not react well to many allergy medications.
We are carrying loratadine, but I find even a 10 mg dose with food leaves me feeling out-of-sorts, almost as if I’m observing someone else at the controls. It also seems to interact with caffeine, despite no documented interactions between the two.
The other joys of today might seem to some readers more deserving of top billing: we found a delicious, cheap Mexian restaurant at a truckstop, just off the trail; we passed the quarter-way mark (apparently the Quarter Way Inn is no longer operating, which is a shame on name alone), where we met Maple, a hiker who started in February and who gave me a pack of kalamata olives.
Today’s views weren’t anything to write home (nor on this blog) about. We walked mostly dirt and mud trails, which suit us just fine. While sometimes slippery, mud is soft and easy to walk on.
Our elevation profile was also gentle, and aside from a cattle pasture, our heels shaded by tree cover. We finished at a large, multi-tent site just off the trail and above a stream.
I hear speculation that the “boring” terrain is behind the Virginia Blues, but I personally like the green, rolling hills and lowland forests. I think the likelier reasons are loneliness (hikers travelling in each direction are dispersed by now) and malnutrition (many people still don’t seem to be eating enough). I also suspect the 500-mile distance across Virginia encourages an “Are we there yet?” attitude.
We did see more people today than we have the last couple of days. We met four people at camp and saw another two, who we ate with at the Mexian restaurant, on the trail.
We’re glad to have an extra meal or two in the bear can because we ate out, and to be out here in May. I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but there really is beauty and life in every look.
