Jessica In Progress

Start: Daleville, VA/Howard Johnson’s
End: Daleville, VA/Howard Johnson’s
Miles: 0
Total Miles: 723.5

I slept great. Didn’t even know there was any upheaval on the other side of the bed. (Yay for King beds?)

So…it was pretty evident from the get-go we were zeroing today too. Not sure if it’s norovirus (no vomit?), giardia (doesn’t seem quite as extreme/uncomfortable?), food poisoning (he had very unkind words for the waffle batter at the “hot” breakfast and I didn’t have one?), or something else.

It didn’t worsen. And he ate some crackers. That encompasses my medical expertise.

I did my best to clean up the room, then skedaddled for some non-plague infested air. I hit the strip mall for late second breakfast (no runny waffle included), checking out the outfitter (I’m considering a summer sleeping pad that weighs less and packs smaller), groceries for lunch/dinner (yesterday I lived off surplus resupply foods), and a got a pedicure.

!!!

Oh my. How awesome that felt. Although I had to stop her with the razor and remind her I NEED those calluses. Just scrub them a bit and moisturize the hell out of me, please?

I also resupplied my sunscreen that doubles as regular old lotion. (My preference? A 30+ SPF made for the face. But Kroger’s didn’t have one in a price range I liked. So I subbed a 55 SPF baby sunscreen. Both facial and baby lotion have the added bonus of being gentle.) I have a 3oz travel container that fits nice in my hygiene bag that I refilled, then I lotioned up good (including my feet, again) after my shower.

Tom slept most of the day away. Better than cramped rocking next to the toilet! After my strip mall spree, I caught up on blogging (you’re welcome), showered (Tom’s welcome), and spoke with people from home I didn’t catch up with yesterday. So awesome and weird to talk with people who drive cars and don’t store food up a tree.

Fingers crossed we get to hike out tomorrow. Not just because I feel slothful and antsy, but it would also mean Tom’s feeling better. But mostly because I feel slothful and antsy.

You’d better hope we hike tomorrow too. I will quickly run out of safe body parts to photograph.

Start: Daleville, VA/Howard Johnson’s
End: Daleville, VA/Howard Johnson’s
Miles: 0
Total Miles: 723.5

The plan today was to head out right after the outfitter opened. Yesterday, in a fit of the hurry-ups, Tom decided he lost our guide books.

We cut up the ATC Thru-Hiker’s Companion and AWOL’s guide to carry. The rest of the books are in our bounce box. (Which gets “bounced” up the trail ahead of us.) The box is in Waynesboro, about 125 miles ahead of us. We got to the hotel and the pocket he usually carries our current portions in was wide open. Guess was he dropped them during his phone call to the Catwaba post office in search of his mythical shoes.

So, we bought a second AWOL guide at the outfitter to get us to Waynesboro. Then we got back from chores, started organizing gear, and found he’d stored our guides in his food bag.

…As you do.

He set out to see about a refund as soon as they opened. We had everything else done, although neither of us felt excited. Not enough sleep. Too many aches and pains.

Tom said if I wanted to zero, he was good with that decision. I kept trying to talk myself into hiking. Except all I could think about is the other times I talked myself into hiking and regretted it.

So, we stayed.

Within a few hours, Tom’s stomach felt queasy. I don’t think he ate anything else (after the free “hot” breakfast) today. I went out in the afternoon to get him ginger ale and pepto.

We set a strict 9:30pm TV off curfew to get some rest. That happened for one of us.

I won’t get too graphic here (for a change!), but let’s just say Tom has half the symptoms of norovirus and all the symptoms of giardia.

(Hey spellcheck! Get with the common fecal parasites why don’t you!)

How I spent the evening. Re-affirming the idea that thru-hiking is like a frat party. A really cheap frat party.

Start: Campbell Shelter, Camping
End: Daleville, VA/Howard Johnson’s
Miles: 15.4
Total Miles: 723.5

Hmmm…I took no notes and started to write a bland la-di-da post when I remembered how frustrating this day seemed at the time. Just goes to show you what a little distance can do.

Frustrating parts of the day:

-Tom was trying to resolve where his shoes got sent. Still don’t know.

-He made a joke about how slow I was hiking. I’m kinda sensitive about that right now with my knees. (I had some well-reviewed braces mailed to the Ho Jo. They fit well and don’t hurt, but I haven’t really trail tested them yet.)

-I left him on the phone (since he is so super-fast and can catch up) and promptly missed a rock-scramble so instead of hiking over Tinker Cliffs, I hiked around them.

