Days 7-16



Day 7

We woke up in the hotel at about 9. Cathrine, Nick, and I were getting antsy and decided to walk the 2 miles to the town library so i could update the blog while Derrick packed up his gear (it takes him awhile in the mornings)

It took me about an hour to write my journal onto the computer and when i was done we walked back towards the motel for checkout time and got some burgers from sonic. On the way back Cathrine and i ran into a southbound hiker that we met on the trail on one of our backpacking trips this past March. It was kinda crazy, this trail is a small place.

We then went to Walmart and got all of our food. I was excited about the sardines and canned oysters I got. A thru hiker and Nick went in together and got a giant block of cheese they'd split.

After Walmart we walked halfway to the Riverbend Park in Marion where the "hiker festival" was taking place, about halfway there, we hitched a ride from one of the city workers who had us jump in his pickup truck. We got to the festival location and there was still no one there, no vendors or anything, just still a bunch of sketchies. So we called a cab to take us back to the Mount Rogers HQ. We got back to Partenership Shelter at about 4:30 and chilled there for the rest of the day.

We walked down to a nearby lake where Cathrine and I went around and tried to identify the wildflowers, while Derrick fly fished (he caught a few bluegills), while nick wandered off into the woods in search for some walking sticks.

We're excited to hike with Nick tomorrow (and possibly his cousin Dennis Dourghty) we're planning a 15 mile day (I think Nick thinks that we're beastlier than we really are).

 

Day 8

Today Nick had us up early, Derrick was advocating for us to stay in bed but we had a big day ahead of us.

On our journey today we passed the Chatfield memorial shelter and met Fimby, a lady who with her husband and 3 children was thru hiking the trail. Cathrine had actually recognized Fimby from one of her videos on the internet right off. We talked with her for a bit, she was taking a zero with one of her sick daughters at the shelter while the rest of the family went into Atkins for burgers.

Further down the trail Cathrine and I saw a sign for a side trail down to an old farm from the 1800's. We went and checked it out and ran into some friends we had met earlier that day- Naturally HOB, Mountain Laurel, and 7UP. 7UP got his name because he has climbed the highest elevations on all 7 continents. They are all very friendly and knowledgeable.

After the farm, about 1/4 mile down the trail, we ran into an old school house also from the 1800's where there was some "trail magic", a big box of free goodies and other little things that are like gold to us carrying all of our belongings on our backs. I was most excited about the Qtips and ziplock bags!

We got to Davis Path, which is basically a random outhouse on the side of a mountain at about 5:30. Here we met up with Dennis Dourghty, who drove all the way up and hiked 9 miles in to stay the night with us and hike back out tomorrow. There is no water source here wither so we filled up all our bottles and carried them a mile further down the mountain. Also, Nick didn't think we had enough water after making dinner, so he and Dennis took all of our empty bottles back down the mountain and refilled them and brought them back up. It was very generous of them and I think Nick has way too much energy to burn.

Alot of people ended up staying here I think theres like 8 tents set up and I think that there's not one tent not on a major incline. what an awful place for a tenting area.

We're feeling somewhat good for hiking almost 15 miles today. We got 11 more tomorrow to Knot Maul Shelter and word on the street is there will be hotdogs being served somewhere on the side of the trail tomorrow.

 

Day 9

Today was another early start. For breakfast i got to spice up my usual grits with some blackberry preserves this thru hiker carried in, it was delicious.

Nick, Dennis, Cathrine, Derrick and I had a rough 9 miles to the parking lot where Dennis had parked his car, today was the hottest day so far and it's not even summer yet. All day we were looking forward to some hotdogs that were to be served at the parking lot that Dennis was parked. When we got to the parking lot, there was nothing or nobody so here, we said our goodbyes to Nick and Dennis as they climbed in their ac filled fast moving vehicles. Once they were gone I think the 3 of us were pretty worn out so we laid down on some picnic tables in a pavilion on the side of the road.

As we laid there, on the verge of sleep,other hikers were arriving excitedly to the pavilion in hopes for the soughtafter free hotdogs only to have their dreams crushed. When they arrived, noting was said, nothing needed to be said they just joined us on the picnic tables and after while there were like 7 of us just laying on the picnic tables in silence.

