Day 51 - 58

Day 51: Distance hiked: 16.3 miles. Left Buena Vista around 11 AM and climbed Bald Knob and Cold Mountain. I really enjoyed this part of the trail (balds again) as there were great panoramic views of the surrounding moutains. I saw a few deer and ended up staying at the Dutch Haus Bed and Breakfast. I met two Germans (Sonic and Yona) and two Dutch guys (Nugget and Cool Cuts) and we had a great time talking and laughing about our experiences so far. They have a similar pace to myself so I hope to hang with these guys for a while.




Day 52: Distance hiked: 19.8 miles. Hiked out of Montebello from the Dutch Haus and then immediately climbed Spy Rock.  The view from Spy Rock was fantastic and I could see my next two climbs in the distance, The Priest and Three Ridges Mountain. The Priest was a good climb and then I had to hike down 3000 ft in elevation just to hike 3000 ft of elevation back up in order to summit Three Ridges Mtn. Because I knew I would have electricity at night, I decided to do something I rarely do--listen to music (I wish I could do it more often but I need to conserve battery). So there I was, listening to music, climbing along happy, when all of a sudden I heard a very loud static sound. I stopped, played with my iPhone, jiggled my earphones, and stood there a minute before realizing that the sound was not from any electric device at all, but from the very large, black, timber rattlesnake just to my right in a rock alcove. And it didn't look very happy.  "Ooooook," I thought, as I quickly sidestepped past the alcove. First rattlesnake I've seen and I was probably a few seconds away from it getting really, really pissed that I hadn't moved out of its area. Needless to say, I turned off my music and resumed my hike. Not ten minutes later I heard a sound on my left as I stopped to adjust my pack and there was a large black bear there, not 20 ft away, waddling along parallel to the trail. I wanted a picture so bad and was upset that I had turned my phone off (my camera is broken now). Then, about a half hour later, I came across a copperhead in the middle of the path.  I thought it was dead at first until it's head snapped toward me as I peered over it. Craziness.  I was convinced at that point that the mountain was trying to kill me. On the way down I came across another snake and then was swarmed by bees.  It was all worth it at the end of the day though because I had great memories as I ate a fantastic meal at the Devil's Backbone Brewery off the trail with Sonic, Yona, and the Dutch guys.  The owner let us camp in his yard next to the brewery.  Nice guy!  







Day 53: Distance hiked: 19.1 miles. I hiked into Waynesboro, VA and a trail angel came and picked me up at the trail crossing and brought me to town. I stayed at the Grace Lutheran Church which is a hiker hostel.  It was awesome and had everything a hiker could want--food, showers, laundry, movies. Sonic and I went and ate at Pizza Hut and he told me about how he prepared for the trail in Europe by hiking abandoned railroad tracks in France and Germany, including all the long tunnels (Sonic is a train engineer (conductor) in Germany and has access to the maps of abandoned lines).  What a cool way to hike through Europe! It was a good day of hiking and nice to relax in town.  Cedar cliffs was a highlight that day.



Day 54: Distance hiked: 23.1 miles. I immediately took a liking to Shenandoah National Park. The terrain was gentler and it was a very peaceful hike. I saw a few deer, got stung by a few wasps (did it have to be in the calf?!), but really enjoyed the park and hiking Blackrock around sunset. I then stealth camped in the woods out of the site of rangers and other hikers (Shenandoah has a lot of camping rules so I figured best to be out of sight).



Day 55: Distance hiked: 30.0 miles. Woke up to a deer walking around my hammock (I think I set up camp in its bed) and started my hike once I emerged from the woods and got back on the trail. I ate lunch at the Loft Mtn. Campstore which was divine (mostly because of the Ben and Jerry's) and had several great views throughout the day. I then night-hiked with Sunshine (guy I met the day before) for two hours before stealth camping again near Lewis Mtn. Campground.







Day 56: Distance hiked: 16.8 miles. It started raining around 4 AM so I took down camp in the rain and was soaked from the beginning of the day.  I trudged through the rain for 4 hours before making it to Big Meadows Lodge for lunch.  I ate lunch and luckily the rain stopped and the sun came out so by the time I started my afternoon hike, I was drying out and feeling much better.  I hiked to Skyland (the Shenandoah resort) and treated myself to a room and a nice meal that night. Very enjoyable.

Day 57: Distance hiked: 23.8 miles. I started off from Skyland at 10:30 AM after eating a superb breakfast. I discovered "Airplane Mode" on my phone (why I hadn't thought of this earlier was beyond me) which allows me to listen to music as much as I want without barely using any battery.  It was a great day of music and nature and because I had my tunes on, of course, I came across another rattlesnake.  This one looked like a plastic snake so I nudged it with my trekking pole until it's tail started rattling.  I then scanned the brush until I saw it's head staring at me and decided once again, "Ok, time to move."  I moved on, hiked the rest of the day into the night, and set up my hammock at Gravel Springs Hut.