(This happens a lot. Hence the nice path for me to follow. While I am sad I missed part of the “real” trail and the views, I think it’s very interesting to walk around. I got to see all the little alcoves where the tinkers (Revolutionary War deserters who repaired pots and pans) supposedly hid.)

-Tom also missed the cliffs. And as I hiked up the cliffs when I finally rejoined the AT, he just continued north. We don’t hike together 24/7, this was mixed up almost losing each other hiking. Luckily there was service there so we text messaged and found each other.

-Tom had the button fly off his shorts. It didn’t just pop off, it broke.

We also got in a hurry to get to town. We wanted Tom to make it to the outfitter for new shoes. There were a lot of PUDs (Pointless Ups and Downs) before town.

But we got here! And our room is nice. And there is a close strip mall (the kind I abhor in FL but love here) with grocery, liquor store, nail salon (more on that later), outfitter, and Three Lil Pigs BBQ.

Tom got shoes, we resupplied, and had dinner. Their tomato BBQ sauce does not stand up to Ribs’n'Bibs, but it was still tasty with good sides and free banana pudding because we’re thru hikers. (Tom like Carolina vinegar BBQ and liked his a lot.)

We were dragging ass back at the hotel. We still managed to do laundry, shower(!), clean our kitchen, and re-package/organize our food.

For some reason, even though we go to bed before 9pm on the trail, we cannot tear ourselves away from Comedy Central and sleep in hotels. The TV finally went silent at midnight. We tossed and turned the rest of the night.

Sleeping Beauty

Many pretty views with this lake/river/reservoir/what-have-you

Start: VA 624/Four Pines Hostel
End: Campbell Shelter, Camping
Miles: 10.3
Total Miles: 708.1

We stopped at this hostel for more than the pseudo beds and the restaurant. Tom had several things sent here. One was a new phone- the camera stopped working on his and it was under warranty.

(One was supposed to be new shoes, but no luck. It’s been a nightmare.)

Some hikers we hadn’t met until last night include Apollo, Apple Butter, and Hot Dog. Hot Dog is not exactly on the trail right now. She wasn’t having fun hiking anymore, so she’s taking some time off. She doesn’t want to rush home- she hopes some time off will send her running back. So she’s rented a truck, is helping hikers in the area, and is taking her “trail family” to Trail Days in Damascus.

This was a big boon to us because not only did we tag along to the convenience store for a small resupply and breakfast, but she drove us to the post office so Tom could send back the bad phone.

(While it is sad when people leave the trail, it is obvious in talking with her that if she does leave for good it will be the right thing for her and she’s proud of how far she’s made it.)

Today was a good day hiking. We planned a short-ish day and enjoyed not feeling rushed.

And of course, we saw McAfee Knob. The most common thru hiker pose is to sit out on that little extra nose, with their legs dangling. I could not do that, but after feeling defeated by heights and rocks the last few days, it was an amazing high to brave my photo op.

Last night and tonight turned back colder- there was even a supposed frost warning for tonight. So we got down to business of setting up camp, cooking, changing into thermals, and calling it a night. Some people have already switched out their gear (winter vs summer). We won’t for about another 10 days. We were pretty happy about that tonight.

It actually rained about six drops that evening. Just because it could.

So happy I did this

Tom’s McAfee Knob photo

Start: VA 620, Camping
End: VA 624/Four Pines Hostel
Miles: 15.4
Total Miles: 697.8

We managed to get and moving early today. We had a lot of cool things to see today and still wanted to make it to Four Pines Hostel in time for a ride to the Home Place restaurant for dinner.

First stop of the day was the Audie Murphy Monument. He was the most decorated American solider of WWII. Very touching remembrances have been left there and a US and Texas flag fly.

The rest of the day was leading up to the Dragon’s Tooth monolith. It was challenging rocky hiking, but the day was bright yet cool and breezy. Perfect hiking weather except my buff has been the first shelter mice casualty- tons of little holes were chewed out of it at War Spur Shelter. This means my hair part was exposed. I’ve only had sun blisters once so far, but I want to keep it that way.

I found a lady slipper orchid growing on the ridge and decided to call Mom for Mother’s Day. She and Lady are getting along great. She says she’s getting a Sheltie now. So animal friends, keep your eye out for rescues in the Midwest!

Dragon’s tooth was neat. But completely overshadowed for me by the horrible, sucky, difficult, HEY JUST SCRAMBLE DOWN THIS 90 DEGREE 8-FOOT ROCK, mile long descent into hell.

It’s been several days now. I don’t think I can convey how absolutely sad I was right then. I considered quitting the trail. Not right then in a fit. But I started planning the how/when/why I might leave the trail because I was NOT having fun.

