zero buena vista

went to hospital hung out with jimmy al bear bagger I believe chance. saw Camelot play in town. relaxed in town

James River footbridge to buena vista va

slack packed . hiked up to top of bluff Mtn. saw Jesse James and simple . had lunch with bagger and chance. jumped off James River bridge with pocket tiptoe Bryan and aquahero. good times. beuna vista, bad. budget inn not great. saw bearbag in am

Wilson Creek to Cornelius Creek

hiked out alone and alone all day. the trail crossed the blue ridge pArkway a few times and that was nice. crossed Jennings creek at 3:30 pm and bagger and chance were there frolicking In the water and. all, tempting to stay but I have goals so I moved on to Bryant fuller? shelter. it made a 21 mile day. 42 was there , but I decided to hike another 5 miles on.  up A major 4 mile 3000 ft 

ascent . I did it in a hour and a half. I'm cooking now. good day I feel good watched lebowski in my tent. listened to a lot of dylan today . 

daleville to WilsonCreek

hung out in daleville till about 1:30pm had 2nd BBQ at little pigs with aqua hero and tiptoes , got my shoes. jimmy and I believe helped with rides again. hiked into forest , with true story and wiki . camped with those guys and snickers . shins improving. 

Cornelius green shelter to James River footbridge

slept terrible, cold sweaty and headaches along with an infected toe. hiked out and made it to next shelter by 9, hiked with snailman from Denmark . good kid . exchanged texts with jj. tried to hook up in buena vista. never happened but I got into town to get more bandages and bacitracin. stayed at budget inn. Memorial Day 

Lamberts meadow to daleville

quick hike to town . Waffle House , BBQ . ice up son. 

4 pines to Lambert meadow

awesome day. over the knob and cliffs . chance just paul tortoise. 42 and Indy . 

ankle hurts.  

Sarver Hollow to 4 pines

the climb out of Sarver Hollow sucked. the hike was very rough today. hiked with little spoon , longbow and Indy most of the day. had a nice break at the Audie Murphy Monument and proceeded late in the day to Dragons Tooth. this was interesting but my shin splints really ached with all the big drops and dips in the rock formations. it took me 6 hours to do the last 9 miles . the benefit was the last few miles featured a bloomed out rhodedendron forest. they were real and they were spectacular.  I arrived at four pines at 8:30pm and set up my tent in a cow pasture next to Indy, Just Paul, and Flinch. I hung out with Chance, Stargazer, and wrongway a bit before bed. 

Bailey GAP to Sarver Hollow Shelter

got up early and rolled out before wiki and opus. I slept ok. the terrain started to get more up and down than earlier in Virginia . overr farms and fields quite a bit and up a pretty hard climb to the ridge line. the campsite was a half mile back down the mountain with A poor water supply. canary and her dogs showed ups hour latter followed by i

opus, who looked bushed. 

Pearisburg va to Bailey Gap Shelter

I almost quit the trail this morning. the pain in my shins is searing. the swelling still significant, but I pushed on hoping to get 11 miles or so. about 8 miles in I reached the shelter for lunch.  the legs hurt but I was able to keep on. after lunch I thanked god for the day and allowing me to hike that far. after that prayer rhe pain dissipated and I got stronger . I caught up with pocket and twist at sleepy hollow shelter but moved on to Bailey Gap where I camped with Opus. wiki and dr forager . my lower leg on the left is still significantly swollen like my ankle swallowed a grapefruit . it's supposed to be cold tonight glad I grabbed those clothes from the goodwill in Pearisburg . 

zero day Pearisburg

the day consisted of me watching movies , most notably the mighty ducks, and icing my legs . for dinner I ate at the Mexican place again with aqua hero , tiptoe, pocket, and Bryan or milkman, his trailname changes . 

