Day 75: Daleville to Wilson Creek Shelter

11.2 miles

Left at 9am after breakfast. 18 miles to go today. Caught up with Shutterbug & Smiles, they have been hiking together for a few days. Saw Jeremiah, too...pretty impressive since he was partying pretty hard at the mexican restaurant yesterday. We ate a snack at the first shelter, where a group of college kids had spent the night on the first night of their section hike. They had a huge tent that must have weighed 30 pounds, gallon jugs of water, and one kid even had a trumpet.

Soon after morning break we came to a fast moving creek with no footbridge and no big rocks to hop across. This marks the first time I've had to take off my shoes to cross a stream! It is a real pain to take  shoes off/cross creek/dry feet/put shoes back on, so I'm glad I don't have to do it very often. The water was really cold but I managed not to fall in. There were a couple other creek crossings later that day, but one had rocks strategically placed across it, and the other I was able to go upstream and walk across a fallen branch. The streams are full of water because of all the rain we've had recently - there are even streams where nothing is marked in the AT Guide - nice to have water so readily available.

Saw a huge black snake slithering across the trail. It was long - probably 5 feet or so - and I gave a little yelp when I saw it. It's so surprising to see movement on the trail just a few feet from where my feet are. But I'm glad it wasn't a rattlesnake - I've been paranoid about seeing one ever since Greyhound saw a very large rattlesnake on the trail.

Started to feel like rain about 2pm, and I heard thunder about 2:30. I knew I was pretty close to the 2nd shelter so picked up my pace to get there. Literally seconds before the bottom dropped out of the sky, I reached the shelter. Jeremiah, Shutterbug, Smiles, Owl, and Phoenix are all here, waiting for the storm to pass. The storm lasted about 90 minutes, and when it was over we decided to just spend the night here. It was too late after the storm to hike another 7.4 miles to the next shelter (and we'd get there too late to have a spot in the shelter). Plus my knee has been hurting all day and locked up a few times today.

People poured into the shelter, everyone is getting back on the trail after Trail Days. M80 & Trooper are here, so is Big Yankee, Roughneck, Tahlal, lots of others. Jeremiah decided to move on, so did Rainbow Braid, Finder, and a couple others.

Day 71: Trout Creek to Four Pines Hostel (VA 624)

8 miles

Took our time getting ready today. We have decided to go to a hostel tonight since it is supposed to storm this afternoon & tonight. 

Saw a bunch of pink ladyslipper orchards, which are pretty rare. 

We went over Dragon's Tooth today! This is a really neat stone monolith that is 0.1 miles off the AT. There were lots of dayhikers out today. This area is really close to Virginia Tech, so lots of students are out and about since their finals are over. One girl was out with her boyfriend and noticed our packs - she asked me if we were going camping. I said we were staying at a hostel tonight, but we had been camping last night. She asked where we started hiking, and when I said "Georgia" she looked at me as if I were an ALIEN. I couldn't resist - said "yeah, we've hiked almost 700 miles so far" - and then she REALLY looked at me like I had tentacles growing out of my face. It was really funny.

Saw our first rhododendron bloom today!

We stayed at the Four Pines Hostel which is really a 3 bay garage with cots & lawn chairs & couches for sleeping. Pretty chill place, Joe is a really cool guy, he runs the place with his two sons. It is "donation only" - has a shower, fridge, electricity, a radio. The best part (besides the shower/fridge/electricity/radio/being indoors/cell service) is that he shuttles to the grocery store and the HomePlace Restaurant - a ridiculous family style all you can eat place.

There was an hour long wait, and we hung out on the grass like the hiker trash we are. Once our table was ready, we went back and rolled up our sleeves. The waitress brought out fried chicken, pulled pork, mashed potatoes, green beans, pinto beans, biscuits, baked apples...it was amazing. The food kept coming until we were stuffed...and then we had peach cobbler with ice cream! The *only* bad thing was we had in our group one of the most obnoxious people I have ever met. He talked a lot but made very little sense, and whistled at the waitress to get her attention. The second time he did this I said something to him about it. The third time he whistled at her the whole table started griping at him about being rude. He said - "dude that's what we do in Costa Rica, it's not degrading it's just a habit"...then "i fought for this country"...then "i hate this f***ing country". But he stopped whistling at the waitress.

