May 15-17 in southern VA

May 15, 2005 | Day 49 | Miles: 13.8 | Total Miles: 581.5
End: Helveys Mill Shelter, Tent
Danielle:
Sunny and humid with showers early
Well, we succesfully completed our first in-and-out town mission today. After 11.5m, we got out to a road crossing and turned right toward Bland, VA. Unfortunately all the traffic was going the wrong way, so we ended up walking for about a mile before a nice couple picked us up and deposited us at the grocery store. After a quick resupply we walked up and over I-77 to a truckstop with a Dairy Queen. Try the raspberry/oreo blizzard. Yum!
Then down to Subway to pick up dinner (only 2.3m to the next shelter). As we got up to the cashier, the guy said, you don't owe anything, the guy behind you is paying for you. It was Bull, a 2003 thru-hiker. How nice was that! He said it was trail magic, so we thanked him and sat for a while chatting. Then to make things even better, he took us back to the trailhead. Extra nice! He was on his way back to OH from Trail Days. What wonderful trail magic. So, after 2:45, we were back on the trail trekking up to the shelter. And the skies have cleared out and cooled down a bit. A good day. :-)

Ryan:
am clouds and rain showers, pm sun
so, we hiked today. it rained this morning...we got wet. i'm not feeling very journalistic today. we made an afternoon stop into bland, va. it lived up to its name. however, we did stop at dairy queen for raspberry, oreo blizzards and hit the subway. we packed subway up to the shelter for dinner. best of all, we met bull, a 2003 thruhiker, at subway who dropped a little trail magic on us and bought us dinner and gave us a ride back up to the trail. we can't wait to do trail magic next year.
today's song - jeopardy, greg kihn band (i couldn't help it. it was on in subway.)
May 16, 2005 | Day 50 | Miles: 18.2 | Total Miles: 599.7
End: unofficial campsite, Dismal Creek Falls, Tent
Danielle:
Sunny and cooler. Not humid! Yeah
Wow! A perfect day for hiking. Cool this morning until about noon. The first 9.8m were nice and mellow and we had them done by noon with a half hour snack break (we started at 8:30am). Pretty good :-) We saw a few ladyslippers--the first of the season, plus another Scarlet Tananger. Very cool.
We're currently camped at Dismal Creek Falls, an awesome river with a cascade and nice flat rocks along the shore. Hairball has a fire going, and we're all (Hairball and Snowbunny, plus Tank, Eric, Marcelo and Trip--four guys we just met) hanging out drinking Coors Lights. I guess one of the guys met a beer delivery guy at a store nearby and the guy dropped off a case of beer at the road crossing, so it was schlepped up for a great treat. An excellent 18.2m today. Mellow terrain, nice temps and felt good all day :-)

Ryan:
perfect hiking weather
in the words of hairball: "dear pocketmail, today rocks the house." i couldn't agree more. to sum up: perfect blue sky and fairly cool temps. a little warm in afternoon, but that's what we expected. the terrain was pretty mellow. no big climbs, no big descents. we made great time. started at 8:20 and arrived at camp at 4:45 with about 2 hours of relaxing breaks thrown in. best of all, this campsite is amazing. it's right on the creek, right next to the falls. the fire is going. perfect. oh yeah, and we have beer. mmmm.... another brochure perfect day on the at. (although, i don't think that tomorrow morning will be a whole lot of fun.)

May 17, 2005 | Day 51 | Miles: 14.2 | Total Miles: 613.9
End: Doc's Knob Shelter
Danielle:
Sunny and cool
We didn't get a real early start this morning, after a rousing, late-ending game of Gin Rummey with Tank and Eric. Hadn't played that before, and it was lots of fun. We were all hanging out on the rocks by the huge fire Hairball and Tank built and maintained. Very nice.
I saw a hummingbird hanging out by the pink azaleas this morning, then we saw four hooded warblers (bright yellow face with a black hood, and a olive/yellow body). Neat. Plus lots of pink azaleas lighting up the woods.
It was some nice hiking today, pretty mellow overall. Started at 9:40am; ended at 4:40pm with about an hour and a half worth of stops. Pretty good for 14.2m. We're looking forward to a short 7.8m day tomorrow into Pearisburg, VA and a shower and real bed too :-)

Ryan:
mix of sun & clouds, warmish
danielle didn't wake up until 7:40 this morning. i was most pleased with an extra hour of sleep. there was something funny, witty and interesting that i was going to write about today...but, i forgot it. oh well. in other news, the shelter we are staying in tonight makes up for last night's camp spot. well, the shelter itself isn't bad, but they built it in a swamp. tasty. for those keeping score, we hit the 600 mile mark today. i'm also on my 2nd pair of shoes, and 3rd and 4th pairs of socks. and, we're switching to summer gear in pearisburg...which is tomorrow. oh yeah, lighter pack... actually, i'll probably just be carrying more food.

May 13-14 in southern VA

May 13, 2005 | Day 47 | Miles: 13.9 | Total Miles: 548.7
End: Knot Maul Branch Shelter
Danielle:
Overcast, a bit cooler, humid
The rhododendrums are starting to bloom. Gorgeous deep magenta blooms and purple flowers making a nice change from the greens in the woods. Plus we saw a few flame azaelas too. Bright orange flowers that really light up the woods. Very pretty.
There are only 5 of us here at the shelter--Treetrunks (he has very big calves! and is super nice), and Snowbunny and Hairball (a couple from NH who work at a small southern ski resort. A fun couple.). I think most everyone else who was around us hitched back to Damascus for Trail Days (an annual hiker fest with parade, vendors etc. which we decided to skip as 30,000 people in the small town seemed like it might be overwhelming. We'll plan to go back next year for the experience though.). We are happy with our decision to be out here. The trail should be a bit quieter for a few days.
Topic of the day: Stupid Little Things. SLTs are rocks and roots in the trail which set out to trip you up as you walk down the trail. This causes either stubbed toes, trips, jumps, ankle twists and much anger. As I am not entirely coordinated and often shuffle along, I tend to hit a few SLTs during the day, even more so when I'm tired. In response to this, Ryan devised something to make me feel better about it all. He picks up a small rock, hands it to me and I throw it in the woods with an "rrrrr." Silly, I know, but it sure is satisfying to see them tumble down through the woods :-)
Ryan, May 13
overcast am, sun later, really humid
well, i take back what i said about danielle being a good hiking partner. she decided to run the last two miles today. nearly killed me. i never liked her. so, i have a question: how do cows make such large turds? they only eat grass. i don't get it. what i'm trying to say is that we hiked through a bunch of fields today. very cool. not really mountainous at all. not what i expected. but, pretty neat. unfortunately, all the fields are encircled with barbed wire fences, and to get through them we have to climb stiles. we hit at least 10 today. and, you know how coordinated we are...interesting. most importantly, we hit the 25% mark today. so, now all we have to do is do what we just did three more times. one quarter done...so, unfortunately one quarter is over. oh yeah, trail days started in earnest today...we're celebrating by being on the trail...more on trail days to come.

May 14, 2005 | Day 48 | Miles: 19 | Total Miles: 567.7
End: Jenkins Shelter
Danielle:
Overcast and humid with a few thunderstorms, rain and moments of sun
A long day today. A big climb followed by lots of PUDs (Pointless Ups and Downs) and then a big 3-mile downhill. Plus it was humid again. Isn't it illegal to be sweating profusely at 8:30am? :-) Oh well. We made it. Of course we're tired out and will be asleep soon (it's 7:45pm), but all is well. It is currently raining and we are bunked up in the shelter again. Normally tenting is nice as you have your own space but on wet days, the shelter are great as it is a dry space. Plus then you don't have to pack up a wet tent! :-)

Ryan:
hazy, hot, humid, pm thunderstorms
i'm tired. today was hard. the weather, the terrain. ugh. probably one of our hardest days yet. but a good tired, and a good hard. so, trail days...we're missing it. trail days is an annual festival held in damascus to celebrate everything that is the at. there are all sorts of hiker related activities and events with vendors, and lectures and whatnot. a hiker parade down main street, a talent show, etc. sounds like a pretty cool time. but...they estimate around 30,000 people are in damascus for the weekend. um...damascus probably has a population of 2000 people or so. yikes. too many people in too small of a town. i came out here to get away from people. plus, all the inns and hostels have been booked up for months, so it means we would be camping in tent city. in a field with thousands of other people. yuk. so, we're skipping out on the chaos, and enjoying the slightly quieter trail. we would have gotten to see a bunch of people who are behind us now, but we're happy with our choice. plus, we came out here to hike, not to drink too much and sleep in a muddy tent. (although both of those have occured.)
today's song - walk on, u2
"you know it aches, and your heart, it breaks. you can only take so much. walk on."