Then, we made it to Four Pines, and as soon as we walked in Fig says, “we’re all going to the Home Place, would you like to add on to our reservation?”

Remember how I said that gang was all nice and looking out for people? Exactly what we needed.

Despite calling our mothers, we forgot this was the busiest restaurant day of the year. We waited forever. And it was so worth it.

Family style, all-you-can-eat fried chicken, roast beef, county ham, biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, pinto beans, coleslaw, and fried apples. Then as many peach cobblers with ice cream as we wanted.

Back at the hostel, we had a chance to really scope out the joint. It’s a 3-bay garage with random furniture Joe the owner has salvaged. I think there was one real bed. Then a few army cots, some couches, and an assortment of chairs. (This is a donation-only hostel. He also had a full bathroom for our use and a wood stove to warm us.)

We were the last to get there, so we scrounged. I put a chair/ottoman together and Tom sandwiched a small table between two chairs and used his sleeping pad as a mattress.

Lady Slipper

Dragon’s Tooth

The Home Place

Start: War Spur Shelter
End: VA 620, Camping
Miles: 19.4
Total Miles: 682.4

I keep forgetting to mention that several days ago spring sprung. Green everywhere! The AT is sometimes called the “green tunnel” and sunscreen is often deemed unnecessary on gear lists due to the shade provided.

(My carcinoma ass (sigh…not so funny when I’m being literal) still tries to lotion up every day.)

ANYWAY. Pretty green trees everywhere! Wild flowers! Blueberries (not blue yet) galore! Poison ivy for everyone!

Today was difficult- two hard ups and ridge walking over huge flat angled rock that scared me a lot (falling off a mountain plus painful on the knees), on top of it raining on and off all day and us running out of water for a bit.

But we also saw a neon orange salamander and a box turtle (on top of the mountain?!), got two separate trail magic spots with soda, and thanks to some southbound section hikers who tipped us off, had a good campsite to hike to.

We started off nice and early in mist/rain/fog. It made the first up not so horrible, although it meant we missed the view at Kelly Knob.

My right knee felt better today. I didn’t wrap it, but as the day went on I got more and more careful with my steps.

Remember when I said we bit ourselves in the ass with longer miles planned? We had a guide that suggested 12 mile days. I think that was to break up some of the more difficult terrain.

It all ended well though. The last mile or so were really gentle. And the rain let up so we dried a bit before camp.

Turtle!

Also forgot today we passed the Keffer Oak. Evidently 3,000 years makes a hell of a leopard tree.

Start: Campsite 2 miles after Symms Gap
End: War Spur Shelter
Miles: 18.3
Total Miles:

Today started out on a very bad foot. Or knee, to be accurate.

I don’t think I ever mentioned that after a few days of wrapping my left knee in the very beginning, I haven’t had too much trouble. Yes, they both hurt by the end of the day (as does much of me). I do still have to be careful and hate big steps.

But right out of the gate today my right knee started twinging. There was a shelter less than four miles from our campsite so I finally decided I’d have to stop there and wrap it.

I thought Tom knew I wanted to stop there anyway (hello? Privy?), but when I asked him to go ahead of me on a downhill I needed to rest before tackling, he sped off before I could mention the knee.

When I got to the shelter, he wasn’t there. There wasn’t much to do but take my break, wrap my knee, and continue on.

I was sure he’d be curious about why I was so slow. We’d only just yesterday had a discussion on how my pace is almost as fast as his now.

I can’t say I was mad that he went so far ahead. He didn’t know. But it did feel awful to be left and not have any choice but to keep walking.

He was at the next shelter, waiting for me with lunch. It was hard not get emotional over being left injured. But at least now we were back together and I could go as slow as I needed.

Other big issue today was it rained in the afternoon. Shall we count…hmm…one rainless day in the past six?

But this rain was OK. The weather has warmed up and the rain wasn’t too heavy, so it actually helped keep us cool.

And we got some good luck- there was space in the shelter! We got in late, expecting it to be packed. But some people tented/hammocked already so we were able to have a nice dry space for the evening.

Sharing the shelter were some new faces: Heartburns (hiking with Cinnamon who hammocked nearby) and our second Brit encounter, ET. (Did I ever mention Smiles is British? Even carries a mini flag on his pack. Just in case anyone doubted.)

View from Wind Rock

Start:Holiday Motor Lodge Pearisburg, VA
End: Campsite 2 miles after Symms Gap
Miles: 14.1
Total Miles: 644.5

Today’s start out of Pearisburg was mentally frustrating. At least twice that I recall we left the road, took a steep climb, only to climb back down to a road. Sometimes the same road. Sometimes you could almost see where you had started out.