Wapiti Shelter to Pearisburg VA

left camp early and cold . my fingers stayed frozen till about 9;30 and I felt shin splints on my legs. I ran into Aquahero and Tiptoes, at lunch, I haven't seen them since Franklin. they are great and tiptoes hikes her ass off. I barely kept pace with them the rest of the day to pearisburg . I checked into the Holiday motor lodge and iced my shins which were horribly swollen. Had a great dinner at the Mexican joint in town with those two. aquahero ate two full meals for dinner plus some of tiptoes and then smashed a large blizzard at dq for dessert. amazing performance . I went Back to my room and watched Hand that rocks the cradle on lifetime. I cried again at a movie. I cried a few days ago at a Cameron Diaz film. wow. 

bland va to Wapiti Shelter

foot problems all day. 26 miles. hiked a bit with Opus. lighter pack meant more speed. really kicked ass but it got cold. camped with Cell phone but froze in my tent. no dleeping bag and no jacket and pants meant cold sleepless teeth chattering night. temps got to near freezing . bad night . 12 hours goes by real slow when you are cold and awake . 

va 623 to Bland VA

Ceres 42 to va 623

I look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through

Looking into their eyes I see them running too

Honey you really tempt me

You know the way you look so kind

I'd love to stick around but I'm running behind

You know I don't even know what I'm hoping to find

Running into the sun but I'm running behind

VA 610 to Ceres 42

Super short day slack packing I did it in a few hours, and enjoyed nice talks on the trail with some dayhikers. I did have a bite to eat at a pavilion just off the trail. lots of cows, lots of phlox along the water source.  most of the day I hung out with 12%, and we just goofed off, and he helped me pick up the trail magic I left at Dickey Gap, and at the the Settlers House. i left several cases of Soda Pop, candy, oranges , strawberries, bananas and so on. it seemed thru hikers enjoyed it .  12% and I cleaned up the trail magic, and shuttled Noro V , Space Cadet, Flinch, Tortoise and just paul , amongst others  into Marion with the glorious car. we then crashed at the comfort inn. off the trail for 8 days! 

Marion VA to VA 610

got up early and banged out the 10 miles to Atkins over the farms and the honeysuckle and crackling power lines , all while trying to listen my iPod. I got to Atkins and ate lunch at The Barn, and got a rental car and gave hikers shuttles for a few hours. it was nice to help out hikers. I gave Iron Chef and Bobcat a ride into Marion. I later checked into the Relax Inn, and I then hiked out to Va 610 and back to Atkins. hiking without a pack felt strange . I had dinner at The Barn with MC. Early to Bed! one more day before I get time off to go see family and sign away my business. 

Old Orchard Shelter to Marion Va

I got going early and hiked the 10 miles to troutdale by 10:35am. I hitched into the Fox Creek General Store, and got a ride from a nice guy Bill and his dog Rufus in his pickup truck. I had a decent Turkey Reuben and ressupplied for a few days . I cooked onto the next camping area and moved on to Partnership Shelter, but I saw a party scene there. I decided to hitch into Marion Va . after grabbing a ice cream sundae at Sonic, I got a room at the econolodge and quickly fell asleep . 

Deep Gap to Old Orchard Shelter

I started out with Kat, and it was ok to Thomas Knob Shelter for a break. we then entered Grayson Highlands State Park and it's wide open vistas, rock laden outcroppings and feral ponies. the trail was filled with Boy Scouts and they scared away the herd of ponies which angered me, and saddened Kat. we grabbed lunch on a sunny spot with Just Paul, Tortoise and Flinch. Kat and I were late getting out, and as luck would have it, a herd passed through just as we were leaving and we got great pics and video of these freaky horses. The rest of the day saw Kat struggle into camp, with me ending up carrying her pack, her feet were bad, and she needs to get off the trail. I set up my tent and cooked dinner and went to bed. 