May 11-12 in southern VA

May 11, 2005 | Day 45 | Miles: 20.8 | Total Miles: 523.2
End: Partnership Shelter
Danielle:
Hot hot hot
Another 20-mile day. I know, I know. We are trying to stay away from them, but the pull of this shelter was too strong. It has showers, a deep sink, enclosed privy and a visitor center with phone, restrooms and soda machne. Plus, from the phone you can order pizza! Yeah! We were psyched. We got pizza, salads and split a tiramisu. We're stuffed! Very enjoyable. This is how all shelters should be! Wouldn't that be nice :-)
As for hiking today, the terrain wasn't too bad and the miles went by quickly. However, it was super hot and muggy and sunny, so that made it hard. Plus my feet were hurting a bit. Ugh. But we pulled through and made it. And only 11.5m tomorrow. Yeah :-) A short day. How nice.

Ryan:
sunny, hottish
at miles - 20.8
it's starting to feel like summer. we had record warmth in the shelter this morning...57 degrees. we even started hiking in just our t-shirts...a first. so, basically, we walked a long way in the hottishness. but, all that was really important from the day is that we ordered pizza for dinner. the shelter is a short walk from the mt rogers visitor center and there's a phone and they deliver. there's also a shower at the shelter. in other words, virginia is pretty nice.
today's song - 500 miles, the proclaimers (make it stop!)

May 12, 2005 | Day 46 | Miles: 11.5 | Total Miles: 534.8
End: Relax Inn, Rural Retreat, VA
Danielle:
Sunny, super humid and hot
Well, 64 degrees in the shelter this morning. It is definitely summer here in VA!
A pretty quick 11m down to "town" today, which in this case is a truckstop by the highway. My feet and I were feeling a bit better today, which was good. Ryan has been doing awesome in the heat, and his knees are doing well too--two days without his braces in the past three days. I'm so glad about that. He is a tough one :-) At least we choose our tired days when the other is feeling good :-) I guess the past few have been my tired days but I'm hanging in there. Can't feel superduper all the time--even though I want to!! I think this short day will be good, and I'll be recharged again.
We're currently at the roadside motel and have eaten ice cream at Dairy Queen twice, plus dinner at Rhonda's Family Restaurant. $10.49 for both of us. And that was about what it was worth too :-) But hey...
Back to hiking tomorrow :-) We should officially hit the 25% mark tomorrow. Cool.

Ryan:
sunny, hot, pm thunderstorm, 98.9% humidity
for those of you keeping score, it was 64 degrees in the shelter at 6:15 this morning. not good times. and the humidity was through the roof. really not good times. however, many thanks to swift who arrived at the shelter pretty late with oc-1 after an extra trip to damascus, so oc-1 could buy all new gear (sweet!), and brought a very tasty cabernet savignon with him. i drank it out of a titanium pot. mmmmm... (btw, swift stands for "so, whaddid i forget today." he got this name when he hiked the trail in 2003 because he always leaves something behind. unfortunately, he has bad knees and made to mt. moosilauke in nh before they gave out on him in '03. but, he's back again this year, giving it another try. he's a really good soul, and i truly hope he makes it all the way this year. if i can't make it, i want swift to make it.) today, it was hot, and the humidity was brutal. strangely enough, i felt ok. granted, i sweated a ton and my hat looks like the rim of a margerita glass, but the heat didn't kill me. hopefully, that's a good sign for the months to come. unfortunately, danielle wasn't feeling so great. for some reason her feet have reached a temperature close enough to melt rock the last couple days. plus, we've been walking through some fields of tall grass...great for her allergies. it was better today, so with any luck she'll get through it. she's been doing really well lately, but i can tell she's pretty tired. i wish i could carry more, but i'm maxed out myself. by the end of the day, she's dragging. but, she's tough, and i'm proud of her everyday. she's pretty amazing, and the best hiking partner i could have asked for. the best part of the end of the day today is the relax inn, and it is, indeed, relaxin'. basically, we're at a truck stop, so not the most luxurious accommodations, but we did get to go to dairy queen...twice. i also order the 8 oz. barbeque dinner at rhonda's restaurant...i'm sure that will be rearing its ugly head again. oh, excuse me.

May 9-10 in southern VA

May 9, 2005 | Day 43 | Miles: 12.2 | Total Miles: 487.5
End: Thomas Knob Shelter, Tent
Danielle:
Sunny and hot
Another warm and sunny day out on the trail. Wow! And a beautiful day of hiking. We went up and through a lot of nice meadows and open grassland, and the woods were all flower-blanketed. We're back into the wood sorrel, trout lilies and trilliums. Makes for some pretty walking. We knew we were taking a short day so we enjoyed the walking and had a nice hour-long lunch at a spring. Then we dropped our packs and took the side trail up Mt. Rogers (5729 ft.), the high point in Virginia. It was only a mile round-trip. The summit is wooded so it wasn't very exciting, but it adds to our high point list. 6 done :-) ME, VT, NH, VA, TN and MA. Alright :-)
This shelter is up at the edge of a field with great views out into the valley and hills below. Very nice.

Ryan:
sunny, warm
i hiked without my knee braces today! no pain...well, only a little...but, it's the at. it's supposed to hurt.
what an awesome spot we're at! great view, great weather...just awesome. i really don't have anything to complain about today. we even added an extra mile to go to the summit of mount rogers, the highest point in virginia...it was completely wooded with a rock. oh well. tomorrow, we're headed through grayson highlands state park to wrastle with the ferral ponies...i know what we're having for dinner. speaking of dinner, we still have too much food, so i'm going to eat a bunch...

May 10, 2005 | Day 44 | Miles: 14.9 | Total Miles: 502.4
End: Hurricane Mtn Shelter
Danielle:
A lovely mix -- overcast, hail, rain, sun
A lot to talk about today...
First, we have now gone more than 500 miles. Yeah! Not quite 25% there but close. Pretty cool.
Second, we went through the Grayson Highlands today before lunch. Gorgeous open grasslands, interspersed with rocks and low brush. Plus there are ponies! They roam free through the park in small herds. We saw one herd at the beginning of the park, then ran into a herd right on the trail. We skirted around them, then stopped to look at them for a bit. One of the smaller foals came right up to Ryan's side and nuzzled his hand. Looking for food, I know, but so cute!
Thirdly, as we were coming down from Pine Mountain, we heard thunder and it started to get louder and the skies got darker, and it hailed pellet-size hail on us along with a downpour of rain. The trail turned to a stream. It was quite an intense half hour storm. Yikes. We were soaked! But luckily the storm cleared out quickly and we got a little sun to dry things out a bit.
And lastly, as we hit the last road crossing for the day, we ran into some trail magic. Wow. Soulman and his wife, Andy, were there in their RV handing out goodies. Soulman hiked in 2000, and they drove over from Indianapolis to share some magic with the hikers. They filled us up with cookies, crackers and cheese, bars, fruit, soda and chili with macaroni (I got yogurt and a piece of pie instead.) Yum!We've been hiking on and off today with Tank and Willow. I think I mentioned them before--they're 2003 hikers who are out for just a section tis year. We have found out more about them--they are hiking just through Trail Days (a big fest in Damascus this coming weekend that they'll hitch back to) and then they are going off to bike from Portland, OR to Portland, ME. They met on the trail in 2003 and have been together since. They're very cool and we've enjoyed hanging out with them. They might hike the 100-mile Wilderness when they're done with biking, so maybe we'll see them then. Now we're at a brand new shelter. There are 10 of us here and it's thundering again, so we'll all cram in for the night. Should be cozy! :-)

