Day 6, 27 APR, Jim & Molly Denton Shelter (17.8 mi)

One of my favorite highlights of any AT trip is the array of wildflowers that often create a wonderful audience for hiking.  The continual beauty of a seeming infinite number of petite little flowers is almost arresting compared to our usual experience of well-placed and well-thought arrangements of flowers in civilization.  There are often so many flowers that I am astounded at Nature's apparent wastefulness. (Again, the weather was gorgeous but that was about to change.)  In particular on Day 6 was the trillium around Sky Meadows in VA.  I have seen trillium in the Smokies on several occasions, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the white, three-petalled flower that holds a nice balance of simplicity and beauty.  There were both white (common to me) and pink trillium on that day.  Because it was a weekend day, there were many day hikers with large cameras to take pictures of the trillium.  It was the talk of the trail on Day 6.

Day 6 also marked the over-halfway point of the hike.  I usually plan my mileage conservatively, so there is always the possibility of feeling better than expected and hiking more efficiently than originally intended.  I started thinking about trying to finish early, getting home to family, and the satisfaction of completing the section in a shorter amount of time than planned.  There is an added sense of accomplishment in carrying out the section hike in a shorter amount of time than planned.  It's not that I don't enjoy being outdoors or that I'm somehow "ready to come home."  Again, it's that element of pushing oneself, and if pushing oneself means that I get to come home earlier than intended, then "Good on ya, Mate!"  Jim and Molly Denton shelter was especially nice, but unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures.  I met this interesting section hiker, Tony Tiger, who was now in his 50s but had thru-hiked the trail earlier in life.  What struck me as we continued to talk was the confusion in his life about he and his wife actually got divorced.  There are lots of divorcees on the trail, in fact way over half of the folks older than 40 are divorcees, re-married, etc.  I guess what hit home for me was that thru-hiking the trail is not my life right now; it is not who I am.  Good food for thought.
    Sky Meadows State Park (not to be confused with Big Meadows campground, which was my endpoint) was an interesting place.  Sadly, the main visitor's center was located over 1 mile off of the AT.  For better and for worse, most AT'ers are unwilling to visit any sight that is more than 0.3 mile from the main path of the AT.  It may seem ironic that someone who is hiking thousands of miles is unwilling to hike more than 0.3 from the AT.  However, I think it speaks to the plethora of amazing things located right on the Trail.  Why hike off the Trail to see something that is only "just as interesting" as that which is directly on the AT.  For most, it's a no-brainer, follow the white blazes. (the white paint marks, called blazes, mark the path of the AT. You can actually see a white blaze on the tree in the picture at the top of Day 6.)