Today we woke up earlier than we wanted to, I think my sleeping pad is more comfortable than the mattress at the motel. The weather was overcast and on the verge of rain and we briefly though of another night there but we were both ready to get back in the woods.
After checking out, we went to the post office to mail some postcards and the went to get Mexican food. We were on the trail by 12:30 and it was beginning to drizzle. The weather cleared up quickly though and it turned out to be a pretty nice day.
We took it easy, only 6.8 miles to the first shelter and camped in the field right by it with an amazing view. Our prettiest sleep spot yet. Only one other guy is staying here, his name is Raven, from NYC. We hung out all afternoon and evening with him just talking and laughing, it was alot of fun.
There are alot of people out here and everyone has something to say, but I'd rather have 2 or 3 quality conversations instead of the 20 mindless ones we tend to have throughout any given day. The number of hikers that we see each day are dwindling and that's what I prefer.
We're feeling well rested and full bellied (I carried a jar of spaghetti sauce up the mountain so Cathrine and I could make some real pasta, our best dinner yet. we're having a boycott on pastasides.) So i think we are gonna go for a 16 mile day tomorrow, hopefully we'll get up for a fantastic sunrise, but I doubt that's gonna happen.
Day 18
This morning we woke up and the tent was leaking again, it had rained alot during the night and was continuing through the morning. The beautiful view we had the night before was blocked by a thick sheet of cloud. We laid in the tent until we heard the rain stop.
Thankfully the terrain was relatively flat today because we hiked 16 miles, our biggest day yet. We stopped for dinner at Pine Swamp Branch Shelter where we had more spaghetti and ran into one of our friends, "Poncho". After chatting for awhile, Cathrine and I felt we had 4 more miles in us to make it to Baileys Gap Shelter, and we did, right before another big storm came through. We're staying in the shelter tonight in fear that our tent would leak again. Here with us are Predator, Raven, and Sam.
Day 19
It poured pretty much all night last night, we heard there was tornado warnings, it rained about 3 inches, we were happy to be in a warm, dry shelter. I slept great. Once again Cathrine and I laid in bed until the sky cleared up, it was about 11AM when we hit the trail.
We hiked 14.6 miles with a few good climbs and tons of rocks. It was a good day for us though. We made it to camp at about 7PM. We're trying to figure out what kind of miles we'll have to do to make it to Daleville on Monday. I think a 20 mile day is on the horizon. I took my first (hopefully the last) aleve tonight. As of today we've hiked 199.8 miles since Damascus.
Day 20
We were up earlier than usual this morning and out of camp by 10AM. We had alot of pretty views all through the day. Early on we passed and photographed the second largest oak tree on the A.T. It's 18' around and its branches were the size of regular trees. Cathrine was proud she went number two by it.
We had a pretty good climb and walked down a very rocky ridgeline for a good portion of the day. Cathrine and I had a lot of fun and spent much of our time identifying all the flowers, playing with lizards and butterflies, and really lolligagging around.
WE made it to the Niday shelter after having gone 12.5 miles for the day at about 5pm. We were feeling ambitious so we ate first dinner and headed out to do another 5 miles to the Audie Murphy Monument on the top of a huge climb. It was exhausting but we made it, and did great! I'm proud of us. 17.5 miles, our biggest day yet and we were still joking and laughing at the end of it.
We went and checked out the Audie Murphy Monument- he was the most decorated U.S. soldier of WWII and later died in a plane crash close to here. We then forced ourselves to eat as we watch the sunset from our front row seats. I had my rice drowned in tumeric and pepperoni (thanks for the tip Chris although the pepperoni might counter act the anti-inflammatory properties of the tumeric) and Cathrine had mash potatoes, we ended up trading halfway through our meals because they get so nasty. We've got another big day planned for tomorrow.
Day 21
Today's terrain started pretty moderate. Cathrine and I did a non-stop ten miles up to the "Dragon's Tooth"- A huge stone monolith, a popular local hiking destination. We had lunch in the shadow of the tooth for about an hour and a half and really enjoyed our time. The climb down was treacherous, we were climbing down steep cliffs, it was really dangerous. This put a dent in our days plans because in one hour we only had gone half a mile down the rocky mountain. Usually we average 2+ miles/hour. At about mile 13, we started struggling there were no landmarks for about a 4 mile stretch up on a ridgeline and our bloodsugar was getting low. We were getting desperate to make it to highway 311 to find a good place to set up for the night. When we got to the highway crossing at about 7:30 we must have timed it perfect because there was a guy dropping off a truckfull of hikers back on the trail. The guys name is Joe and he runs a hostel called four pines hostel, we had heard a lot about it and the famous "Homeplace Restaurant" he gives hikers free rides to. Everyone all week had been talking about this restaurant and Cathrine and I felt that this was the sign we needed, so we hopped in his truck and were dropped off at the restaurant. Joe said give him a call when we were done and he'd pick us up.
At the restaurant we met another hiker "Duke" who was by himself and had a reservation. We asked to join him and he changed it for a party of 3. Duke is a middle aged guy, recently laid off from his job at Sony pictures where he did the special effects for a lot of major movies. A cool guy, we enjoyed his company.