Greyhound is here tonight (super nice guy), so are Magnolio (SOBO), Derelict, DayPack (from AL!), Samba and his buddy (forgot his name), along with a couple other people whose names I unfortunately don't remember.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 70: Sarver Hollow Shelter to Trout Creek

14.8 miles

Very hard day today. I miss AWE a lot, and the terrain today is harder than it's been in a while. Two big climbs, one late in the day, and some tough rock slicks that weren't well-marked. I almost got lost twice: once I went downhill for a few yards before seeing sticks laid across the trail in the universal sign for "you're hiking the wrong way". The second time the trail disappeared - big drops all around me - until Stumbles came by and climbed up 5 feet to a rock ahead. New rule of hiking: when in doubt, climb up!

Went over the eastern continental divide. Neat.

The climb up Brush Mountain was steep and long. I was worried I was going to run out of water - it is getting hotter, and I sweat a LOT. (Even when it is 40 degrees outside, I am covered in sweat within minutes of hiking uphill). After 70 days (!) on the trail you'd think I'd be acclimated to hiking uphill...but I am not. (Or - I just sweat a lot). So I am drinking a ton of water and taking electrolyte tablets in hopes of staying hydrated. Today I drank 5.5 liters of water, and was still thirsty afterwards.

I met Greyhound on the climb down - he has a twisted ankle and was taking it a step at a time going down. Asked him where he was headed for the night and he said - headed to water first, then I'll decide if I'm going the extra mile to the shelter. I thought - man it would be nice to camp by the creek - but knew that OWL wouldn't stop there because she had set her destination as the shelter. Got down to the creek and saw a bunch of folks from last night. Thought - I hope OWL is still here but she is probably at the shelter. Then I looked over to the other side of the creek and saw her sitting there, with her tentpad laid out. I was so happy I cried - literally - and said "I am so glad to see you!". She said - "well the shelter was 0.3 miles off the trail, and the water was 0.2 down steep switchbacks from there, so I was glad to save those steps and camp near the creek."

I went to the creek and drank a bunch of water, took a bath, and rinsed out my clothes. Set up my tent, ate as much food as I could stand for dinner (AWE sends me grape leaves sometimes which are heavy but an AMAZING treat), and went to bed happy and tired and full.

 

 

 

Day 67: Pearisburg to Pine Swamp Shelter

19.7 miles

So sad to leave AWE but told her - this is a joyful thing - I am so glad I got to see you and I'll be home in less than a month for our break. (OWL & AT had a 10 day vacation with family planned before we started planning our hike, so I'm taking that time to go home and relax).

OWL wanted to get dropped off at the road furthest away from Pearisburg, but I wanted to get dropped off where we got off the trail. I told her - look, I'm not exactly a purist...but if I'm going to skip sections of the AT I want to be doing something fun. (For instance, riding bikes on the Virginia Creeper trail instead of hiking that section on the AT). I don't want to take shortcuts just because we can, and I especially don't want to yellowblaze (get a ride by car); nicknamed because of the yellow lines in the middle of the road)  just so it makes our day a little easier. I think she was a little annoyed, but she got out of the car with me at Cross Ave (630.4), exactly where we left the trail.

My purist efforts had us:

  a) get lost for a block or two in Pearisburg (much to the chagrin of the neighborhood dogs)

  b) walk by some sort of weird chemical plant that smelled like hydrochloric acid and made it hard to breathe for miles

We also got to the "unnamed paved road" just as Nova's slackpack ride was driving away! So we missed the opportunity to slackpack 20+ miles. But, nothing to do about it now.

