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.

May 20-21 in central VA

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!!!!)

May 18-19 in southern VA

May 18, 2005 | Day 52 | Miles: 7.8 | Total Miles: 621.7
End: Rendezvous Motel, Pearisburg, VA
Danielle:
Sunny and hot
Gotta love the short days into town :-) Not a bad morning at all, and we got here about 11:30am. Descents into town are never too much fun, as they typically mean a big drop into a valley, but this one wasn't too bad.
We're currently relaxing in our motel room with our gear spread all over the place as usual.
We enjoyed some candy and animal crackers when we arrived, courtesy of my wondeful friend Kris. Yum! Thanks Kris :-) And some Reese's peanut butter cups from my parents. Thanks Mom and Dad! Healthy eating, I know, but they did taste good. We'll get a salad at dinner and some fruit at the grocery store tonight to even it all out! :-)

Ryan:
hazy, hot, humid
we're in town, and planning to take tomorrow off. a little r and r. other than that, we've been enjoying virginia. we've heard that a lot of people get the "virginia blues", and end up leaving the trail. so far, virginia has been great. well, the rumor you hear in georgia is that virginia flat. um...not so much. it has some flat sections, but it's not flat. the pattern looks like a climb, then a sort of flat ridge, then a descent, then a flat section, then a climb, then a flat ridge...sort of like a trail. just longer sections of each than we've seen at the beginning of the trail. and so far, it's been a little easier. plus, we're getting more used to it. what we're not used to is the heat. summer is officially here. it's getting hot. but, at lower elevations, we at least have leaves on the trees now. without the leaves you get cooked. now, less cookage. but, it's still going to be hot...

May 19, 2005 | Day 53 | Miles: 0 | Total Miles: 621.7
End: Rendezvous Motel, Pearisburg, VA
Danielle:
Warm and humid
Ahhhh, a zero day. Pearisburg is not a compact town to walk around, but we lucked out. One of the section hikers we met out on this past stretch, Talisman, was stopping his section here in Pearisburg, so he had his car. He nicely agreed to meet us the motel this morning to take us to the PO and other errands. What a nice guy! Putting up with all us stinky hikers and hauling us around. :-) It was much appreciated.
We're currently hanging out with Hairball and Snowbunny in the motel room, and will be playing cards soon, I'm sure. A very exciting afternoon :-) Not much else to report.

Ryan:
hazy, cloudy, impending doom
lazy day off. it's going to rain tomorrow, and we may have to build an ark. sounds like a great time to go camping. smart people would have left today, and taken a day off in a dry shelter. we're not smart. stay tuned...
today's song - downtown, petula clark (every establishment in pearisburg seems to be required to play this song at least three times a day.)

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