I don’t have any pics or videos for this segment, phone battery was too limited.

I barely slept at Rice fields. I was being eaten alive by bugs and very deep into my thoughts and feelings.

At about 1am I noticed something very strange in the night sky: what appeared to by a vortex and many unknown lights disappearing into it.

Looking at the big dipper (ursa major), if you imagine 2 extra dippers extending outward, that was about where the vortex was.

The lights appeared to wink into existence at around the first imaginary dipper, then wink out at the edge of the second. This occurred about every 2 minutes for over an hour. For the record, I wasn’t on any drugs.

I slept fitfully and completed maybe one REM cycle.

In the morning I packed up hastily, ate my oatmeal and at about 7am went down the hill.

This section of trail is very nice once you get down past the rocks part near the summit. It’s gentle and not very steep, even if it is long.

I got to the road crossing at Pocahontas road and used my last bit of battery to call my friend Jerry in Pearisburg, who can use some help with property maintenance and will let me fill my pockets for the upcoming Journey.

For the near future I won’t be on the trail. I’ll be doing what I call a sidequest in and around Pearisburg.