Day 58: Distance hiked: 21.6 miles. I left Gravel Springs around 9 AM and spent some time up on a cliff overlooking Shenandoah, taking it all in one more time. I then hiked down and saw an adolescent bear that kept running parallel to the trail.  I kept catching up with it (intentionally) until I finally got a picture (I was on the lookout for mommy as well). I ate lunch near a stream, turned on some tunes, and hiked the entire day in 95 degree heat.  If someone collected all my sweat from today and channeled it into a stream, I'm pretty sure it would power a generator.  Anyway, I stopped hiking around 8 PM at Manassas Gap and was able to get into town.  And that's where I currently sit. On to Bear's Den hostel tomorrow and then Harper's Ferry to meet the fam!

Day 43 - 50

Day 43: Distance hiked: 21.8 miles. It was very hard to get out of my hammock because it was freezing cold, all my clothes were wet, it was still raining, and it was foggy.  I finally crawled out at 8 AM and left camp about 45 min later. The sun came out around 11 AM and it felt amazing. I saw my first doe which was cool and then at night spoke Spanglish to a construction worker who sat down next to me on a rock at one of the trail crossings. After about 10 min of chit-chatting, his final remarks were pretty much, "So it's 6:30, it's getting dark soon, you have 4 miles left to go to shelter, it's overcast skies, the woods are already dark (heavy foilage), and there are bears out there. You are really going to keep hiking?" Now I hadn't thought of it like that since about the first week so I was like, "Yep, that's right."  Of course, I got drenched a half hour from the shelter and heard what were probably bears on a ridge.

Day 44: Distance hiked: 22 miles. Left War Spur Shelter at 7:30 AM and got rained on the first two hours of hiking. I was really cold but kept plodding along. When I came to a road crossing, a really cool couple from a bed and breakfast let me come onto their porch and charge my phone and camera.  That was so nice of them!  I saw the Keffer Oak (largest oak tree in the South) and there were great views along Sinking Creek Mtn. That night I made an awesome camp near the top of the Audie Murphy Monument, dried out my stuff by the fire, and saw a few more deer and another orange salamander.









Day 45: Distance hiked: 23.4 miles. Awesome day! (and extremely tough). Hiked over Audie Murphy Monument Mtn, Dragon's Tooth, and McAffe's Knob all in the same day.  Dragon's Tooth was the most technical climb so far and I really enjoyed it!!! (I've always been more of a "climber" than a "hiker") Some girls sitting on top of Dragon's Tooth chit-chatted with me, offered me food, and took pictures for me. Thanks girls! Then I continued on, made up some random songs..."If you have a blister on your foot clap your hands!  "clap clap" If you have a scar on your calf clap your hands," and on and on with the verses getting wilder, self-deprecating, and very amusing--ahh the joys of self-entertainment (remember, I'm my only amusement for about 12-13 hours a day, sometimes for days on end). Anyway, made it to McAffe's Knob just in time for sunset and 10 min before another total downpour.  I was able to squeeze in a great photo on McAffe's (did anyone notice the rainbow in the background?) and then climbed down to the shelter about 2 miles from the top.






 Day 46: Distance hiked: 15.4 miles. Left the shelter in the morning and climbed Tinker Cliffs.  Walked along the cliffs for miles and it was really enjoyable. I didn't feel quite right (stomach issues) and ended up staying the night off US 220 in the town of Cloverdale.  I rested up and hoped for the best.






Day 47: Distance hiked: 22.7 miles. I left town and had a rather uneventful day (I was pretty bummed my camera was broken and had not been able to update my blog while in town). The AT met up with the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped off at some of the Overlooks which was pretty cool. I then made another awesome camp on top of Cove Mtn and slept through the night for the first time of the trip.





Day 48: Distance hiked: 22.8 miles. Left camp around 7 AM and made good time to Jennings Creek.  I decided to take an early morning swim in the creek (mountain water is SOOO cold but sooo good to a disgusting, sweaty, nasty body). Swimming in the creek was really fun! Then, as I was hiking Floyd Mtn a deer came out of the woods and walked directly up to me.  I later had to call my family to make sure I was still alive and not just a spirit or something (that's the first deer that's done that, and there probably won't be another...). I sat on Black Rock for a bit and enjoyed the wonderful vista. I then camped at Harrison Ground Spring with Zie Germans.