After about an hour of rest, from there we had about 2 miles to the shelter, up a big steep mountain. We got here at about 5ish and did all the usual nighttime rituals. We also discovered the guy with the blackberry jam had left his mason jar for us to munch on so Cathrine and I ate a big cup of it. 9 miles to Chestnut Knob, a few tough climbs tomorrow. We will also get to see the spot where my friend Charlie and I almost died of hypothermia on a trip through this section in March 2012. Rain is in the forecast for the next 3 days, we're going on 10 days of perfect weather so I guess we're overdue for some rain and maybe it'll bring the temperature down some.

 

Day 10

 Today while making breakfast, it started raining so Cathrine and I were prepared to hike in the rain all day. I think it's better to mentally prepare to hike in the rain all day rather than to sit around and hope for another sunny day to come around. You can accept the fact that you'll be hiking in the rain all day and still be optimistic about is. Cathrine and I had one of our best days yet hiking in the rainstorm, it was pretty rain. Also, we made great time getting to the shelter at about 2pm, leaving the rest of the day open for some of our other favorite activities like napping, eating, harmonica playing, and fire making. The shelter here is an awesome one, it's a fully enclosed concrete block with a door, hopefully we stay warm and cozy tonight. Right now a pretty brutal storm is moving through, we're so high up that we got to see it slowly move in from miles down the valley.

Tomorrow we're planning 10 miles to Jenkins shelter, looks like pretty easy terrain and if I remember correctly, we walk along the ridgeline all day so it'll probably be a fairly chill day.

 

Day 11

Today we woke up with great weather and a fairly easy hike ahead of us. The first 6 miles went by quick and we met Derrick at a road where a church had left some "trail magic". It was like 15 gallon jugs filled with water, it was much appreciated to fill our empty water bottles and have an excuse for lunch.

While we were eating the 2 girls we stayed with at Chestnut Knob - Kim possible and Sparkles- showed up with a random dog following them. They said they didn't know where it came from and had been following them for miles.

When we were done eating the dog followed Cathrine and I for the next 4 miles. I told Cathrine not to get too attached but she was already making plans. Another guy at Jenkins Shelter fell in love with the dog and adopted him on the spot. It was a sweet dog.

We got to the shelter at about 2:30 and relaxed for the rest of the day. While we were making dinner, a guy named Gandalf showed up with a container of mushrooms, right off I knew they were chicken of the woods and he was happy for a confirmation. He cooked them up with some olive oil and garlic and we all ate them and they were delicious.

Chicken of the woods is one of the more recognizable edible plants in the wild so I was comfortable eating it. Cathrine didn't have and just in case we found ourselves in need of her nursing skills.

Gandalf is a really cool, laid back guy from New York City who we hung out with by our fire for the evening. He adopted a dog in Marion named Blazer and Blazer was oddly fond of Cathrine. Derrick went into detail about how dogs go crazy when they smell a female in heat.

Another good day, hopefully the rain holds off tonight, no one likes a leaky tent. We've got 14 miles tomorrow and today marks our 100 mile mark, only like 2,000 more to go.

 

Day 12

We were slow getting ready today just enjoying our time. I boiled the caps to my water bottle because they had some mold in them and I think that's what has been bothering my throat. Today was a pretty chill hike we were doing like 20 minute miles. We had a long lunch at VA 615 by a pretty river and bridge. I played the harmonica for Cathrine while Derrick worked on his fly fishing.

Cathrine and I waked alone for the majority of the day just just enjoying each others company. There were a lot of switchbacks. Derrick met 3 middle aged section hikers and seemed to be having a good time with them, they were headed to the same place as us.

With about 2 miles left the weather quickly changed then it began to downpour while we were just starting up a mountain. Cathrine and I basically ran the whole 2 miles up the mountain and got soaked, we had a blast though.

Once at the shelter, we all huddled in and waited for the storm to pass. Once it cleared I collected wood and had a fire going in no time. Everyone gathered around and dried their stuff. 10 miles tomorrow.

 

Day 13

Last night Cathrine and I made the mistake of sleeping in the shelter. All the old farts snored all night and we slept horribly. So we slept in really late after they left. We hit the trail by 11:45 ish and had another day of smooth sailing and perfect weather.

We made it to Jenny's Knob shelter at about 4pm and Cathrine and I were feeling good so we did an extra mile down the mountain and found a nice campsite near a stream where we found the peace and quiet we've been looking for.