Big climb out of Pearisburg (this is usually the case when going out of a town) but it wasn't too bad. We had planned to stop for lunch at Rice Field Shelter, and just before we got to the shelter we heard a whistle through the trees above us. Sounded weird - we both heard it - but there wasn't anything around. As we were leaving the shelter we saw a glider fly overhead! It was really neat. We saw at least two different gliders, and they passed overhead about 12-15 times throughout the day.

We made consistently good time (2 mph) and got to the shelter about 6:15. I really like hiking with OWL - it keeps me consistently moving since I am trying to either keep up with her or stay ahead of her.

We are behind the group we have been hiking with because of our mini vacation. So we are here with new people tonight. Phoenix (with dyed red hair) is a colonel's wife and a cancer survivor who had a fire built and set mouse traps set around the shelter. Really nice lady. Shaman is a fellow nerd who was fun to talk to. And Professor, who liked to ask questions (much to OWL's annoyance). OWL has decided to not tell people she is a physical therapist (because they start asking her questions about their ailments). But she's not very good at being vague about it, either. Professor asked her what she did, she said "I'm currently unemployed". Then he said, well what did you do before hiking? "I worked", she replied. It was pretty funny to watch them both get frustrated with each other. (Eventually she gave in and told him).

It is supposed to get below freezing tonight. I hope I am warm enough.

 

 

 

 

Day 64, 65, 66: A Zero, A Nero, and Another Zero in Pearisburg

It was really amazing to see AWE for the first time in two months. I have missed her so much. 

But still, there was work to do. I needed to work out my shoe issues (the Salomon's have continued to bruise underneath my ankles, and they don't have hardly any grip on the sole), so we went to the outfitter in Blacksburg. The outfitter in Johnson City told OWL that all Salomon shoes have a 30 day no questions asked return policy...unfortunately we found out that is only true if you purchase the shoes online through salomon.com. Bummer. The local outfitter was nice, but they didn't have any non-waterproof boots or trail runners. So we decided to go to the nearest REI, a 2.5 hr drive to Charlotte, NC.

It was weird to ride in a car for a long period of time, covering a third of the distance we have travelled so far in a matter of hours. The shoe guy at REI was pretty nice and lI think OWL & I both tried on every pair of non-waterproof mid-boots and trail runners in the store! Finally I settled on a pair of mid length (above the ankle) Keen boots that felt pretty good. OWL bought a new pair of the Salomon trail runners she was originally using. I also got a pair of thin "travel" pants - I don't want to wear shorts during the summer (ticks!) but my current pants are thick (read: heavy) and are literally falling off because I have lost so much weight. (AWE also brought a pair of 'too small' thin rollup pants I had at home, but they also fell off me). Not sure how the thin pants will hold up over rock scrambles, but not too worried about it either. I have needle and floss and bandana...I can make it work.

After spending far too much time in REI, we went to Mellow Mushroom to eat dinner. What a nice treat! Then drove back to Blacksburg for the night.

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The next day, we hiked the 5 miles from Trent's Grocery to Lickskillet Hollow (the section we missed during our slackpack from Woods Hole). It was so much fun to hike with Emily! Even in the rain! OWL & AT dropped us off at Trent's Grocery, and AWE and I started hiking SOBO. Then OWL & AT then drove to Lickskillet, parked the car, and hiked NOBO. When we met, they handed us the keys. (How smart are we?) OWL & I both had on our full packs (to test out our new shoes), and AWE & AT had daypacks loaded with fruit & snacks for other hikers. But we didn't see  a single hiker on the trail! I have been trying to figure out how AWE uses an acorn for a whistle - finally got her to show me exactly. And although I didn't find any wintergreen berries, I did get her to try pine tips (tastes like Christmas!). The new boots feel fine - I'm wondering if maybe I should have got a half size larger - but too late for that now. As AWE's father says, "it will either work or it won't, guaranteed!"

We also went by the post office, where I had a care package waiting from Post! (Post is the SUPER NICE section hiker I met in the Smokies, hiking with her father). It was so nice to get her goodies, a letter, and a photo of her & her father on top of Rocky Top! Thanks, Post! I really appreciate it!