Towards the end of our meal Cathrine and I realized we didn't want to go back to the woods with our full bellies and try to scramble to find a spot for our tent in the dark, so when the hostile shuttle came back around to us up, we asked to camp on their yard, they were happy to have us.
There's about 20 other hikers here tonight most of them we know, or recognize. A really nice, laid back evening. I went through the hikers box and found an A.T. guide book of Virginia that has all the history of this portion of the trail that I'm excited to read, and also found some much needed baby powder!
Today was a rough 17.6 miles. Tomorrow we plan to take it down a few notches and hang out here for the morning and play with the alpacas and in the afternoon get a ride back to 311 where Cathrine's family is going to meet up with us, we're excited to see them.
Day 22
This morning we were woken up by a flock of quails that roam around the farm and seemed to have taken a liking to our tent. It was also very hot and I was feeling very sick. First I thought my nauseousness was from not drinking enough water, but after still feeling sick and sipping on water all morning I knew it was something worse. I hung out by the bathroom for a lot of the morning but I also made sure to say hey to the alpacas even while feeling awful. We had plans to meet some family at 311 that morning but pinning down a ride was harder than we thought it would be. They decided to come meet us at the hostel. So Cathrine and I waited at the end of the driveway for them. They were unable to find the hostel. Out of nowhere a friendly gentleman by the name of "Nanner Puddin" drove up and asked us if we needed a ride somewhere. So we jumped in his truck and planned to meet the family back at 311.
Halfway to 311 after not being able to hold it any longer, I asked Nanner to pull over and I puked everything up I had eaten in the past 12 hours. That was some momentary relief. We finally got back to where the trail crosses 311 and found the family patiently waiting on us in the parking lot. They had all kinds of delicious foods that I was happy to eat, now that I rediscovered my appetite. Shortly after eating I puked it all up, I felt awful.
Cathrine and I debated just going to a hotel for the night to help me to get over whatever I got, but the shelter was only 1 mile in. I could do it. Well we got to the shelter and the creek was dry, we were already low on water so that wasn't going to work so we went to the next shelter with the same result.
The 3rd shelter of the day was on the other side of McAfee knob, we had to do it. when we got to the top we broke out all the goodies that Chris and Mallory and Lindsey and Jason had sent with us and my appetite came back again, this time no puking. I was feeling pretty good and I', sure it had a lot to do with the essential oils Lindsey sent with us. We made it to the 3rd shelter where we finally got some water and we felt good enough to do another 6 miles to the next shelter to set us up for an easy hike into Daleville the following day.
We had some tough climbs, but amazing view, we walked along "Tinker Cliffs" for half a mile. We both agreed they provided the best views of the trip so far. From the cliffs we could see a storm moving our way from the valley so we continued on towards the shelter. About a mile out we got caught in a downpour but were still having fun. The rainstorms feel so good on the sore muscles. We made it to the shelter at about 7:50 , dried off and I had my first meal of the day. We're sleeping in the shelter tonight so I hope we get some sleep, we prefer the tent.
10.4 miles today, about 10 more than we had planned to do and we've got 9 into Daleville where we're meeting up with my mom and Thomas at 3pm. Looks like smoothing sailing all the way there.
Day 23
We had a fairly easy 9 miles into town today, it was harder for me than expected because I was feeling nauseous all day and we had very little water, a hiker Superfeet had given us some, but it was soapy and didn't help with the sick feeling in my stomach.
About 1 mile from the shelter, I saw something that looked similar to a large dog- that's what I though it was . As we got close I realized it was a bear and it was gone before I could get my camera out. It was about 20 feet from us and I was surprised by Cathrine's reaction she was totally excited about it. Hopefully it's not the last bear we see.
We made it to town at 2pm where we rented a room at the Howard Johnson Motel in Daleville and relaxed until my mother and Thomas showed up closer to 4pm. When they showed up we went to Cracker Barrel, went to the outfitter and got us a new tent!, and resupplied our food at Kroger. We're doing laundry. It;s nice to have Thomas and Bruiser apart of the group now.
Cathrine is feeling sick, I'm pretty sure she's coming down with what I had. We may take a zero tomorrow and just see how she feels before we get back on the trail. I'm glad that we're in a comfortable room for her to rest rather than in the middle of the woods.
Day 24
Today we ended up sleeping until noon. I reserved the room for another night so Cathrine could rest, shes on her way back to her usual self. We are convinced we got the norovirus.. We hit the trail again tomorrow.
Our mileage so Far:
Day 1 8.6
Day 2 11.9
Day 3 6.7
Day 4 11
Day 5 14.1
Day 6 10.6
Day 7 0
Day 8 14.7
Day 9 10.7
Day 10 9.1
Day 11 10
Day 12 14
Day 13 10.8
Day 14 7.2
Day 15 14.4
Day 16 8.2
Day 17 6.8
Day 18 16.4
Day 19 14.6
Day 20 17.5
Day 21 17.6
Day 22 9.1
Day 23 0
Total 244 Miles
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