On 4/22, I did 20.3 miles to a campsite just after Pine Mountain. On 4/23, I did to 24.5 miles to Partnership Shelter. On 4/24, I did 6.7 miles after resupplying in Marion, VA. On 4/25 I did 18.9 miles to Knot Maul Shelter. On 4/26, I did 20 miles to Jenkins Shelter. On 4/27 I did 25 miles to Jenny Knob. On 4/28 I did 21.7 miles to Woods Hole Hostel. On 4/29 I did 17.2 to rice field shelter after resupplying in Pearisburg. OnOn 4/30 I did 16.5 miles to Bailey Gap. On 5/1 I did 17.9 miles to VA 630. On 5/2 and 5/3 I day hiked with a friend outside Pearisburg.
So I have broken into southern Virginia and so far it has been a great state, which is a good thing since it's a good chunk of the AT. I have already knocked out the highest peak, Mount Rogers, in Virginia so it should be easy going from here on out. The terrain for the next few hundred miles looks easier and I'm okay with that. North Carolina's and Tennessee's elevation profiles looked like a Richter scale after an earthquake, maybe the smoother ground will give my ankle time to actually heal before I hit rocky PA (I am currently yelling out some creative expletives every time I slightly roll my left ankle on the trail). Coming out of Damascus I walked along parts of the Virginia Creeper Trail before I started the climb up Mount Rogers. The section of the Virginia Creeper Trail I was on followed the river in the valley and looks like an awesome opportunity for a week long bike trip through Virginia in the future.
After Mount Rodgers I entered into the Grayson Highlands during a serious windstorm. The gusts of wind were upwards of 40 miles per hour and reminded me of Mount Washington. During the gusts of wind I could turn into the wind and fall forward and the wind would keep me from falling. The Highlands are an unique geographical area and reminded me of a rocky Colorado plain. As I was crossing the Highlands it started to hail and I had to take cover behind a large boulder. Getting hit in the face with hail at 40 miles per hour feels a lot like getting hit in the face with 40 mile per hour hail. Luckily the hail only lasted for about ten minutes and I was rewarded for dealing with the strange weather with ponies and rainbows. You will have to take my word on the rainbow as I forgot to take a picture of it. As for the ponies, apparently back in the 60's the USFS released a bunch of wild ponies into the park to help control the vegetation. There are now bands of ponies that graze on the Highlands and surprise thru hikers who had no idea they were there.
We'll I crossed the 500 mile mark last week when I entered Grayson Highlands and shortly after that I hit the quarter mile mark for the trail. I have reflected on both of those milestones and realized I am actually indifferent to the numbers. It's great to know that I can physically and mentally take on the trail, and barring any serious injury I should be able to continue the trend; but for many hikers, including myself, Katadhin is the end of the hike, but not the reason for the start. I was talking to Cliff Hanger about the trail and he said it best "The trail is a catalyst for the hikers goals". This is where I'm supposed to tell you my goals for the trail, but to be honest they have changed week to week and sometimes even day to day. The trail has given me a lot of time to reflect on the past and think about the future. I still have the same amount of questions to answer as when I started the trail, but I now have a new perspective to frame my thoughts. One thing I did manage to figure out is the secret to happiness, but I will let you walk the trail and find out for yourselves.
I went into Pearisburg for a resupply today. A coworker/friend (l'll just call him Benjamin Franklin) wanted to support me on my trip and sent me a package to the post office in Pearisburg. I went to the P.O to pick up the package, I handed the P.O employee my ID, she went to the back and returned to the front with a huge box, I didn't even approach the counter since I thought it was for someone else. She said here you go and pushed the box across the counter. I couldn't believe the size of the package, I have had gear resupplies that were in smaller boxes. There were other hikers in the P.O and one asked if I had a new backpack shipped to me. I said no, I believe it is food. He then asked if it was from my girlfriend and I said no. He then said who the hell would send you that much food! I opened the box on the floor of the post office. It was like reaching into a magicians hat. At this time there was a small crowd around me watching me pull out various items from the box. Mr. Franklin is the king of jokes and I cannot actually mention everything that was in the box, but the whole post office was either in tears from laughing or shock from what I was pulling out. What I can tell you was in the box was over 10 lbs of jerky and dried fruit and some whiskey. Now do you think I'm going to actually hike with the additional 10+ lbs. from the jerky/fruit/whiskey?.....you bet your bottom dollar I am, and I am sure I will make a lot of friends in the next few weeks as I share the most outlandish resupply the AT has seen.
Right after Rice Field Shelter I started to hike on a 70 mile section of trail that I had previously hiked in 2012 with my girlfriend of the time. Reflecting back on the hike the only thing I could think of was how bad I felt for her. She honestly thought I knew what I was doing, and the worst part is, I thought I knew what I was doing. I have no idea how much my pack weighed back in 2012, but going through all the items in my head, I bet it was over 55 lbs and hers was probably just a little less than that. I had cotton clothes, 4 or 5 pairs of socks, seven pairs of underwear and a first aid kit that could have been used to treat a platoon. We were miserable on the trail. It took us a day and a half to do 11.7 miles. We got to Bailey Gap shelter and we were discussing turning around and heading back to the car the next morning. When we were at the shelter two thru hikers named Hopeful and Bunny came strolling in full of energy after a 20+ mile day. We shared with them our sad story and how we planned on turning around in the morning. Both of them were extremely positive people and even after looking at our overloaded packs, were sure we could push on and make our original itinerary. We were still hesitant on the idea of pushing forward, so they started to recount all of their tales of the past 700 miles and listed dozens of reasons of why they should have stopped but that a positive outlook kept them on the trail. They helped us go through our packs and showed us ways to eliminate weight, we also ended up giving them a lot of our food (I told you section/day hikers always bring to much food with them). The next morning it was an easy decision for us, we headed North away from the car. It's pretty cool that some people can come into your life for such a short amount of time but yet have such a lasting impact. It is quite often that I think about Hopeful and Bunny and the power of a positive attitude. It was a blast to re-walk this part of the trail that had once been almost insurmountable with the same bounce in my footsteps that Hopeful and Bunny had four years ago.
Hanging out in the highlands
Not so scenic parts of the AT with Ginger T.
Walking through farm lands of Virginia (you can see the lower elevations have started to bud, while the higher elevation is bare)
500 miles in at the start of Grayson Highlands
Common site outside dinners along the AT
2012, faking a smile with the heavy pack (for some reason I dressed like was going on a safari)
2015, looking good as always
Woods Hole Hostel
10 Speed leading the way