Shutterbug is here, and M80/Trooper/Willow showed up today, too!
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Day 62: ZERO day at Woods Hole Hostel
Woke up at 5:30am (to get an early start on our 20 mile slackpack) and it was pouring down rain. OWL snuck downstairs to look at the weather radar and it looked awful. So we decided to stay an extra day in lieu of being cold and miserable today. Spent the day drinking tea and reading and laying in bed. It was glorious.
Shutterbug is here, and M80/Trooper/Willow showed up today, too!
Shutterbug is here, and M80/Trooper/Willow showed up today, too!
Day 63: Woods Hole Hostel to Trent's Grocery (VA 606)
14.9 miles (+0.5 from hostel to trail, +0.5 from trail to Trent's).
The original plan was to leave early & have Michael drop us off at VA608 so we could hike the 20 miles back to the hostel, but the plan didn't exactly work out (even though we were up at 5:30). So we left the hostel about 7, headed southbound on the AT, and were instructed to call when we got to the road we wanted to be picked up at. Okay....
I thought it was raining (damp and foggy and the sounds of the roaring creek nearby), so I put on my full rain gear. Discovered as soon as we started walking that it was NOT raining, so I had a wardrobe change before we even got back on the AT!
We started hiking through an area where there was a controlled burn just a few weeks ago. The forest floor was charred but there were little ferns popping up everywhere. It reminded me of when we went to hike the approach trail last December and the area had burned just days before.
The rest of the walk was pretty boring. Rocky terrain with lots of slick roots. No worries about water, however! The creeks were all swollen with water, and some stream crossings were a little precarious. I know there have been some very dry years for thru hiking the AT - I'm glad this is not one of those years.
Knee started acting up a bit. I know I'm whining about it a little bit, but it is something I'm worried about. It doesn't hurt straight away, and it doesn't hurt when I'm walking without a pack. It doesn't feel unstable. It just "catches" sometimes without warning (can't put weight on it, bringing on a serious case of Hiker Tourette's until it pops) - and after about 6-9 miles of walking it hurts with every step, on the outside of the knee and also in the back, and my hip hurts too. I'm thinking maybe IT band? Or some other sort of tendonitis. How much ibuprofen can I take without causing permanent damage??
Got to VA 606 - it was raining, of course - and saw OWL crouched by her pack. We decided to stop here (5 miles short of where we were originally picked up), and we'll come back this weekend (when our partners are visiting) and do the 5 mile hike with them.
Walked down the road to Trent's Grocery - a cool country store with everything from tackle to hardware to camping gear to convenience store to local tomatoes. Had a snack (saltine crackers w/ pimento cheese, salt & vinegar pork rinds, & V8). Pretty delicious. Then Neville picked us up & we went to the Amish grocery store so she could pick up some supplies. Went back to the hostel, had a shower & dinner, read some more...then bedtime. I will see AWE tomorrow!! So exciting!!
The original plan was to leave early & have Michael drop us off at VA608 so we could hike the 20 miles back to the hostel, but the plan didn't exactly work out (even though we were up at 5:30). So we left the hostel about 7, headed southbound on the AT, and were instructed to call when we got to the road we wanted to be picked up at. Okay....
I thought it was raining (damp and foggy and the sounds of the roaring creek nearby), so I put on my full rain gear. Discovered as soon as we started walking that it was NOT raining, so I had a wardrobe change before we even got back on the AT!
We started hiking through an area where there was a controlled burn just a few weeks ago. The forest floor was charred but there were little ferns popping up everywhere. It reminded me of when we went to hike the approach trail last December and the area had burned just days before.
The rest of the walk was pretty boring. Rocky terrain with lots of slick roots. No worries about water, however! The creeks were all swollen with water, and some stream crossings were a little precarious. I know there have been some very dry years for thru hiking the AT - I'm glad this is not one of those years.
Knee started acting up a bit. I know I'm whining about it a little bit, but it is something I'm worried about. It doesn't hurt straight away, and it doesn't hurt when I'm walking without a pack. It doesn't feel unstable. It just "catches" sometimes without warning (can't put weight on it, bringing on a serious case of Hiker Tourette's until it pops) - and after about 6-9 miles of walking it hurts with every step, on the outside of the knee and also in the back, and my hip hurts too. I'm thinking maybe IT band? Or some other sort of tendonitis. How much ibuprofen can I take without causing permanent damage??
Got to VA 606 - it was raining, of course - and saw OWL crouched by her pack. We decided to stop here (5 miles short of where we were originally picked up), and we'll come back this weekend (when our partners are visiting) and do the 5 mile hike with them.
Walked down the road to Trent's Grocery - a cool country store with everything from tackle to hardware to camping gear to convenience store to local tomatoes. Had a snack (saltine crackers w/ pimento cheese, salt & vinegar pork rinds, & V8). Pretty delicious. Then Neville picked us up & we went to the Amish grocery store so she could pick up some supplies. Went back to the hostel, had a shower & dinner, read some more...then bedtime. I will see AWE tomorrow!! So exciting!!
Day 61: Helvey Mill Shelter to Lickskillet Hollow (VA 608)
11 miles (600.2 overall!)
The plan was to get to a campsite 7 miles further up the trail, but a storm was moving in and things looked to be wet and miserable for the next few days, so we decided to get a ride into Woods Hole Hostel (a day earlier than planned), then slackpack 20 miles tomorrow in the rain.
Woods Hole is awesome - so cozy and comfortable. Neville's grandfather discovered the cabin the hostel is in while he was studying the elk populations of southwest Virginia. Cool story. It is a working farm, so there are chickens and pigs and guinea hens and cows and goats outside, and baby ducks in a bathtub on the ground floor. The storm hit about 5pm and I was very glad to be inside. We split a loaf of amazing homemade bread, a hunk of mozzerella cheese, and a raspberry/blueberry/banana smoothie for dinner.
I saw pictures of this place in Ben Benvie's AT Photo Book, and was really excited to get here. Once I got here (and saw the spice rack in the kitchen), I realized that I thought the place in Ben's book was Standing Bear Hostel - that's one more reason I was so disappointed by Standing Bear (which I will never visit again, if I have anything to say about it). Woods Hole is even better than conveyed in Ben's pictures. I am so thankful to be here!
The plan was to get to a campsite 7 miles further up the trail, but a storm was moving in and things looked to be wet and miserable for the next few days, so we decided to get a ride into Woods Hole Hostel (a day earlier than planned), then slackpack 20 miles tomorrow in the rain.
Woods Hole is awesome - so cozy and comfortable. Neville's grandfather discovered the cabin the hostel is in while he was studying the elk populations of southwest Virginia. Cool story. It is a working farm, so there are chickens and pigs and guinea hens and cows and goats outside, and baby ducks in a bathtub on the ground floor. The storm hit about 5pm and I was very glad to be inside. We split a loaf of amazing homemade bread, a hunk of mozzerella cheese, and a raspberry/blueberry/banana smoothie for dinner.
I saw pictures of this place in Ben Benvie's AT Photo Book, and was really excited to get here. Once I got here (and saw the spice rack in the kitchen), I realized that I thought the place in Ben's book was Standing Bear Hostel - that's one more reason I was so disappointed by Standing Bear (which I will never visit again, if I have anything to say about it). Woods Hole is even better than conveyed in Ben's pictures. I am so thankful to be here!
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
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).
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).
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