Ryan:
overcast, sunny breaks, strong pm thunderstorm
another interesting day on the at. we hit what people consider one of the highlights of the trail - grayson highlands state park. it's sometimes called the montana of the east, vast open grasslands with rock outcroppings. beautiful. plus, there are ferral ponies. the ponies are cool. one of them came right up to me, licked my hand and let me pet it. pretty cool experience. it was overcast for most of the day, but then it eventually started to thunder. then it started to thunder really loud. then the lightning started. then it rained. then it rained harder. now, picture the hardest rain you've ever seen...now double it. now and hail. a lot of hail. it hurt...quite a bit. the brochure mentioned nothing about hail, and we've seen a fair amount. the good news is that it started when we were only about a mile from a shelter. of course, it stopped just before we got to the shelter. at the shelter, we found tank and willow curled up in their sleeping bags...they missed the rain and hail. i never liked them. (actually, they're great, but in this instance...not so much. they met on the trail in georgia in 2003, hiked to katahdin together, and have been together ever since. after we left the shelter, we had a mellow downhill to a road crossing...where we found trail magic! a thruhiker from 2000, soulman, and his wife decided to hang out for a few days feeding hikers. mmmmm...dr. pepper and chili. now, we're in a brand new shelter...it's overstuffed with people, but at least it's new. best of all, we hit 500 miles today! only a few more miles to go...
today's song - 500 miles, the proclaimers

May 7-8 in Southern VA

May 7, 2005 | Day 41 | Miles: 0 | Total Miles: 459.5
End: Montgomery Homestead B&B, Damascus, VA
Danielle:
Sunny and warm
A zero day. Ahhhh. Started it off with a big family-style breakfast for which we were called to at 8am by a trumpet--yum. Then the post office, outfitter, laundry, lunch, phone calls, emails and catching up with everyone in town.
There are a lot of us here. Patch, Hopeful and Redwing came in a bit after us yesterday; Bravo, who we haven't seen since NOC way back when, came in too, after some high-mileage days to make up for 5 days off the trail vacationing with his wife; Clearwater, SWIFT (one of the best names yet -- Sh**, What'd I Forget Today-- and a great guy), Horizon, Wiggy, Free Radical, and on and on. Plus we're meeting new people here too. Amazing what an ebbing and flowing community this is. Makes and keeps it interesting. We met two men, Brian and Jim, this morning at breakfast who we haven't run into on the trail yet. Brian is a Bowdoin grad from 1966. What a coincidence! Great and very interesting guy. Lives up in Rangeley, ME. We chatted for a long time, and we'll definitely look him up when we get back to New England. Hopefully we'll see them out on the trail too.
This was a nice town stop but we're back at it tomorrow :-) Hopefully it will stay sunny for a bit!

Ryan:
sunny, warm
two great things happened on our day off:
1. i won a poker game. that brings our earnings to an even $20. oh yeah.
2. i no longer have any pants. it's all about the kilt. it's not a plaid kilt, it's more of a khaki skirt. ok, maybe it is really a skirt, but i'm hiking in it, and i am most excited.
(actually, i do have a pair of waterproofish shorts for when it's rainy and nasty, and i still have my rainpants to wear in camp, but i'm hoping to spend most days in the skirt...i mean kilt.)

May 8, 2005 | Day 42 | Miles: 15.8 | Total Miles: 475.3
End: Lost Mountain Shelter, Tent
Danielle:
Sunny and warm
Wow! Another nice day. Great day for hiking. We were completely filled up by Susie's breakfast of peach cobbler, french toast casserole, sausage quiche, grits, strawberries, bacon, juice and coffee. Yum! Might have been too much food--oh, and it could be the 5 days of food in our packs too!-- as we were going nice and slow the whole day. The trail paralleled a bike trail called the Virginia Creeper Trail, which was a rail trail and completely flat, while the AT meandered up and down over every bump. There were a lot of hikers today blue-blazing along the Creeper, which really was pretty as it went along the river. Taking the easy way out, no fair! To each his own, but still... Of course we saw some slackpackers too--basically doing a day hike along the trail. Someone shuttles you out to a spot and then you hike back into town with a day pack for another night in a hotel or hostel. Again, hike your own hike, but seriously folks! How is that the same as us trudging north with our full packs? Ah well...
We're headed up to Mt. Rogers tomorrow, the high point in Virginia. It's supposed to be another sunny day, so that should be nice :-)

Ryan:
sunny, warm, breezy
while walking today, i said "i can't wait to write my journal. it will be full of anger." so, here i go. first of all, we left town today with too much food...again. so, we were slow, and i was dragging a bit. now, i haven't mentioned blue blazing yet. the at is marked with white blazes, 2x6 inch white marks on trees, that let you know you're going in the right direction. simple. any trails off the at are marked with blue blazes. blue lead you to water and campsites, etc. however, some blue blaze trails are shortcuts or easier routes. so, if you take one of those trails to skip ahead, it's called, blue blazing. it's basically cheating. today, we walked next to the virginia creeper trail, which is flat, level, scenic, and generally quite nice. you can see it while walking along the steep rocky at. today you could skip about 14 miles of the at and take the creeper. some people did. dirty blue blazers. that only makes me slightly grouchy. even worse than blue blazing, is slackpacking. slackpacking is a crime against humanity. i hate chronic slackpackers. (if you're reading this and you've slackpacked...sorry, it's my journal.)slackpacking is only acceptable if weather, illness or another bizarre circumstance knocked you off the trail, and you have a deadline or tight schedule. basically, you hike a section of trail without your pack. from most towns you can get rides from local hostels or outfitters or whoever, they'll drop you off in the am and pick you up in the pm. and most times you go southbound. we saw some slackpackers today. they were skipping dancing singing...i hate them. as i'm grunting along under huge pack weight, feeling tired and grumpy, they saunter along talking about what a beautiful day it is. here, let me take my hiking pole and bash your knees with it, then throw my 45 lb pack on your head. that's about how i feel...little miss tra la la. slackpacking is weak. lower form of life. grumble grumble. one guy even said to us, "i really enjoy slackpacking." of course, you enjoy it...you're not carrying anything! nothing! that's like saying, "i really enjoy my 10:00 to noon work day." yeah, i'd like that, too. you might as well rent an rv and drive from atlanta to bangor. grumble grumble.

May 6 wandering between NC/TN and into VA!

May 6, 2005 | Day 40 | Miles 14.9 | Total Miles: 459.5
End: Montgomery Homestead B&B, Damascus, VA
Danielle:
Sunny and warm. Yeah!
Wow! Virginia. Amazing. 3 states down, 11 to go. Of course, VA goes on for about 500 miles, but hey, we made it here and to us, that's impressive. So we're happy :-)
We're staying at a cute B&B. The owner even hugged us when we came in, and we hadn't showered for three days. Yuck! She's super nice. Damascus seems like a great small town, and I'm sure we'll have fun wandering around tomorrow on our day off.
Oh yeah, hiking today... We did our 14.9m in 5:45 with about an hour worth of stops. Nice, fast terrain.

Ryan:
sunny, warmish
virginia!!!!!!!!! damascus is a major milestone for us. things are great. burritos, a pint of ben & jerry's and a zero day tomorrow. i'm sleepy.

May 4-5 wandering between TN/NC

May 4, 2005 | Day 38 | Miles 17.5 | Total Miles: 426.8
End: Vanderventer Shelter, Tent
Danielle:
Sunny and warm
After a lazy morning, we finally got on the trail at 9:30am. The first section was down through Laurel Gorge and along Laurel Fork River. Gorgeous! Then up and over a big mountain, down to Watauga Lake. It's a huge dammed lake that we ran along for a while and then up a ridge that wandered along with great views to the lake below. Really pretty. Our tent is set up behind the shelter with a lakeview. It was a long day but a good one. Nice to have the sun out and be warm :-)

Ryan:
sunny, warmish
ummm...we hiked today.
today's song - "all i need is free radical, all i need is cheese", this is free radical's version of mike & the mechanics, all i need is a miracle. yup, free radical is most likely going to die. that is not something you want in your head all day.