  

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The last day of our mini vacation was bittersweet. It was still amazing to be in the same place with AWE, but I still had to do all the "regular" in-town hiking things - sort through the food box, go to the post office to mail the bounce box, update the blog - as well as sort through the things AWE brought from home. (We did manage to eat at a delicious Indian buffet for lunch - my taste buds were dancing!)

It was a tough decision trying to figure out what to send home, and what to keep. A lot of thru hikers send home their winter gear in Pearisburg (or even before), but I am nervous about sending *all* of it home because it is still early May, and it can still get cold (especially at the higher elevations). 

So, I swapped out my 15 degree bag for a 45 degree bag (the stuff size difference between those two bags is amazing - my pack is not stuffed to the gills now). Other things I got from home: two synthetic tshirts; one a 'smartcool' fabric and the other a zippered synthetic. a pair of compression socks, a pair of (smaller) compression shorts, and a lighter sleeping pad. I sent home my extra long sleeve fleece, my worn out sock liners, my wool tshirt, and some extra socks. I am keeping my patagonia capilene baselayer and smartwool longjohns for sleeping, as well as my hat, gloves, & balaclava. I'm keeping my puffy jacket too, because it doubles as my pillow at night. My pack isn't much lighter because I'm still keeping the cold weather clothing, but fitting everything into my pack is much easier now that my gargantuan 15 degree bag isn't taking up half the space in my pack.

I'm a little nervous about tomorrow - we have a 19+ mile day planned (with new boots and 5 days resupply!) - but all I have to do is walk.

 

Day 63: Woods Hole Hostel to Pearisburg

10 miles

It is pretty easy to walk in the cold miserable rain when you have a prize waiting for you. AWE will be here today! You have no idea how excited I am (and how excited OWL is to see her partner, AT).

We left the hostel at the last possible moment - around noon - to put us in Pearisburg a little before AWE & AT. M80 & Trooper were planning on spending the night in Pearisburg, and said we were welcome to stop by their hotel room to take a shower before we left to go to civilization...Blacksburg. Honestly I don't remember that much about the walk - I was a focused walking machine! Everything was super foggy - until the last 3 miles when the fog and rain started to clear. We saw some great views from Angel's View, and as we descended into Pearisburg the light in the forest was amazing. A sign of good things to come, I am certain!

We stopped by M80 & Trooper's room - it was really psychedelic! The hotel didn't have any rooms left, but they had a former game room they were planning on setting up as another room...they brought a bed/dresser/tv/chair in to this very colorful room, and M80 & Trooper were glad to have it!

After I showered, we went across the street to the Mexican restaurant for margaritas. I texted AWE & AT to let her know we had a change of location, but neither of them texted me back. About 10 minutes later, they walked into the restaurant! It was amazing to see AWE. I missed her so much.

We had drinks (Trooper had the LARGEST DRINK OF ALL) and ate dinner. And then we drove to Blacksburg for 3 days of R&R.

 

 

 

Day 60: Jenkins Shelter to Helveys Mill Shelter

14 miles

Pretty easy day; a big climb at first and then an easy (almost flat) 5 miles. The terrain is getting easier. (This does not mean I am getting any faster; just that I'm not as exhausted when I reach my destination).

GREAT SUCCESS with a hitch into Bland. We were walking down the gravel road to get to the highway going into Bland, and a white pickup was going pretty slow down the road (the same direction we were headed). OWL said, should I ask them for a ride? I said SURE, and so she threw out her thumb. Much to both our surprise, the truck stopped - it was an older guy with his wife - and he said he'd give us a ride down the mountain. As we were climbing into the back I asked if he was going into Bland...he said no...I said no problem, we are thankful for the ride down the mountain! At the bottom of the mountain he said - we have time, I'll take you into Bland....where do you want to go? I said DAIRY QUEEN and he started laughing. (I'm guessing his wife talked him into taking us).