Saunders Shelter to Deep Gap

I got ready to go at 7:30am and Kat came out of her tent and asked if I could wait a few minutes for her. I did and we left camp at 8:15am. the early part of the day was pretty standard not too difficult , but Kat struggled on the climb up Whitetop Mtn. She was way behind with Tortoise while I quickly climbed up to Buzzard Rocks with Just Paul. They are a Father and daughter from Wilmington MA. At the top, Kat looked ready to give up, but we coached her along, and we arrived at Deep Gap at 6:00pm. 16 miles is a lot for her, just starting out and all. I was antsy all day as I felt my body could have gone faster and longer than this crew, but their company was fun. Kat used my stove for dinner and she is low on food. she didn't pack properly for this section. it's very cold and windy around here. somewhat unexpected. At camp tonight is Kat, Simple, Kate, Just Paul, Tortoise, and Flinch. 

Damascus to Saunders Shelter

I spent most of the day trying to patch up my air mattress, as it got a hole in it. sleeping on the ground is cold and miserable. I had breakfast with aloha nice shirt at the Dairy King, which wasn't great , then hung out at the outfitter most of the day. Neckbone and Mud came by and we chatted for a bit, and it was sure nice to see those boys. a little later 12% came by and we split a pizza at Blue Blaze Cafe, and he told me how it was going. the hole in my pad, was unpatchable apparently, so I just sighed and started to pack to head out of town. as I was getting my stuff together at the Hostel, a young lady named Katherine asked me if I was going into the trail and did I mind if she tagged along. I said sure , and we headed out at 2:30. we hiked the Creeper trail till it connected with the AT, and did 9 miles to the shelter. I set up my tent on a pine needle laden area, and cooked up Rice and beans for dinner. I helped Kat get settled as she is a very inexperienced backpacker, and chatted with hikers Weatherman, Simple and Kate. 

campsite to Damascus

today began with my alarm going off at 6am, and a reluctant departure from camp just before 7. the terrain was supposed to be easy, and I shot out pretty well for the first two hours. The trail was wet and foggy from the downpour the previous night, and my shoes carried the evidence of that, as they felt heavy with rain soaked socks. I tried to average 3mph the whole day to get my 30 plus mile day. I hiked around a pack that included Dad, Bobcat, Tortoise, Sparky, Iron Chef, and a German couple . I staggered into Damascus around 6 pm with sore feet and a huge appetite . I had a burger at BlueBlaze Cafe, and Aloha came in and offered for me to stay in his room at the hostel. I played cards and hung out with Wrongway, Formage, Wrecking Ball, Swashbuckler, Kate and Simple. 

Hampton TN to somewhere after Vandever Shelter

Today began at 6 am with a couple of jackasses from New York being loud in the common area of the Hostel. not surprising. The rainstorm that was supposed to happen hasn't appeared. i shot over to the laundromat after breakfast and noticed they didn't open till 11. bummer. I went back to the hostel and was undecided what to do. I went back and climbed Pond Flats in quick order (2&1/2 hrs) then returned to hostel and did my laundry, chatted with Space Cadet and Lost and Found for a bit and had lunch. 2:30 came and it still hadn't rained and I decided to head out and get to the first campsite by Watauga Dam. I bumped into Hawksbill at the trailhead and he was vomiting and writhing in pain. poor guy, I helped him get a ride to town, and I feared he has contracted the dreaded Norovirus, at Kincora Hostel last night. once on the trail the hike was super and I decided to hike until the rains fell. I pushed on and ran into Bobcat , Iron Chef and Sparky at a water source, Iron Chef was super ill as well. he looked white as a ghost and his trademark smile and cordiality was vacant. he stayed at Kincora last night. I was kind, but kept ten feet between us, and moved on. I pushed deep into the evening and ran into good pals Neckbone and Mud at 6pm. Neckbone was a bit ill but felt it was some spicy food he had eaten in Boone Nc the night before. I chatted for a bit , only because I love those boys, and moved on, as the shelters I never stay in anyway because they are filled with mice, rats and chronic snorers and farters. I hiked a little past there and the rain came hard and the fog rolled in. I stopped at a water source and set up my tent, and while retrieving water from a pathetic pool about three inches deep, ran into Seabiscuit, a young guy, who is suffering from this illness. he looked terrible. I scooted back to my tent and cooked up some noodles for dinner.