May 5, 2005 | Day 39 | Miles: 17.8 | Total Miles: 444.6
End: unofficial campsite by Lows Gap, TN, Tent
Danielle:
Overcast, windy, cold, spits of rain
Another glorious weather day on the AT. But oh well, what can you do but keep on hiking? The hiking was lots of little ups and downs along a treed-in ridge. Not too much of excitement, but we did make some good mileage. Ryan probably could have kept on going at the end of the day, but I was done. A bit tired out. Looking forward to a day off in Damascus, VA after tomorrow, without a doubt.
Highlight of the day: This afternoon, the trail meandered through an old pasture and as we got back to the woods, Ryan saw a streak of red. It was a Scarlet Tananger. Wow! Bright, candy-apple red body with black wings. And wait, there's more! We saw not one, but three male Tanangers, flitting around the edge of the meadow in amongst the brushy trees. Very, very cool! I hope our friend Scavenger saw them when he went through, as he was saying he really wanted to see one on the trail. There are lots of bird people out here, and Scavenger has a bird book so we tend to have conversations about birds we've seen, and used his book to ID the Grosbeak the other day too. Lots of fun!

Ryan:
cloudy, windy, coldish, few showers
yesterday's journal was not a reflection of how i felt. i felt pretty good, but i didn't feel like writing. now, on to today. today, was a typical day on the at: cold and rainy. it's getting a bit old. the cold is definitely getting to a lot of people. i don't mind it, but it would be nice not to wear everything i'm carrying every morning and evening. i don't want to wish the cold away, because it's the heat i really hate. shoulder thing is still there. it would be nicer if it wasn't. the good news is my masseuse is getting a lot better at working out the knot, and trust me, it's huge. hopefully, when it does get warmer, i can stretch it more effectively. other than that, we're ready for a day off...we're tired. not bad tired, just general trail tired. i think we're going to try to work in a few shorter days after damascus. (our stop tomorrow.) not just for the physical break, but the mental one. it's nice to hit camp early to have time to just relax. it's tough to get everything done and relax when you get into camp after 6:00. granted, it's not as hard or un-relaxing as, say, having a job, but being a professional hiker is hard work. in other news, power bars dipped in peanut butter are great and texas pete hot sauce makes every lipton noodle dish taste good. except of course, any that are billed as having brocoli...those are just rude and i'm certain that no actual brocolli was harmed in the making of those things.
today's song - distant sun, crowded house

May 2-3 wandering between NC/TN

May 2, 2005 | Day 36 | Miles 20.4 | Total Miles: 397.2
End: Somewhere in the woods by a stream, unofficial campsite, Tent
Danielle:
Overcast and cool
We officially passed out of NC this morning. Yeah. 2 states down; only 12 to go :-) Actually we'll be out of TN in about 60 miles, and into VA. Now that's amazing. We're already talking about VA! Crazy. And at the beginning that seemed so far away. Funny how time flies. Just like the miles...
Now you see, we had planned a 15m day. But when we looked at the book at snacktime at Jones Falls--very cool, very high falls--we figured we could go a bit further and hit a campsite up the way 4 more miles, which was 2m more than planned. But we got there and the sites weren't that great and the book said there were a few options at 1m and 1.9m further, and it wasn't even 4pm, so on we went. Then at the first campsite, Papa Bear, a former thru-hiker who's out for just a section this year, was there and we chatted for a bit, but we figured we could go the extra 0.9m. So on we went. Except the book steered us wrong and there was no water at the site, so we kept going till we hit a stream, discussed the options and decided to fill all our bottles up and keep going until a good site. Worst come to worst, the book mentioned another site 2.5m away. It would have been a long day but it would be OK. So on we went again. Luckily, we found a flat spot on an abandoned road by a stream only about a half mile or so from where we'd filled up for water. Tank and Willow, 2 other former thru-hikers who are out doing just a section this year, are here too. We don't really know exact mileage for where we're at, but based on how far we are from our last known point, you got it-- an unintentional 20-mile day. Isn't it funny how these things happen :-)

Ryan:
mix of sun and clouds, cool
what a wacky day. it was a great day, but wacky. i'll sum up as best as possible. after we left the barn, which was the coolest shelter yet, we had a tough but fair climb over little hump and then hump mountain. both were balds with spectacular views. a local out for a couple days pointed out all the peaks, including mount mitchell and mount rogers. supposedly, longhorn steer graze on hump, but we only their leftovers. then we had a long descent, which included the nc/tn state line for the final time. we'd been bouncing between the two for a long time, but now nc is behind us. actually, we're almost to virginia...huh? how did i get here? we crossed a road, and then it got bizarre...open meadows, graveyards, trash filled ravines, atv tracks, an old road, rumors of fueding clans, remnants of a forest fire and lots of barbed wire. ahhh...tennessee. so far...just what i expected. best of all, our ole buddy wingfoot let us down today. wingfoot is the author of our guide book, and has hiked the trail a number of times. apparently, he's a bit odd. in any event, his book includes brief trail descriptions with mile markers, along with the locations of camping and water sources. well, if you ever make it down this way, there is no water source at the campsite .2m north of walnut mountain road. and, thus, our first unintentional 20 mile day. everything was fine, just not what we planned. but, flexibility is the name of the game out here. actually, we both feel relatively good this evening, but are looking forward to a mellow 12 miles to kincora hostel tomorrow. if it's really there...we've learned to not take wingnut literally.

May 3, 2005 | Day 37 | Miles 11.9 | Total Miles: 409.3
End: Laurel Fork Campground and Cabins, Hampton, TN
Danielle:
Sunny and cool
Another cool morning (what is this, New Hampshire in March? Brrrr), but sunny. It was a pretty mellow hike all day, with a few ups and a few downs thrown in to make things interesting. We did have an idyllic stop for lunch in this open field with Scavenger, Montana Gal, Catch 23 and Crazy Legs. Beautiful sunny spot for lunch with them playing frisbee and Scavenger singing and playing his guitar. Ahhhh... Now this is what every day would be like. But then it would be boring :-)
And now we're relaxing in this rustic cabin after a quiet dinner of pizza and ice cream here. There aren't many people at this place, as most people are down the road at another spot. We decided to come here over there so as to avoid the crowds a bit. Must be 30 people there. It's nice to have a bit of peace and quiet for a night. Back on the trail tomorrow morning :-)

Ryan:
sunny, cold am, warmer pm
it's may. it's tennessee. but, it's cold. since we left hot springs, we've had only one morning that was above 38 degrees. it's cold every morning. don't get me wrong, i like it cool, but crawling out of a sleeping bag when it's hovering around freezing is difficult. luckily, it has warmed up during the day. today was great. we stopped for lunch in a meadow. there was a frisbee and a guitar. it was an idyllic vision of the trail. just perfect. of course, it will probably hail again on friday. we had planned to stay at kincora hostel, but it was full. or, we knew it would be. people were practically running through the woods to get a spot...most of them didn't. it was crazy. we made the right choice to stay at laurel fork...less people, less chaos.
today's song - i'll just quote...
hiking the trail
high on pain pills
casey jones, you better watch your feet
mud up ahead
mud back behind
trudging through the muck, all of the time.
- thanks to the rambling ramblers for coming up with that...more on them later...