DQ was an amazing thing, and as a special bonus, it was in a gas station so I could get a few candy bars also! I had:a cheeseburger, fries, chili cheese dog, soda, and a georgia mud blizzard. I could have eaten more - but we had miles to go before the shelter so I held back a bit. I just THOUGHT I had HikerHunger before! Charged electronics and called my folks. I tried to talk OWL into staying in town (at the Big Walker Hotel) but she was not enthused. So decided to try to hitch back to the trail.

We had a terrible time getting a hitch. Finally, after OWL said "this is the last one" and I tried my infamous "we'll get in the back!" hand signals, a guy (Seth T) in a maroon truck pulled over. My hero! I am always so excited to get a hitch. It just makes things so much easier.

We walked the final 2 miles to the shelter. Saw KFox and Gumby tenting, and Mr. GiggleFits and his girlfriend Paisley in the shelter. They are the most hilarious shelter mates I've had so far! (Once I found out his name was Mr. GiggleFitsI have to admit I had high expectations). There was synchronized boy stretching (even though Gumby is the most inflexible Gumby ever), and shared whiskey. As an improvement from yesterday, today's privy had two walls. (The one yesterday had zero walls; just a toilet seat on an elevated platform).

Day 59: Chesnut Knob Shelter to Jenkins Shelter

10 miles

We left the shelter about 9 just as the fog was lifting. Walked with OWL until almost lunchtime. I always like hiking with somebody, and hiking with someone who knows me from home is pretty much the best. Stopped to get water and discovered that my Steripen battery was dead (and because of poor planning on my part, I didn't have an extra). The guys from "The Thru Project" were camped there and gave me some sweetwater drops to treat the water. As a bonus they showed us a video they took last night of a bear! The bear was up in a tree about 30 yards from the water source, and dropped out of the tree so fast!

Took a lunch break with GrandBob, the 2 section hikers from last night, and OWL. Then found out I had cell service, so called AWE and talked with her for an hour or so. I miss her so much, and we don't get to talk every day, so when I have the chance I try to take advantage of it.

From there it was a pretty easy walk to the shelter. At first it was just the guys from lunch, plus KFox and a dude named Animal. Then people started pouring in; Big Yankee, Mallet, Twig, Rooster, the Virginia Creepers...there must have been 30 people tenting around the shelter. We also found out there is a Dairy Queen in Bland, so we're going to try to hitch in tomorrow. (We are VERY BAD at hitchhiking so it may not work out).

GrandBob is going into town tomorrow to see a doctor so he split up his remaining food among me, OWL, and Animal. I got a snickers bar and a mountain house meal. Thanks, GrandBob!

I had heard of Animal before - he thru hiked last year (or maybe the year before) and carries all his stuff in a 5 gallon bucket. He is a forager as well, and brought us some wintergreen berries (they taste like wintergreen!) and pine tips. Pretty good! I would definitely take a foraging class from him if he ever decides to teach one.

Day 58: Knot Maul Shelter to Chesnut Knob Shelter

9.1 miles

Got up at 7am and took my time tearing down camp, left around 9. Talked with Loco Pony & Hummingbird for a while; they left in late February. The walk is kind of boring today; not as many wildflowers out and mostly roller coaster climbs - not steep but just constant up and down. My knee is stiff and sore but much better. I am so thankful it is ok. I am so glad to be out here. I have a real hunger to finish the trail, to summit Katahdin.

The Chestnut Knob shelter we are staying in tonight does not have a good water source, so I had to fill up at a pond about 1.8 miles before the shelter. The pack is so heavy when I have to carry 5L of water! I have been trying to "camel up" - ie, drinking a liter of water every time I get to a water source, so I don't have to carry as much water with me.

The climb up to the shelter wasn't that bad, even with the extra water weight. The open ridgeline provided really incredible views of the mountains and valleys. Got to the shelter - it sounded scary in the guidebook ("concrete block shelter, fully enclosed with door") - but turned out to be quite nice. I really like tenting and having a big of privacy. But being in the shelter is much easier, and this one has 4 walls! Here with All the way, grandbob, don's brother, owl, and 2 section hikers (one named Sammy and not sure of the other).