Also, with so much rain lately, there were four creek crossings we had to take our shoes off and ford. I don’t mind so much, but Tom says the cold water hurts his feet.

Like with almost any hike out of town, there was a huge (1,700? I think) ascent. When we hit our umpteenth rock scramble, I said enough and called lunch right there on a kinda sorta flattish rock.

No more then a tenth of the mile up the trail, there was a great little campsite where Handstand and Smiles were having lunch. I am very gifted in this ability to call for a break RIIIIGHT before an actual good break spot.

Once up, we had some fabulous views from meadows and some easy-at-first ridge walking.

There was some difficulty with water today- an eleven or so mile stretch with no source. So you had to either know you could hike through, or carry all you needed from the last source to a dry campsite.

We decided on filling up and camping. We’re trying to stick to less miles on days out of town with large resupplies. I think this bit us in the ass for the next few days. I’ll explain later.

There was already a tent set up at the smallish campsite we’d planned on. But I was not shy. I’d just lugged 4.5 lbs of water for two miles over very rocky ridge line.

And, of course, KFox was more than happy to let us squeeze in. We hadn’t met her before, but it’s a small community out here. She had some sad news to tell. She herself hadn’t seen Sugar Gnome (the thru-hiker off trail doing trail magic for her birthday at Partnership Shelter) since Neels Gap. Then she caught up with her today just in time to here that Sugar Gnome is leaving the trail. Her knees have apparently been bothering her.

I am sure there are more I’ve met and hiked with who have left by now. But it’s always very sad to hear the news.

Water, water everywhere…

Start: Sugar Run Rd/Woods Hole Hostel
End: Cross Ave/Holiday Motor Lodge Pearisburg, VA
Miles: 10.1
Total Miles: 630.4

Great breakfast at the hostel. Then? Lots of walking in the rain. At one point Tom out-hiked me and then there was a ridge with cold wind and my fingers stopped working so good and tingled a bit.

I made up the following verses to “She’ll be coming ’round the mountain”:

“She’ll be stymied by a rock once again”

“She’ll be wearing nothing dry when she comes.”

“She’ll be hitting the first bar when she comes”

“She’ll be drinking Jack n Ginger when she comes.”

“She’ll get drunk enough to do this once again.”

“She’s really sick of singing this damn song.”

“But she
ain’t got nothing better yet to do.”

How can a day that starts with a cat on bongos go so wrong?

Start: Camping, Wapiti Shelter
End: Sugar Run Rd/Woods Hole Hostel
Miles: 7
Total Miles: 620.4

It stopped raining long enough for us to eat, pack up, and tackle the one big climb of the day.

But by the time we were turning down the road to Woods Hole, we were soaked. If they were full, we’d have to keep walking or hitch into town.

There was room in the bunkhouse. Rainbow Braid, a hiker who stuck around to help the hostel staff for a few weeks, said all the indoor rooms (heat, real mattresses, indoor plumbing) were booked. Turned out later that Michael and Neville will rent out the massage room too. But it’s just as well we didn’t know that. The bunkhouse was fine- an upstairs with several plastic coated mattresses and a downstairs with tables, chairs, bench to prep food at, and a fridge with goodies to purchase on the honor system.

I asked about a massage, having heard good things, and was rewarded with a bonus- an indoor shower! The outdoor curtain evidently caused much issue so I appreciated this. And the massage itself of course. I could flex my Achilles’ tendon without pain the next morning for the first time in forever.

The hostel rules ask for us to respect that the house is for Michael, Neville, and the indoor guests. But the rain never stopped and the temperature never rose. So most hostel guests crept into the living room with the wood stove and sat around reading.

Here today were Handstand and Smiles, Gumby, Mr. Gigglefits and Paisely, and then Novi and another couple who zeroed from yesterday. Sunshine and Not Yet came in after lunchtime.

Later in the day Fig, Big Yankee, M-80 and Trooper (older couple hiking with their dog who got to sleep in the massage room), Thunderfoot and Oatmeal, and Rusty and Toast (who we’ve seen here and there and were the couple to really make room and squeeze me and Tom in the Thomas Knob shelter) trickled in from 22+ miles away.

Some of them made it in time for dinner- fresh salad with homemade dressing, gumbo on rice, fresh made bread, and ice cream comes for dessert.

Before dinner, we stood in a circle, introduced ourselves, and said what we were thankful for that evening.

Many were thankful for the “family reunion” that occurred this night. (I was thankful for my mom, whom I spoke to the night before and is loving keeping Lady for us.)

Amen.

Handstand demonstrates a “hiker” stretch.