Day 49: Distance hiked: 21.8 miles. Just as I finished taking down camp it began to rain again.  So I walked in the rain again all morning, saw some deer, crossed the James River (and almost fell into it--the bruises on my hands and butt tell that story), and ended the day in the fog near total nightfall climbing Bluff Mtn, where a little boy's body was found in the 1890's.  It was spooky but kinda cool that I had the spookiest type weather for that climb. I then got drenched about 10 minutes prior to making it to Punchbowl Shelter.

Day 50: Distane hiked: 11.3 miles. Hiked through the rain all morning, getting completely drenched.  Luckily I had decided the day before (before I was drenched and miserable) that I would take a half day and stay in town for the day.  So here I am in Buena Vista updating the blog and re-energizing for another bout of full hiking days.

Day 37 - 42

Day 37: Distance hiked: 26.1 miles. During my recovery the previous day, I had splurged for a full body massage at a spa (it was clean, people) and it did wonders.  I felt great on Day 37. After a taxi dropped me off back at Dickey Gap, I spotted a baby black bear (first bear cub I've seen out here) within twenty minutes of hiking.  When the cub spotted me, it stopped playing with a tree and bolted down the mountain away from me (probably toward mommy).  I didn't stick around too long (the only times bears really attack along the trail are to protect their cubs), and continued toward the first shelter.  That morning I also hiked through another cow pasture and came across some trail magic left by another church (root beer and peanut butter crackers, yum!). Later on in the day I made it to Partnership Shelter, where I ate lunch.  There is nothing that gets a hiker more excited than a shelter with amentities.  Partnership shelter not only had a shower, but almost what you could call a toilet, AND a nearby visitor's center with vending machines. Amazing.  You could even order a pizza from there and pick it up at the visitor's center.  Anyway, I had shelter envy as I knew I was hiking on and would not be staying at that one.  I then hiked Glade Mtn and then finally reached another road crossing complete with gas stations/truck stops/lodging, and a restuarant.  Very exciting.  I ended up hitching a ride back to Marion so I could continue my Navy work at the library.




 Day 38: Distance hiked: 13.9 miles. Finished up some Navy stuff in the morning at the Marion library and then had a cab drop me off at the trailhead around 2:30 pm. There were a lot of cow pastures this day and also some frisky groundhogs dancing around my feet. A deer and I startled each other and the deer bolted across the trail in front of me. Later, I saw another deer on a ridge. Around sunset I entered yet another cow pasture and this time, like out of the movie "Big Fish," time stood still for a few moments--except in this case I didn't fall in love, I just had every cow in the pasture stop moving in a 360 degree radius and stare at me. Let me tell you, it was a moment...











 Day 39: Distance hiked: 23.9 miles. I woke up early and started hiking in the rain. I took refuge briefly in Chestnut Knob Shelter (very excited to see a shelter with four walls and a roof!) before pressing on. Later in the day I dodged another bout of heavier rain and ended up camping near Laurel Creek. I was able to make a fire out of soaking wet leaves and logs by using paper and fire to dry them out first. Go me.





Day 40: Distance hiked: 25.5 miles. I left Laurel Creek early in the morning so I could meet my first visitor of the trip enroute. Seven miles into my hike, my buddy Dan from the Academy came out and met me. I met his wife Alissa (who dropped him off), and they presented me with Reese's Peanut Butter Cup banana bread. It was incredible! Dan and I hiked 17.5 miles together and he got the full trail experience: we saw a baby rat snake, a crazy looking spider, we hitchhiked to the grocery store, made an enormous campfire in the middle of the woods, saw a half dozen deer around dusk, and slept in the open on opposite ends of the fire. Great times.











Day 41: Distance hiked: 13.9 miles. So I may have had some things too close to the fire....We got up around 7:30 am and hiked out, dodging some rain in a shelter for 5 minutes, and saw a few more deer that morning. Around 2 pm, we made it to Woodshole Hostel which was pretty amazing. The dinner and breakfast were homemade from stuff around the farm. Soooo good. I was able to relax, take a shower, eat smoothies and ice cream, and play spades with some of the guys.





Day 42: Distance hiked: 21.3 miles. Started out from Woodshole Hostel around 9:30 am after an incredible breakfast. Made it to Pearisburg,VA at 2 pm, resupplied, had lunch, and hit the trail again. The views from Rice Field Shelter were fantastic by I decided to push on and night hike in order to make up miles. I learned that the problem with hiking at night is that you can't see the overcast skies as well. I got caught in a complete deluge and made an impromptu camp next to the trail while getting drenched. I managed to keep my sleeping bag dry though which was a major plus because I was frozen to the bone. I stripped off all my wet clothes, dove into my hammock and huddled in my sleeping bag to avoid hypothermia as the rain slammed my tarp above.