The Shenendoahs

After three days in the Shenendoahs I have mixed feelings about the place. Sometimes I get quite annoyed because the trail pretty much stays in the woods along the skyline trail. All of the good stuff (waterfalls, springs, overlooks, etc.) Are on spur trails half a mile or so off the trail. I go to some of them, but it burns time. It would be so easy for them to route the AT to go to these places, especially since the spur trails end up parrallell with the AT anyways. Ok, enough complaining. The good part about the park is that it's great for magic. I've received 2 lunches, 2 beers, and some freeze dried dinners while in the park. The shops along skyline drive also make for a nice break - the blackberry milkshakes are amazing. Oh, and a saw two bears! It only took 900 miles. I met a supper hippie at the shelter tonight. She spends most of her time as a stole-away on trains and boats. She says she's been to several coutries that way. Recently she was arrested for halting a coal train to protest moutaintop removal. Well, hope all is going well in civilization.

Trail days

The past few days since my last post have been beautiful days to be outside. Encouraged by the cool dry air, I decided to put in some big miles to make it to Waynesburo by Friday when Amy came in. But after two days of 30+ miles, I decided to scrap the plan and just relax on friday. It was one of the toughest sections of virginia (including one of the most famous descents called "The Priest") and I was worn out. So, on friday I took a three hour lunch, stopped to talk to several people, and just mozzied along. I met a guy from Annapolis, a girl named tag who got engaged while on a previous thru hike (apparently it didn't last) and a cool guy from Harpers ferry that develops facial recognition software for the FBI. Soon the day was coming to an end and I still had 6 miles to go before meeting Amy so I hurried down the trail trying to make it in time. I turned out that Amy was running about 2 hours late due to DC traffic, so I went back up to an overlook, watched the sunset, and warmed up by the fire a local family had made. Soon after sunset, I met up with Amy (who had arrived a bit early and went hiking to find me, only in the wrong direction) and ate 3 chick-fil-a meals and some homemade cookies that Amy brought me.

We got into Damascus around 1:00 AM for trail days and set up our tent at The Place. I spent most of saturday morning shooing around at the vendors and bought two hammocks and some socks. In the afternoon we participated in the hiker parade, watched the hiker talent show, and listened to some concerts. In the evening we watched a documentary about the first thu hike of the American Discovery Trail, or ADT. The day ended with a stroll through tent city checking out all of the different neighborhoods. Riff raff was a good party scene with a huge fire and good music, but I think billville was my favorite. It's set up by a bunch of old guys who thu hiked in the 90s I think. On their thru hike, one guy (now the billville mayor) went to a yard sale and met a retired man who was selling all of his work clothes from Tractor Resupply. Another guy had torn his shirt, so when he heard about the yard sale he bought one too. On and on it went until it became fashionable to wear Tractor Resuply shirts on the trail, and there was an army of hikers out there with these shirts saying their name is Bill. I heard the original Bill even bumped up the price from 50 cents to $10 due to the demand. Anyways, all of these "Bills" come back to trail days each year.
On sunday we drove back to waynesburro and stopped at Devils Backbone brewery for some tasting. It's a nice area. There were at least three other breweries and several wineries in the area. Then we were going to go hike to a waterfall, but decided to just get dinner due to time constraints. I'm sleeping in my hammock in the city park tonight and will enter the Shenendoahs tomorrow. I ended up skipping about 15 miles of the trail, but I don't really care. There wasn't much to see anyways and I can always come back if I eventually want to hike every blaze.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention my presents! Amy bought a new Osprey backpack for me and brought down a fixie bicycle to use at trail days. It was great being able to cruise around damascus on a bike and I'm excited to try out my new pack.

Where's my compass? 5/15/12

The rain finally stopped this morning, but it's effects could still be felt in the several stream crossings that now had to be forded. When I got to the "swimming hole", which now was more suited for white water rafting, I met South Park and Ma'am who were giving out trail magic for breakfast.  I had some AMAZING zuchini bread, apple butter, eggs, and orange juice. They said their neighbor likes to farm, but doesn't want to bother with selling it, so he gives it to them to make stuff for the hikers. I met up with Beacon again who was being dropped off on the trail again after avoiding the rain. The shuttle driver said 9 inches of rain fell over the past 2 days. I also met a day hiker who was stranded on the trail because the high waters had closed the roads and his wife couldnt come pick him up. Later that day I blue-blazed for two miles to see a 300 foot waterfall. Due to the rains, it was a bit of a pain to get down there, but the waterfall was quite impressive. Upon getting back to the AT, I grabbed a snack and was on my way. But, about 30 min later, I had a flash of recognition and I realized I had been walking south! Damn bonus miles. Tonight I'm staying in a shelter with a sociology professor at Marshal university, who wrote her dissertation on thru hiker subculture. I want to check it out when I get the chance. Oh, and my pack started ripping so now all othe weight is on my sholders instead of my hips - no bueno. I hope to get a new one at trail days.

Rain rain go away

Last friday I made it into Daleville fairly early and tried to get a hotel for the night. After a few attempts, I managed to get an overpriced smoking room at the Super 8. It was graduation weekend for all of the universities in the area so almost every room was booked. After a long shower and lunch I decided to go explore town for a bit. I ended up buying a dress shirt from good will, beer and flowers to surprise Amy when she arrived.  On saturday Amy and I did a day hike up to Mcaffees knob and then drove over to Richmond for a wedding. Sunday we grabbed lunch with my high school friend Mark and then drove back to the trail. Shortly after amy dropped me off at the trail it started to downpour and it hasn't stopped since. I won't lie and say I had fun today ... it was miserable. Everything I have is soaked. I even resort to eating soggy bagles for lunch. Luckily I got a shelter space for tonight, but it's so wet nothing will dry out. I only saw 2 people on the trail today (one was trying to get into a town) so I think most people have left the trail. I am envious because I feel like I am hiking in a tropical storm. The trail is basically a river ankle deep. I guess it's all part of the experience though.