April 29-May 1 wandering between TN/NC

April 29, 2005 | Day 33 | Miles 12.2 | Total Miles: 350.8
End: Deep Gap, unofficial campsite, Tent
Danielle:
Rain
Well, we woke up to rain and spent a few hours debating back and forth the pros and cons of staying. In the end, hiking won out, and we packed up and headed down the road. It is really hard to leave town when the weather is crappy. It's so tempting to stay. After all you're warm and dry and are voluntarily heading out into wet misery. But town is expensive and also we can't stay in every time it's bad weather so we figured we would suck it up and go hike. We hadn't gotten more than a minute down the road whena car pulled up. It was a woman named "Phoenix", previously a 2005 thru-hiker who decided she didn't like the hiking part of it. So she thought she'd do some trail magic for a bit, as she didn't want to let go of the experience quite yet. She dropped us off at the trailhead and we headed into the woods. It actually let up raining for most of the hike, until we had 4 miles to the camping spot we had picked from the book. Then it downpoured. And that just really sucked as it meant setting up the tent in the rain which is just no fun. But we didn't get the tent inside too wet, which was good. And for now, it's stopped raining but everything is still pretty wet. Maybe we'll get sun one of these days and we'll be able to hang everything out to dry. That would be nice :-) In the end, though, we made the right decision and despite the weather, it's good to be out here.

Ryan:
cloudy, rain, then lots of rain
it was raining this morning...hard. but, we knew that we had to leave town. so, that's what we did...eventually. we just figured that it was going to suck today, so we wanted to get the sucking over as soon as possible. my pack is heavy. we're out for a 5 1/2 day stretch and we have a lot of food. if we're hungry by the end, i'm not sure what we're going to do. i can't carry any more. the problem is we planned to buy some power bars at the grocery store, but they didn't have any. the grocery store was fairly ghetto. so, we panicked. we started picking up all sorts of stuff. we made so much gorp, we left a fairly good sized ziplock bag outside of our hotel room door for anyone to take. when we were hanging the bear bag (you have to hang your food in a tree to keep the bears from eating it, but more on that ridiculousness another time), it was so heavy, it took both of us to hoist it.

...so, we tried to eat as much as possible already. so far, thumbs up to the slim-fast meal bars, caramel peanut flavor. they were an experiment, and make a good snack. but, i wouldn't want one for lunch. the verdict is still out on the quaker breakfast bars. the package claims moist and chewy, but in reality...not so much. thumbs down to cracker barrell cheese. i hate the south. there is no good cheese. that is the #1 reason i couldn't live here. cracker barrell is the best you can do, and it tastes like...well, nothing. cabot all the way, baby. we might start logging more miles just to get real cheese. and none of that wisconsin crap, either.
today's song - the river, bruce springsteen...probably inspired by our crossing of the nolichucky river, but it also described the mood. warm and dry? they vanished right into the air. i just act like i don't remember, danielle acts like she don't care...

April 30, 2005 | Day 34 | Miles: 13.1 | Total Miles: 363.9
End: Clyde Smith Shelter
Danielle:
It was a rough day of hiking for us. Ugh. We just couldn't move along as we felt we should. It was a slow morning. We were surprised that none of the people who had camped at Deep Gap with us--Free Radical, Stats and Mud pumpkin, and the Seattle crew-- passed us, but I guess they all got a late start so we managed to stay ahead. We did eke out the last 6 miles in a respectable time, but the first 7 were pretty slow. Maybe it's from all food in our packs. I think we went a bit nuts on our resupply. Too much food! Way too heavy. But we're eating well :-) I guess that's the payoff.
It's currently rainy and the shelter is in the clouds, but we stayed dry while we were walking, which was nice. It's supposed to clear out tomorrow so we'll keep our fingers crossed :-)
We did see a rose-breasted Grosbeak--very cool-- and a red salamander along the trail, which was neat.

Ryan:
cloudy, cool, rain late
we're tired. for some reason, we were just really slow and sluggish today. could still be from the heavy packs, who knows. the trail was fairly rugged today, too. and where it wasn't rugged, it was muddy. really muddy. yawn.

May 1, 2005 | Day 35 | Miles: 12.9 | Total Miles: 376.8
End: Overmountain Shelter
Danielle:
So, you know how on a cold and dreary winter morning it's hard to get out of bed as you know you have to pad down the hall in your bare feet to shower? OK, imagine it's May 1 in the south and you wake up and it's 38 degrees in the shelter and there's a cloud around you and you have to get out of your warm sleeping bag and go take a wilderness poo in the cold, dank morning and then you have to pack up and start hiking up to Roan Mountain at 6285 feet. That was our morning today and it was pretty sucky.
Still, it's amazing what a little bit of sun can do to lift your spirits. The sun came out as we were climbing up Roan, and it didn't warm up, but it did make us feel better. Roan Mt. was really cool--the trail up reminded us of New England with pine trees and its steepness. At the top the trees were all rimed over with ice. Then after Roan Mt., we went over these very cool balds--Round and Jane Balds--open and wide and beautiful. And now we're at this cool shelter which is a converted barn with a gorgeous view out into the valley below. There are about 30 people here, many of whom have caught us with these past few shorter mileage days. We're on the upper floor of the barn. It's still chilly but blue skies. Hopefully it will at least last through tomorrow. So, all in all, after a not-so-great start, it ended up being a good day :-)

Ryan:
fog early, sunny, windy, colder than cool, but cooler than cold
today, i really needed something good to happen. i hit my lowest point this morning. we started from the shelter slowly this morning...it was 38 degrees. i was just tired of being wet and cold. my back didn't feel that great. my legs were tired. the trail was really muddy and much steeper than i expected. i was already dreading the climb up (g)roan mountain. basically, everything sucked. i was ready to go home. just be done. then, the sun came out. it got a little warmer. then we started to climb, and it was great everything just turned around. the final climb up roan mountain reminded me so much of maine or new hampshire...the look, the smell. plus, not a cloud in the sky. then we crossed over a couple balds. they were beautiful. this shelter is a huge converted barn, and really cool. everything's great. one of the best days yet. it really is a roller coaster out here. i also remembered that i don't want to go home. i really enjoy putting the pack on and just going...somewhere.

April 27-28 wandering between NC/TN

April 27, 2005 | Day 31 | Miles: 20.6 | Total 332.4
End: No Business Knob Shelter, Tent
Danielle:
A bit of everything
So despite the little bit of everything thrown at us by Mother Nature (cold, wind, hail, rain, a few rays of sun), combined with all the mud on the trail, which made for a slip and slide fest, we managed to do our biggest mileage day yet. 20.6m. Wohoo! We started at 8:10am and got here about 5:45pm. Not bad for 20 miles :-) But boy, am I tired! I think we'll sleep well tonight...
We did go over a beautiful bald today, with the wind whipping us around, and sun shining down in the valley (although not on us). Great views.
Ryan had a rough start to the day, but he was tough and we pulled through. We were rewarded at dinner tonight with the wonderful Lindt truffles that our friend Gayle sent us in a little package at Hot Springs. I had saved them and they were a wonderful treat for dessert! Yum. Thanks Gayle :-)
We're looking forward to a short, six-mile day tomorrow into Erwin. And, despite the weather, as always it is good to be here :-)

Ryan:
the everything bagel of weather
a full day of work today. it took us a month, but we finally banged out a 20 mile day. lots of other people have done a lot of longer days, but we've been pretty conservative. but, today's 20 gives us a little over 6 into town tomorrow morning, so we're in great shape. btw, 20 miles is a long way to walk. i failed to mention a significant milestone yesterday - 300 miles. we're impressed. back to today, the weather was stupid. the highlights we're a pinch of sun and a fair amount of hail. rain on either end. so, the trail was mud all day. we've had maybe 3 days that haven't been muddy, but today was very gooshy. all in all, a perfect choice for our first 20. tomorrow, we're headed for erwin, tn. apparently, there is a killer burrito place. but, i doubt they'll match up to the tortilla with peanut butter, gorp and dried apples i had with dinner tonight.

