May 22-23 in Central VA

May 22, 2005 | Day 56 | Miles: 21 | Total Miles: 666.2
End: Sarver Hollow Shelter
Danielle:
Comfortable and intermittent sun
Two milestones today. The most impressive--Ryan was up first out of all of us at the shelter, and it was 6am! Wow! I don't know what brought it on, but when I looked up, he was sitting up and already stuffing his sleeping bag. So we were all packed up and on the trail by 7:30am. One of our earliest starts ever. Second milestone--our 21 miles, our longest day yet. I think it was one of our toughest days, as it had some big ups and downs, but Ryan is still holding out for the 19m day we did a bit ago as the toughest. Whatever the case, we were out on the trail for a full 10 hours, and I am tired out. Early to bed for this little Sparkplug :-)

Ryan:
sunny & warm with pm clouds and sprinkles
so, i feel like i short changed my journal last night, so i'll probably babble a bit tonight. please note, that i was the first one awake this morning...in the whole shelter, and we were on the trail by 7:30. danielle had best not get used to it. the big news is that today was our longest day yet. 20 milers make us grouchy, though. we always seem to hit a few moments in the longer days when we're too tired and hurting to be civil. luckily, we're usually by ourselves. it always seems to blow over. you just can't hold a grudge out here...especially with your hiking partner, that just doesn't work. i've decided that virginia needs better marketing for its rocks. pennsylvania is supposed to be the rockiest state...legendary for the misery. but, virginia has been super rocky so far. we hiked a section today that looked like a piece of rock candy for about 4 miles. have you ever seen rocks that actually look like rock candy? me neither...until today. (although, they were neither shiny or tasty...i licked them.)as i mentioned, we've been hiking with hairball and snowbunny since damascus...they are hilarious. (hiking with doesn't mean going every step with them, but we start and end at the same place and leapfrog throughout the day. they're from nh, and both work at crotched mountain, where they met. yup, falling in love at the crotch. hairball often refers to himself in the third person..."hairball will make fire now." "hairball's feet are so sore." they don't/rarely take any sit down breaks during the day; they snack on the fly. meanwhile, we stop to snack every 2 hours or so...otherwise danielle goes into ultra-grouchy mode. we hit that stage today...always good times. she's already asleep. the long days really tire her out, but she always manages. hopefully, she'll be able to handle more 20's in the future, as we'll need them to stay close to our mid-september goal. me? except for my feet, i feel great. and, new shoes will help out a ton. i'm just hoping everything holds out for another 60 miles or so until i get them. i've been hiking on and off without my knee braces, and my knees feel great. as long as i get my stretching done at night, i'm usually good to go. my calves are always tight, though. it's unavoidable. you're on your toes so much climbing the steep hills...add a full pack, and ouch. but, stretch, stretch, stretch. my shoulder is feeling a lot better....barely bothered me today, which is great. who knows? i may actually be healthier by the time we get to katahdin! overall, i think my fitness is really starting to be pretty solid, but it's tough to really tell. hopefully, i'm building a good base for some cross country racing this winter. yup, i'm already thinking about skiing...dreamt about it the other night. the one thing everyone is dreaming about, though is katahdin. i think about it everyday. and, best of all, i'm starting to feel like we will make it. (barring unforeseen injury or disaster.) people are starting to get off the trail...for whatever reason. but, we're still having fun. i think that's the key right now. if you're not having fun now, time to rethink the plan. we've gone enough miles to know whether this trip is right for you. and so far, it's the coolest thing we've ever done.

May 23, 2005 | Day 57 | Miles: 15.9 | Total Miles: 682.1
End: Pickle Branch Shelter
Danielle:
Sunny, windy and comfortable
Everyone says in Virginia you get the VA blues, with it being the same state for over 500 miles, and no views, etc. But really we've found VA to be pretty enjoyable. Only about 330m to go, and there have definitely been some views along the ridges, and some nice walking. Although there have been a ton of rocks! We weren't expecting them until PA. We don't really see how it can be much worse... Big rocks, little rocks, pointy rocks, loose rocks, everything. Oh well, it's doable, but boy does it hurt the feet! And poor Ryan, with his shoes breaking down. Plus he was having some chafing issues. Not fun. He was hurting today. Plus we were a bit slow-moving due to yesterday's miles. But we got here by 5pm, so not too bad in the end :-)
Seen today: A toad, big black 3-ft. snake, lizard, an orange salamander with bright orange spots, many black butterflies with blue markings, an Indigo Bunting at the shelter this morning--very cool! I've been wanting to see one, so I am very excited!--, and three little Phoebes in a nest at a trail register sign by a road crossing.

Ryan:
mix of sun and clouds, warm, cool breeze, pm showers, impending doom
so, remember how great everything was yesterday. well, today sucked. first of all, my shoes are beyond dead. take a cereal box, trace your foot, cut out, duct tape to the bottom of your foot, repeat with other foot, now hike a lot. um, ouch. secondly, i fell today. um, more ouch. finally, remember how funny it was back in the smokies when drumstick lit his crotch on fire? well, i'm currently experiencing a lot of chafing. very bad times. it started yesterday, but i figure it would be ok. started today in my rain shorts (basically running shorts with a liner) and a good dose of body glide (a magical substance designed to lube body parts for athletic types). that combo lasted about an hour...then the tears...well, almost. switched back to kilt with the boxers and more body glide. still not so good... so, at the next shelter, i borrowed danielle's razor, shaved my leg and applied gauze and tape. this worked for about a mile. then it fell off. (sweaty down there, you know.) then i tried moleskin. that worked for about a quarter of a mile. so, i went with duct tape. yup, i shaved my leg and put duct tape on it. not good times. it worked pretty well, but not perfect. the next few days should be interesting. needless to say, boxer briefs are in my future. hopefully, that will be better than duct tape.the only good part about today was the morning temperature. all that winter gear i sent home...it was in the 40's the last two mornings. at least it was in the mid 50's this morning. so with a 45 degree sleeping bag, and a couple thin layers of clothes, i've been a little chilly. not bad, but not entirely comfortable. oh yeah, still great, loving every minute of it.