Tomorrow we're planning a 14 miler with a pit stop at "Trent's Grocery" for burgers for lunch. Then we'll probably checkout Dismal falls for a few hours. We've got about 30 miles to Pearisburg, a few days and we'll be swimming in pizza.

 

Day 14

Today we took our time getting out of camp again. We were excited about some burgers. We got to Trent's Grocery, about 5.5 miles away in like 2 hours.

At Trent's Grocery we took our time eating and charged our phones, when we were done we hung out, out front to let the food digest and possibly hitch a ride from a local back to the trail, about 1/2 a mile down the road.

Everyone craves something different while they've spent weeks in the woods. Cathrine has been talking about fresh watermelon since day 1. So when we saw a whole watermelon at Trent's  I didn't hesitate to pick it up and buy it. Derrick and I planned to carry it the 2 miles up to Dismal Falls where we were gonna camp for the night.

I ended up scoring when I asked a guy for a ride and he said yes so we hopped in the back of his truck and were on our way back to the trail. Derrick and I carried the watermelon up with no problems switching off every 20 minutes or so.

We got to the falls, found a nice secluded spot to call home for the night and  munched on watermelon with our feet in the water. Derrick tried to catch us some trout for dinner with no luck. Tomorrow we have a long day planned to make up for the chill day we took today so we can make it to Pearisburg on Monday.

 

Day 15

Hiked out of Dismal Falls at 10am, flat terrain. Went separate ways from Derrick, he went to Woods Hole Hostel while Cathrine and I carry on to Docs Knob Shelter. A 14.4 mile day, debated hiking into Pearisburg tonight bu don't want to push ourselves too hard. We will meet up with Derrick on the otherside of Pearisburg. 8 miles of downhill into town.  ( This is Cathrine- sometimes I assist Joe in typing on the blog so I'm adding some of my own commentary and I think Joe would agree with me that it always seems to be "downhill into town" but that is relative term its more like a constant gradual slope up with a final feel feet down into town).

 

Day 16 

Today was the earliest we've woken up. Last night we asked a fellow hiker "Grizzly Bear" to knock on our tent when he headed out. We were up at 6:30am and outta camp at 7:30 to hike the 8.2 into town. Getting up that early was harder then either of us thought it would be.

It was a pretty flat hike for the first 5 miles with a 3 mile down  hill into town and boy was it steep. On the way we took our time at all the views even though we were excited about town.

The 3 old farts from days earlier caught up to us at one of the view and told us the doctor in their group saved a hikers life the day before. (Cathrine and I remembered hearing an ambulance very close). It turns out it was Neil Wright (or pink socks) the photographer that we hung out with for a few days the past week. His oxygen was pretty low and he had to get off the trail, it's unfortunate and we've been looking forward to seeing him again. We might look him up and give him a call.

Also we saw a baby deer sleeping right on the side of the trail I was able to get some very close shots of it. It was weird because it didn't even flinch, it just looked at me. Whats even weirder is that we saw another baby deer that was dead right on the trail the day before. Cathrine calls it the "baby deer epidemic", I say that's a good band name.

We were in town at 11:30 and went straight to get a motel room at the Holiday Motor Lodge- A very run down place with no covers on any of the outlets and a swimming pool filled halfway with a garden hose. We were thankful to get a room, especially after all the hikers who stayed the night before told us how lucky we were to not have to sleep in the bunkhouse.

We put our packs in our room and had our sights set on pizza. Pizza Plus Buffet was our destination. A place where you can choose from pepperoni pizza or cheese sticks, it surely didn't live up to our expectations. I don't think anything could have.

We got food, did laundry, I updated the blog and relaxed for the rest of the night to Frank Sinatra's Pandora station, our favorite.

We're excited to get back on the trail tomorrow. Turns out we won't be hiking with Derrick, he left back on the trail today to try and keep up with some guys he met up at the hostel to make it to meet up with some people in Daleville on Friday. Cathrine and I are attempting to make it to Daleville (86 miles) by next Monday (6 days) to meet up with Thomas again. Thomas informed me tonight that he quit his job and is going to hike with us until he runs out of money. We're excited to have him and his dog Bruiser. We encourage everyone reading this to quit their jobs and come hike with us.

 

 

 

 

 Cathrine says the pictures are what keeps em coming back-