April 28, 2005 | Day 32 | Miles: 6.3 | Total Miles: 338.7
End: Holiday Inn, Erwin, TN
Danielle:
Sunny
Well, we awoke to sunny skies. A miracle :-) Still cool, but nice for hiking. We only had 6 miles into Erwin, which was good as both of us were feeling a bit stiff from our 20 miles yesterday. Not too bad, but happy for a short day. We reached the road about 10:45am, and as we were walking along toward town, a Caddy stopped next to us and a nice woman asked us where we were headed. We said the PO and she said it was too far to walk, she'd take us there. Cool. She was super nice to do that for us. After we retreived our packages, we headed for Erwin Burrito, owned by a former thru-hiker. We got nachos and huge burritos--yum! Hit the spot and filled us up--amazing! Then as we were asking the nice lady behind the counter where it would be best to hitch back out to the Holiday Inn, a woman who was eating said she was leaving in 5 minutes and would take us there. Wow! Cool. We didn't even have to hitch. People here are so nice! So, we're currently drying our gear out in the room, all clean with clean clothes on, and extra full from the free pint of Ben & Jerry's they give hikers per room for staying here. Ahhhh. What else could we ask for? :-)

Ryan:
sunny am, then all rain
so, you're a stinky hiker, wandering down a random road in tennessee. do you expect to get a ride from an old woman in a cadillac, who's excited about the new wal-mart coming to town? me neither. but, strange things happen. that was our introduction to erwin. i've dubbed it the friendlist place you never want to go. but, if you do find yourself here, go to erwin burrito. very tasty...and big. mmmmmm.... quote of the day: "we have 5 kids and one on the way. but, it's not because we're hicks. i'm not even from here." whatever you say lady, thanks for the ride from erwin burrito to the hotel. yup, two rides without sticking out the thumb once. she was eating burritos with her very armed, very sheriff-like husband. ahhhh...tennessee.

April 25-26 wandering between NC/TN

April 25, 2005 | Day 29 | Miles: 16 | Total Miles: 297.1
End: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Danielle:
Sunny and cool
Two notable things happened today.
One: At 9:45am, we reached a gap where there was a sign to turn right for trail magic. FAL (Free at last) and Hercules, thru-hikers from 1999, had opened their home to thru-hikers and were serving beef stew (I passed), drinks and a yummy ice cream creation for dessert. Perfect snack.
It was so generous of them to do this! What a wonderful treat. All this trail magic really restores our faith in human kindness. We can't wait to do some of our own next year :-)
Two: Bizarre occurrence of the day. This afternoon, we were hiking along near Crazy Legs and Montana Gal, two of a four-person crew, with Catch23 and Scavenger, from the west, who are all very cool. Crazy Legs and catch23 did the Pacific Crest Trail, which goes from Mexico up through California. Supposed to be gorgeous. Anyway, we're hiking along and we see a male peacock in the trail. Decorative peacock with blue neck and huge 4-ft. plummage. It looked like a hallucination, and might have been if we weren't all there. It was not scared of us and as we snapped photos, it settled down in the trail, and then wandered off through the woods. Crazy! What is the natural environment of a peacock? It can't be the NC woods! What was it doing there? DOUG, our resident bird expert, can you clue us in please?! Kept us laughing for the rest of the afternoon. Bizarre! :-)

Ryan, April 25:
sunny, cold, breezy
peacocks are not indigenous to north carolina, right? then what was it doing in the middle of the trail? let's just say it was a bit unexpected. great trail magic today from former thruhikers, hercules and fal, who moved 300 yards from the trail. very cool. "oh, i guess i can have some ice cream." so, we walked today and it was beautiful. no complaints. getting ready for rain tomorrow.

April 26, 2005 | Day 30 | Miles 14.7 | Total Miles: 311.8
End: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Danielle:
Cold, windy and overcast
Well, another cold morning. Brrrr... But on we hike. We passed the 300 mile mark today. Wow. That's pretty cool. It really was a nice day of hiking. We went through some old farming meadows and went up along a beautiful stream with a big waterfall. We hiked most of the morning with Free Radical and he was telling silly jokes the whole time. My favorite: What is red, green and flies? Super Pickle! Of course :-) Should have guessed that.
We got into this shelter a bit early, at 2:45pm, after leaving at 8:10am. We had contemplated going on, but I was feeling pretty tired for the last few miles, so we decided to stay here. Also it's supposed to rain today--who knows? It hasn't yet--so we're in the shelter just in case. Three days of shelter living. We're getting soft :-) It's pretty chilly and windy though, so we'll likely be in our bags early. I picked up a book at Jerry Cabin--there were a few left in the register bin. It's about the 1925 dog team relay of diptheria serum up to Nome, Alaska, which is the route the Ididarod currently runs on. Sounds interesting.
If we can, we'll do 20m tomorrow, so we only have 6m into Erwin the next day. Then we should be able to get all our errands done that afternoon and get back out the next morning. But we'll see how it goes... :-)

Ryan:
mostly cloudy, windy
three nights in a row in shelters. rare for us. the first night, it was just cold. last night, we thought it was going to rain overnight. tonight, it definitely looks like it's going to rain. so, we're under cover. we've lucked out with the rain so far in the last couple days. i probably never should have typed that. today was great. we started with a climb over a bald...which was named big butt mountain. long climb later in the day with a nice waterfall. decent views. no complaints. we did see a bunch of bear tracks along the trail, which was cool. danielle was feeling a little tired in the afternoon...we did do 30+ miles in the last two days. we're on good pace to erwin...so, no worries. stomach is rumbling...dinnertime.
today's song - heavy cloud, no rain - sting

April 23-24 wandering between TN/NC

April 23, 2005 | Day 27 | Miles: 0 | Total Miles: 270.7
End: Cody House Hostel, Hot Springs, NC
Danielle:
Rainy and cold
Well, remember how I said we were leaving today? Again, flexibility is the name of the game out here, and as it was rainy, windy and cold, and they're calling for snow tonight, we decided to stay another night. Really we had originally planned to hike out on Sunday, so this just puts us back on that schedule. Two days off is a lot, but hopefully it will mean we're well rested when we take off tomorrow. We haven't done much today. Big breakfast, checked our email and labeled our photos on our webpage, made some phone calls and wandered around town for a bit. There are a lot of hikers and people around for the hiker fest, but we've been trying to just stay out of the way and mellow out, versus doing the partying thing.
We've met a few new people-- Spoonman, this big dude with a red beard, vegetarian and super nice and intelligent. We've had fun chatting with him. Also Sweet Sixteen, a 63-year old grandmother who is super sweet, and who had planned to just do 6 weeks on the trail, but who is now planning to continue on to Damascus, and then hike further with her husband who is coming out to meet her there. Very cool.
Anyway, we will definitely be back on the trail tomorrow! Two full days in town is a lot, and we still have miles to walk... Gotta keep at it :-)

Ryan:
cold, rainy, windy, yuk
we planned to leave. it's nasty out. if you're out on the trail, you deal with it. but if you're in town, you have a chance to keep out of a nasty situation. so, we're relaxing. tomorrow, we'll get back to it. we're still ahead of our original schedule...and thai food is in our future.

April 24, 2005 | Day 28 | Miles: 11 | Total Miles: 281.7
End: Spring Mountain Shelter
Danielle:
Snowy and windy
Well, we woke up to snow, so we left in the snow. Town couldn't suck us in for another day. We were out of there! It actually was quite pretty and the woods were quiet. The snow really had accumulated in some spots and it looked like we were back in winter. And felt like it too. It was cold and windy in spots but it's amazing how much heat you generate while you're walking. The choice for shelters today was either 11m or 20m, and we really didn't have it in us to pull off the 20m, so here we are. It's a tiny shelter, but we managed to get some floor space, so we didn't have to set up the tent in the snow. But we could have--we did buy new tent stakes in Hot Springs to replace the ones I lost :-) It's currently 6:20pm, and most of us are in our sleeping bags already. It's only 34 degrees out, so we're in for a cold night. Maybe it will warm up tomorrow?! :-)

Ryan:
snow, cold, windy
we just had to get out of town. it's probably going to be a cold night, but too much time in town was driving me nuts. too many damn thruhikers. plus, we were cramped in this little hostel with no personal space. then again, as i write this, we're crammed in a little shelter that barely holds 6 of us. it was a beautiful day to hike, actually. even with the cold. but, then again, i don't mind the cold. well, except for my feet right now...so, i'm gonna go take care of that.
today's song - blue sky mining, midnight oil