Day 57: Relax Inn (Atkins) to Knot Maul Shelter

13.9 miles

Saw the Virginia Creepers before we left "town" - they were resupplying out of a car parked at the Relax Inn. Thanked them for my surprise and felt inadequate; I don't think I properly conveyed how amazing their gift was. 

OWL got a ride to the post office with one of their group, and I started hiking about 11, knowing OWL would catch up to me in no time. A really pretty walk today through fields and cow pastures and forest. Got to Crawfish Trail Campsite and saw Smiles there. He was trying to decide whether to stay the night, or push on to the shelter. A decision we all have to make every single day. There was a cool little rhododendron "house" for a small rock cairn on the firepit. Clevergirl & crew were there last night, looks like something Otto would make. It was really impressive - put together like a log house with joints and cuts in the wood.

I left Smiles there, and started the climb up to the shelter. Lots of fence stiles in this area; I have finally gotten the hang of climbing up, turning around on top of the stile, and climbing down. One area had lots of cows hanging out by the river, but they were nice cows and let me pass without any problems.

Strained my knee a bit going up steps after the Holston River Bridge, so it was extremely slow going from there on out. Went about a mile to a campsite - tried to text OWL to let her know I was spending the night there but didn't have any service, so I trudged on...slowly. My knee panged with every step, and I was going under 1mph. Finally got to the shelter about 7:30pm - the latest I've ever gotten to the shelter but still an hour before dark. More than enought time to get water, set up the tent, cook dinner (my favorite: loaded baked potatoes), and then go to bed. All The Way, GrandBob, Hammer, OWL, Loco Pony & Hummingbird are here, along with two section hikers. I am worried about my knee - it is a little swollen - it doesn't feel collapsed or weak so we'll see how it feels tomorrow.

Day 52: US 58 to Thomas Knob Shelter

11.1 miles
Gypsy Dave shuttled us up the mountain. He's a cool guy who thru hiked in 2003 (the "wet" year). Then after his hike he became a truck driver ("I just couldn't take anyone telling me what to do anymore"), then moved to Damascus because he loved it...super nice guy. He told us that it seems like the men get weaker and the women get stronger as the trek goes on. I hope that is true :)

Techie was at the drop off spot (we saw him yesterday hiking up the Virginia Creeper trail). Saw HandStand waiting for a ride back down the mountain.

My new shoes are ok so far; it takes me a while to get them tightened correctly (they have some weird pull laces instead of traditional laces). We'll see how they go. Lots of ups today but they were pretty gradual. There were so many section hikers out today I thought it was Saturday!

Saw Smiley at Buzzard Rock - he is going 5 miles further than we had planned. He was trying awfully hard to talk me into pushing further but I'm not having it. This is the one section of the hike where the AWOL guide says "take your time on this scenic section of the trail", and so I am going to follow those instructions!

Lots of great views today - the top of Whitetop Mountain and then a nice spruce forest when going up Mount Rogers. It is amazing how the scenery and ecosystems change from mile to mile.

SAW PONIES OMG SO CUTE!!! There were six of them grazing right on the trail about a half mile before the shelter. They are "wild" but not afraid of humans at all. I wasn't expecting to see any ponies until tomorrow! Gypsy Dave said that the ponies were used in (mining? or logging?) this area, and when the industry shut down the companies started killing the horses. The folks who had been working with the horses for years didn't like that very much, and so they made a sanctuary for them.

Got to the shelter and there was a black pony there, licking the legs of a kid sitting on a rock. (The ponies LOVE salt). There is an entire gaggle of Boy Scouts here. Lucky for me, they camp in tents instead of sleeping in the shelters. The scouts are polite and inquisitive - one Boy Scout even took our picture!

Techie, KFox, Titan, and 2 section hikers are here. One of the section hikers, BoJangles, did a thru in 1999. The other one is kinda sketchy - had to ask him not to smoke in the shelter - but am trying to ignore him and go to sleep.