Senior moment...

5/3/08 - Started the day with a brisk walk to Wilson Creek Shelter -725.5 miles from Springer Mountain- where they took a short break to relish in the joy of being 1/3 of the way DONE!!!!

• 1st encounter with the Blue Ridge Parkway. The trail wove back & forth across the road for a while. Found themselves fed up with that nonsense in no time & decided to walk along the parkway since there's so little traffic this early in the season and it provided more scenic views than the trail.
• Successfully thwarted a harebrained scheme by Half-brew to accept a ride into Roanoke for a pool party at a retirement community. Luckily, the guy that dangled this treasure in front of their furry little faces couldn't ensure they would be able to hitch a ride back to the trail - or they would have surely defected. Bikini-clad babes are a guaranteed 'near-o' every time...
• Stocked up on water at Bobblets Gap Shelter. Forced to carry 3L of water (each) for 6.5 mi... because Cove Mountain Shelter (where they spent the night) has no spring.
• Today's goal was to hike 20 mi (hastily) to beat the severe storms that killed several people in Arkansas the day before. They did. Hearts personally hiked his tail off & arrived at the shelter around 4:15. The remainder of the evening was spent setting up gear, whipping-up dinner & promptly nodding off for a long snooze.