April 21-22 wandering between NC/TN

April 21, 2005 | Day 25 | Miles 18.8 | Total Miles: 270.7
End: Alpine Motel, Hot Springs, NC
Danielle:
Sunny, hot
Well, you know how yesterday I said we were going to take our time and get into town on Friday? Well, being flexible is the name of the game out here and tahdah! here we are in town today. Our biggest day yet. How did it happen? We got out around 8:30am, and hiked steadily all day. We had heard it was supposed to rain, so we both had on our pack covers all day and they worked out great as anti-rain devices. No rain all day! Yeah. We got to the shelter 3m before town at 3:00pm. The shelter was really tiny, so we sat eating a snack and discussing our options. Pitch the tent, stay in the tiny, old shelter, or book down 3 more miles to town and hopefully outhike the rain and stay dry, plus get a bed, shower and a beer with dinner. We looked at the maps, and it didn't seem like a bad 3m so we motivated and off we went. Then right after the shelter, up we went. And up. What is this? We're supposed to be going DOWN! Many bad words were being spoken to the hills and trail designers. Ugh. But finally, the trail turned in the right direction and down we went. Into town by 4:15pm. Over 18m in a little less than 8 hours. Pretty good, right? I think so! And we got a shower, bed and good dinner with a beer. What more can you ask for after a long hike? We're happy :-)
Flora and fauna update from today: Saw a bunny, squirrel, big owl scared out of his tree as we hiked by, two little lizards, plus a HUGE 2 ft. black snake in the trail-scary! Flora-wise, irises, maroon, white and off-white trillium, yellow, white, purple and purple & white violets, wood sorrel, ferns, buttercups, yellow paintbrushes, bluets, dogwood trees, rue anemone, trout lilies and many more we can't name. The woods are blanketed with bright green plants and gorgeous flowers. Wonderful!

Ryan:
sunny, warm
well, we finally did more than 15 miles. more importantly, we each ate a pint of ben & jerry's after dinner. how else can you get 1000 calories so quickly? our plan didn't call for that many miles today, but the rumbles of thunder that started at 1:30 and the draw of town helped us through the last 3 miles. of course, the map and the guidebook said that from the shelter 3 miles out it was all downhill. but as soon as we left the shelter, we started to climb. needless to say, we were pretty grouchy and we spent the next mile or so cursing the trail, the trailmakers, the guidebook, the map, and everything else we could think of. more than a few f-bombs were dropped by our happy little band. we're looking forward to a day off tomorrow, and then back on the trail on saturday...unless the draw of hikerfest is too strong. so far, all we know about hikerfest is that it involves beer...lots of beer...


April 22, 2005 | Day 26 | Miles: 0 | Total Miles: 270.7
End: Cody House Hostel, Hot Springs, NC
Danielle:
Muggy and rainy
Ahh, a zero day. Sounds relaxing right? Ha! We split a room last night with Patch, and good god! Boy, he was a chainsaw. Ryan was literally poking him with his hiking pole in an attempt to shut him up repeatedly throughout the night. Patch was lucky I was there, or Ryan would have thrown him out at 3am. Ugh. Not much sleep for us. Oh well. Then I was up at 8am to get our stuff into the laundry (it was closed last night), went to the PO to send a box of food stuffs and such forward to Erwin, TN, our next stop (as you can tell, we really do keep switching between NC and TN for a while here), packed up our packs and headed to Elmer's, which is an old inn we had called from Standing Bear Farm for a room on Friday night. But when we got there they didn't seem to have our names down, although they said they could squeeze us into the greenhouse. Hmmmm... Literally an old greenhouse with all sorts of junk and a double bed. We figured it would be OK, but then it started to pour and hail, and the greenhouse leaked and it was super musty. I could barely breathe. My allergies are really kicking in down here. Ryan was kind of pissed that they didn't have a regular room for us when we had called in advance, and then the roof was leaking, so we decided this was not for us. So off we went. We finally ended up at this house, which has been converted into a hostel type place. But when we put down our stuff, then there was a miscommunication, as the owners through others were staying, but we were there first, etc, etc. It finally worked out and here we are. Very clean and cheap. We also went to the outfitter, and got a few odds and ends plus fuel for the stove and food to supplement our mail drop box, plus checked our email. Ah, everything accomplished. 3pm. We can finally relax for the day. We're headed to the ayce spaghetti dinner tonight which is part of the hiker fest this weekend. There are other festivities going on throughout the weekend, but we've decided that one day off is enough, so we'll be taking off tomorrow after a big breakfast at the diner. Back to the woods and "reality" for us :-)

Ryan:
cloudy, heavy rain, hail
well, we picked a good day to take a day off. it was planned, and the weather is pretty bad. plus, we're pretty tired...not a lot of sleep last night. we each ate a pint of ben & jerry's, so i think the chocolate ice cream kept us awake. finally, at about 11:30 we decided to try to sleep, but without a lot of success. because of the trailfest that's going on in town, there are a ton of hikers in town, so rooms are scarce. so, we decided to share a room with patch. patch was out a little later than us, and finally got back to the room at about 12:30, after a couple more beers than we had had. (keep in mind, that we like patch a lot.) he tried not to wake us up, but the room was littered with gear, and he tripped. he hit his mouth on something, and started bleeding. so, he had to spend a few moments in the bathroom to fix that. when he emerged, he apologized for waking us up, babbled a little, we chatted, and he nodded off. the last thing he said was "don't worry, i don't snore." within about 15 minutes it began...not just snoring, but a loud rumbling. danielle was closer, so she was able to kick his bed and get him to stop. but, everytime she kicked, the louder it got. so, we grabbed our earplugs...they couldn't stop it. then after fits and starts of sleep at about 2:15, we heard patch tossing and turning, then a crash. we're pretty sure he fell out of bed. he stumbled around for awhile trying to right himself, then he crashed into the tv and knocked over the direct tv box. after that situation was resolved, he climbed back into bed, and no more than 2 seconds later he was snoring again. more kicking...it wouldn't stop. although, he did start talking...about zippy. who's zippy? finally, at about 3:15, i grabbed my hiking pole, and beat him with it. i wanted to drag him outside and throw his tent at him, but danielle wouldn't let me. so, i laid on my back with my pole across my chest. everytime he snored, i reached across danielle and whacked him. at some point it stopped, but we're still on trail time so we were up before 8:00. as i groaned and climbed out of bed, patch asked, "what's your problem? you didn't drink that much last night."

April 19-20 wandering between TN/NC

April 19, 2005 | Day 23 | Miles 3.3 | Total Miles 237.3
End: Standing Bear Farm, a homestead in the middle of nowhere, Hartford, TN
Danielle:
Sunny and warm
Well, after I wrote my journal last night, the mice came out. And they were friendly. One of them came right up next to me and scared the crap out of me. Nasty buggers. The shelter was down low, at 2600ft, and much warmer, so I think because of that they were out. Oh well. They didn't get into any of our stuff, so that was good.
It was only 5 of us last night. Drumsick and Six-Piece were there when we got back up from Mountain Momma's, and then later Charlie came in. He did a 27-mile day. Whoa! He is on a roll. Trying to meet someone in Hot Springs tomorrow. Drumstick was playing his guitar. He's a great guy, really nice and funny. We really have met some fun and great people out here. That has been one of the best parts of the trail, all the interesting people we've met. And the trail kind of equals us all out, we're all out here doing the same thing, the same miles. Makes for a great community.
So, today we had a nice, mellow 3 miles out of the Smokies. The Smokies have been some of the best hiking so far. Beautiful terrain and we lucked out on weather. We got out of the park with no rain. Yes! We are currently sitting at Standing Bear Farm, a homestead a few hundred yards off the trail, with a few cabins, a bunkhouse, a kitchen area, an internet/laundry/phone area, and a stream, fire pit, shower, etc. Great, lowkey place to hang out.
Patch and Strider have caught up to us here, although Peanut, Thirsty and Ribeye are now ahead. That's how it goes, you are with a group, it disbands, and then you find a new group, then you meet up with old friends. Lots of leapfrogging going on. But I think everyone will be in Hot Springs this weekend. There is a hiker fest going on, so it's going to be a busy place. Should be fun.
So, it's been three weeks, what have I learned? We love our chair converters; we get stinky out here and there is nothing you can do about it, you just smell; 7 days of food is heavy but we could eat it all or more; there are some great people out here and it's a wonderful community of strangers who act like friends and become them quickly; we've used everything in our packs, except some of the first aid stuff, and the big mitts and iPod we sent home at NOC; hiking is hard, but rewarding, and now 12 miles is an "easy" day--how did that happen?; we are tough! With our aches and pains and everything else, we are loving it and we can make it. We're in this together and that makes it all the better. We are so happy to be out here. It is great :-) Can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be, and anyone else I'd rather do this with than Ryan. Loving life and feeling good :-)

Ryan:
sunny, warm
a beautiful day to sit around and do nothing. well, not completely nothing...we did hike 3 miles...and eat a lot. we also crossed under interstate 40...so that's the excitement. back to relaxing.
today's song - cat scratch fever, ted nugent...our most gracious and wonderful host, curtis, looks just like the motor city madman.

