May 20, 2005 | Day 54 | Miles: 7.3 | Total Miles: 629
End: Rice Field Shelter
Danielle:
Overcast and humid
So we didn't get that far today... Reasons? One, it was either 7.3m or 19.6m with a big ridgewalk in between and no water or campsites. Two, the weather people were calling for severe storms today. Three, the first 3m were completely overgrown and riddled with poison ivy and completely SUCKED for that reason, putting me in a bad mood. YUCK! (Aside: If you're going to put the Trail through a field/narrow corridor of woods, especially down low, near town where poison ivy seems to thrive, at least maintain it and keep it brushed back! Ack. Top pet peeve of mine for the trail. Nothing else is as bad as trekking through three miles of overgrown, poisonous trail. Nothing. Give me huge ups and downs and PUDs any day.) Four, Ryan's shoes are breaking down and his feet are feeling a bit tender. Five, we did not get an early start out of Pearisburg this morning, so by the time we got here at 12:30pm, and we figured another 12m would get us into that shelter at about 7:30pm. A bit late and not so fun. So, with all those previous excuses mentioned, wouldn't you have stayed here too? :-)
Snowbunny and Hairball are here as well, and we're all hanging out, relaxing and have gathered a bunch of firewood for a fire. I don't think we've stopped for the night at 12:30pm yet, but being flexible is the name of the game out here and here we are. :-) We'll pick up the miles over the next few days and it will all work out.
Flora and fauna notes for the day: Saw three deer, a male and female tohee (spelling? Very cool bird with a neat call. The male is black and white with orange splotch on its breast area.), multiple lady slippers, and a salamander down by the water source at the shelter. Pretty good for only 7.3m :-)
Ryan:
sun & clouds, impending doom
so, this morning was kind of crappy. even watching danielle put away 3 krispy kreme donuts couldn't hold back the crappiness. first, of course, the pack is heavy with food...instant grouchiness. secondly, we always feel like dung after a zero days...no more zero days. everything was creeky and painful. finally, for the first couple miles, the trail was ridiculously overgrown with poison frickin' ivy. you lazy bastards get out here and clear the trail. hello, roanoke atc? are you out there? much anger. the only plus was that we found a good patch of jewelweed, which supposedly neutralizes the ivy...we shall see. if not, the roanoke atc is going to get some sort of nasty-gram laced with poison ivy. in other news, we only walked 7 miles today. better than going 19. those were the options, since it's going to rain a great deal any minute now, and we really didn't want to set up a tent in the rain or carry a very soggy tent. not so much. we have dumped all our winter gear, and down to just the summer stuff. so, this means two things: 1. the pack is a little lighter and 2. it's going to be very, very cold for a few nights...
May 21, 2005 | Day 55 | Miles: 16.2 | Total Miles: 645.2
End: Bailey's Gap Shelter
Danielle:
Sunny and comfortable
What a great day for hiking! I woke up at 6am and glanced out of the shelter--the sky was all pink above the ridge. Very nice. It was only about 40 degrees. Brrr. But wonderful hiking weather! The first 11m were along the ridgeline, nice and mellow. Then down to the first shelter, at 12.3m, where we had a late lunch around 1pm.
From there, the trail went down to a road where there was a sign that the hurricane last year had knocked out the bridge across the river 2.5m up. "To avoid fording the river, turn left on the road for 1.5m..." We were with Hairball and Snowbunny, and we all stood there and pondered. To ford or not? To keep with the "pass every blaze" philosophy and risk the river, which was high from the rain last night and the night before? Or take the road to avoid the river and be "yellow-blazers" (road walkers who cut off parts of the trail to make things easier) for our first time this trip? The decisions.... In the end, we decided on the road to be safe, but Beantown and his brother decided on following the trail. With our decision to take the road, we did get some trail magic--a man who lived along the road has some soda and chocolate for us. How nice! We ended up getting to the river crossing just as Beantown and his brother, Fresh Legs, who is out on the trail with him for 2 weeks, were getting ready to ford. They're both 6 ft. tall and the water was running pretty strong and was up to their mid-thighs. I think there is a good chance that with the current and the depth, I would have gone over. And getting everything wet would just not have been fun. Plus it might have been pretty scary. So, despite missing a few white blazes, I am happy with our decision. Seemed like a good detour :-)
We are currently sitting around the picnic table, chatting and relaxing. Hairball, who is our resident fire-maker, has started a large and bright blaze. A nice end to the day :-)
Topic of the day: "our typical day"
So what are our days like, you ask? Well, I get up around 6:30am and eventually nudge Ryan awake. We start to pack up, eat our breakfast (which today consisted of a tortilla with peanut butter and 2 poptarts each), stretch a bit, go to the bathroom and eventually get out between 8am and 8:30am. Hike until around 10am or 10:30am and then have a snack (Luna bar for each of us and some GORP (mix of nuts, chocolates and fruits). Hike for 2 to 3 hours more and have lunch. Today we ate late at about 1pm (bagel with cheese, Just Fruit mix from justtomatoes.com, a bit of turkey jerky and a candy bar). Hike for another few hours and have another snack (packet of cheese crackers and some dried bananas and strawberries). Today we ate our snack at the shelter and didn't have more miles to go, but normally we would hike for a bit more until our stopping spot for the night. After we set our stuff up in the shelter or the tent, depending on where we are, we get water and filter it, then start dinner (couscous with chicken, dehydrated carrots, mushrooms, onions and garlic plus taco seasoning). Eat, take our medicines, brush our teeth, hang our food up on the bear rope, and then write journals, chat, look at tomorrow's day, etc and go to bed around 9pm. Then more of the same tomorrow, with what we eat, weather and terrain being the main variables :-)
Ryan:
perfect hiking weather
we're about to play spades with hairball and snowbunny, so this will be short. today was awesome. except for my feet. my shoes are toast and need to be replaced. soon...very soon. we've been hiking with snowbunny and hairball since damascus, and they've great to hang out with. beantown's brother is out with him, so that's been slowing him down, which is great because we actually get to hang out with him. all in all, it's been a really good day...hoping for more of the same for tomorrow. oh yeah, we're aiming for 21 tomorrow...yes!!!
today's song - hold on, wilson philips (ahhhhhhhhh!!!! help me!!!!)
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