A perfect day on the AT

Today was a perfect day to hike. The sun was warm but the air was cool and crisp and all of the views were crystal clear, and everything was DRY. I had a relatively easy day today, so I took the time to enjoy the views, watch the birds, and investigate the insects. The trail went by the dragons tooth which is a big monolith overlooking a valley. There is also a famous all-you-can-eat restaurant on the trail, which I will get to later, so I was planning to partially starve myself during the day in preparation, but around lunch time a came to a store at a road crossing that sold pizza and ice cream, and I couldn't resist. I got into Catawba, VA around 2:00 but the famous restaurant The Homeplace wasn't open yet (they only open from 4 to 8 thursday through sunday) so I spent my time chatting to the ladies behind the counter at the post office, the gas station, and the antique store. Those were the only things in town. Finally 4:00 rolled around and I made my way over to the Homeplace. I can best describe it as an all you can eat Cracker Barrel with lower prices and better food inside of an old ranch house on a 150 acre plot of land in the appalachians. The food was delicous and I soon became uncomfortably full. Oh, the place was packed too. Apparntly it is graduation weekend at virginia tech so a bunch of students and their families were there (the restaurant is one of the VA tech bucketlist things to do before you graduate). One hicker I know even got invited to a graduation party back in blacksburg. Talk about trail magic! I left the homelace with difficulty and left for my campsite. After dropping my stuff off I decided to climb up to Mcaffee's knob for sunset. The views are great from there so I will return there for sunrise tomorrow and on saturdy with Amy. Tomorrow I will meet amy in daleville, VA and take the weekend off.

Waterfall swim and zip line

Sortly after the last post I came across a waterfall off the trail with a nice swimming hole under it so I decided to take a dip. I spent so much time swimming around and drying out that I lost track of time and soon it was getting dark. There was a supposed to be an awesome lookout at the mountain summit ahead, so I hauled ass up the moutain to get there for sunset. Unfortunately I didn't make it and I arrived shortly after dark. I camped there hoping to get in a good sunrise view. It wasn't meant to be ... I woke up in a clound that would persist for the next two days. It has been raining on and off. I find that I actually go quicker and cover more miles when it's raining, probably because I'm not tempted to stop and enjoy a view or rest by the river. So, I put in 60 miles over the past two days. My feet are definitely feeling it though, and I'll be taking it easier for the next two days. A few more things of note, I went to west Virginia, so I've got one more state under my belt. I bought a ticket to Budapest while i was at the pearisburg library, so i will be chilling there for a while after india. I saw the second largest tree on the AT (apparently the largest one is somewhere in NY), and I got a coke from the Captain. The Captain is a supper cool guy who lives accross the river from the AT. He set up a zip line accross the river so hikers could stop by for a drink or camp on his porch. Hopefully the rain will clear tonight because tomorrow is supposed to have several viewpoints.

Strange people

After my last update I hiked through the night for about two miles until I found a good campsite. On my way there I went through a big field with tons of fireflys. It was a cool site to see, and with almost a full moon the hike was fairly easy. The next day I ascended a ridge and pretty much stayed there on top. The mountains in virginia are quite a bit different. They ars not big humps like in NC and TN but rather really long elevated strips of land. Anyways, I camped up there and had some of the best views of the trip. At the shelter, I met a supper strange dude named provisions. He was way out there. In the middle of a normal conversation he would change the topic by saying things like, "did you know puerto ricans come from Russia? Peurt Rico is an island I think." He tried to teach me some breathing techniques to fulfill my true potential and told me if I ever wanted to duel someone with a broadsword I should go to persia because my facial features Indicated I would fight well there. Listening him talk to girls was the best. Upon meeting shenanigans for the first time he asked her, have you ever seen the inside of a police tactical belt? I have. I just did a bunch of upper body workouts." It went on like that all night. I've met a bunch of hillbillys and other strange folk out here but he is the wierdest so far. Anyways, I've entered the green tunnel now and the walking is all in dense forest witout any views. There is supposed to be a good waterfall today though. Just passed the 600 mile mark as well.

Quick update

I'm sitting in a gas station parking lot at 9:40 PM and haven't figured out where to sleep yet, so I'll try to keep this brief. The Grayson highlands were great. Rugged mountains with nice sweeping views, and some wild ponies to boot. I stayed at thomas knob shelter with 3 REI emloyees who were out for a few days. We had a good game of spades that night. Also met a cool southbounder from Houston (the heights actually). He's a captain on a container vessel and is on his 6 month rotation off. The next day I tried bookin it to Partnership shelter because its one of 3 places on the trail you can have pizza delivered to the shelter. Alas, I was not fast enough and abandoned plans when I realized I wouldn't make it in time. So I had a good time with haus, his mom, and long skirt at the timpi shelter instead. Today I made it to partnership shelter and showered (fancy shelter, huh? Pizza and shower!) Then hitched into marion for a resupply and lunch. I met up with southpaw at lunch and chilled with him for a good while before heading north to atkins. Oh, right before atkins there was this cool outdoor museum of an old farm and schoolhouse restored from the 1800s.  The trail meandered through the countryside before emerging at I81 where I got dinner at at restaurant and went the the gas station to update the blog. The cameraon my phone is crappy but here are some more pics.