April 20, 2005 | Day 24 | Miles 14.6 | Total Miles: 251.9
End: unofficial campsite near new Roaring Fork Shelter, Tent
Danielle:
Sunny, hot
After a fire in the firepit and a game of poker (Strider took us all out--me first, then Ryan and Patch on the same hand, then Hazy Sonic, all while drinking the Manhattans that his girlfriend sent along in his maildrop), we awoke to another beautiful day. Standing Bear Farm was a great place to stay, but we still set out at 8:25 and managed to do 9.6m before lunch at 12:30--we're getting in hiking shape :-) We saw a beautiful patch of wild irises along the way, only about 4 inches tall with 2-inch tall light purple flowers. There are some gorgeous flowers out here! Of course there is also lots of poison ivy down low too, so I guess you take the good with the bad...
We went over Max Patch today, a beautiful, mile-long bald up at 4600ft. Amazing to come up out of the woods and see this huge grassy hill before you. And it just stretched on forever. Great views. We ended up hanging out on the top with a bunch of hikers. A 2003 thru-hiker had brought up beer and goodies earlier in the day. The beer was gone by the time we got there, but we had a soda, took off our shoes, sat down and took in the views for an hour or so. Very nice. We weren't in any rush to get anywhere, but finally left around 5pm, when we started to get hungry. We're currently the only ones in this little campsite by the river. Wow the first time we've been alone camping. The new shelter isn't yet completed, and most people headed on through. There is even a crew of 6 --Beantown, Drumstick, Six-Piece, Wiggy, Horizon, Jersey Fresh-- who are thinking of hiking through the night and getting into Hot Springs early tomrrow morning. Crazy boys. It's 18m from here, and they'd all hiked at least 12m earlier today. Yikes! Not for us, thanks. We'll have a good day tomorrow and then a short hike in on Friday, perfect.
Great day. Happy as always to be out here :-)

Ryan:
sunny, warm
it was tough to break free of the vortex of standing bear farm, but we managed to get back on the trail. standing bear farm was great. curtis and his wife, maria, have turned their homestead into the perfect hiker hostel. bunkhouse, cabin, showers, outdoor kitchen, laundry, internet, firepit...all on this great piece of land right in front of their house. plus, there's a creek running down the middle of it all. oh yeah, for those keeping score danielle and i are +8 bucks in our one dollar poker games. i'm sure danielle wrote that max patch mountain was the highlight of the day, but i can trump that. i got danielle to sit and do nothing for two hours today...two whole hours...nothing. when we arrived at the summit of max patch a past thruhiker, spiff, had set up a little trail magic...most of the goodies were gone when we arrived, but a soda under the sun on this perfect day was sweet. so, we sat and chatted with the group of ten or so that was also doing nothing. can you believe it? she did nothing.
today's song - like humans do, david byrne

April 18 in the Smokies

April 18, 2005 | Day 22 | Miles: 14.8 | Total Miles: 234
End: Davenport Gap Shelter
Danielle:
Sunny and a bit hazy
Another beautiful day in the Smokies! This was the first day we saw a bit of the haze the park is known for, but still we can't complain. We booked through the miles today. The first 7.7m out of the shelter were great, nice and mellow. Plus we had both had a great massage/chiropractic care at the shelter. There was a section hiker who came in, Potholer, and he was a masseuse/chiropractor, and he literally worked on everyone's back,and there were 14 of us! Wow. It was great, and he was super psyched to be helping us all out. He said my back was really tight-oh well, guess that's why it feels that way at the end of the day. I don't know what you can really do about it, there's 30 extra pounds putting pressure on your back. Oh well. He worked on Ryan for a bit too, and taught us all some stretches which seem like they'll be a great help.
In any event, after lunch, which was quite meager (We were almost out of food. It's just amazing that we're so hungry out here. We just can't carry enough to keep up with what we're burning. Someone tell me, how much does a 120lb. woman carrying a 30 lb. pack, hiking 12 to 15 miles a day, burn? I'm curious.), as we were close to out of food, we thought, hmmm, if we make it to the shelter on time, we can drop our stuff, hike down to the road, and get in to Mountain Momma's and eat at the grill before it closes at 5pm. Yup, let's do it! So 7m and 2:20 later, we got to the road and hoofed it the 1.3m to the store. It's a total hole in the wall, in the middle of nowhere, and inside it's full of cigarettes, snuff (who does snuff these days?), Dolly Parton memorabelia, model cars, a meager grocery section, and the grill. We both had sandwiches and fries, grabbed a few goodies for tomorrow before we get to Standing Bear, and chatted with the 7 other thru-hikers who had booked it in to get one of the grill's "huge" cheeseburgers. We were all psyched with the extra mileage to get food. Was it decadent, gluttonous or stupid to hike an extra 3 miles today for food? To the "normal" mind, maybe, but not to us. We're full and happy :-) A good day.



Ryan, April 18
sunny, warm
first off, a great story from yesterday. at about 12:30, we had just finished our lunch, and drumstick comes bounding up the trail with his shirt off all excited. "hey guys, how far have we gone?" "about 8 miles." "what time is it?" "about 12:30." "sweet! i started at 10:30. ok, i gotta catch 6-piece...he started an hour and a half before me." and he takes off, basically running. we put on our packs and head off. about half an hour later, we come across drumstick laid out spread eagle on his stomach at the side of the trail. "drumstick, what happened?" "i had to stop...my crotch is on fire. since i was running, i got too sweaty and i'm totally chafed." he eventually hiked carefully to the shelter. thankfully, he already has a trailname. last night at the shelter was awesome. the shelter itself was sweet...clean, new, benches, fireplace, and a tarp to lower over the opening. the people were great. drumstick was working the guitar. we had the fire going. then, potholer arrives. he's just section hiking, but it turns out he's a massage therapist/licensed chiropractor/back god. he worked on everyone's back. i feel like a new man. he showed me stretches, and my back/shoulder thing feels much better. he also helped daniele out, too. so, we're feeling pretty good. the hiking today was sweet...a little rolly, but pretty mellow. we had mountain moma's on our mind, so we rocked out the last 7 miles of the day in about 2:20. we dropped our stuff at the shelter, and headed for the road. mountain moma's is a little store in the middle of nowhere, but it's only one mile down the trail, and then 1 mile down a road. to a thruhiker, that walk is a small price to pay for something fresh off a grill. mountain moma's is an interesting place, complete with a shrine to dolly parton. really, it's indescribable...you have to experience it to understand. needless to say, we got fed, got a shuttle back up to the trail and we're full. oh yeah, even though we feasted on chicken sandwiches, french fries and various candy items at around 4:00, we still had a "regular" dinner at the shelter at around 6:30...there's nothing better than second dinner. all in all, it's been a fantastic 24 hours. we've truly enjoyed our time in the smokies...despite the horse poop. tomorrow, we're taking a short day to a hostel, standing bear farm...tonight, we're battling the mice at this shelter. so far...the mice are winning.