(added some more info since last night's update)
Sorry for not updating in a while, I had no time in Pearisburg, as we did an in-and-out resupply of sorts. Stayed the night but were only there in the evening, so no library visit for me. Tonight I'm in Daleville, I think. It's kind of a big interchange of two highways and an interstate, between Daleville and Troutville. Fast food, gas stations, and motels... quite a difference from my previous week of mountaintop sunsets, trees, and lots and lots of rocks. And though I have many gripes against this civilization into which I've just jumped back into, sure is nice to get a shower, and gorge myself on food.
Been pushing some big miles lately. Enoch has family he's meeting for Shennendoah N.P. and I'm trying to meet up with a friend up near there too. Out of Pearisburg, did a 12, then a 20, two 18s and today a 24. My body hurts.
Been a good few days though. The first night out we were up on Symms Meadow, which has taken Max Patch's place as best campsite so far. Had a great view (the meadow was on a mountain ridge), with a perfect sunset and an amazing sunrise. A new friend, "Simply" had some whiskey, and Enoch and I ate quesedillas for dinner (KBomb had packed himself out a strip steak and corn on the cob!). The weather has been great too, except for today, with a lot of rain, fog, and cooler temps.
The fog and rain really kind of blew the day, really. We had camped just a bit past VA 624, after stopping at a gas station for burgers and hotdogs, next to a stream. But there was cow shit around, so we didn't get any water, had a dry night. We hiked for 6 miles before we could eat breakfast (besides candy bars), aiming for a shelter with a clean water source, a seasonal spring, which turned out to be dry. Shit. So we had another candy bar, and hiked the mile to the next shelter, where there was a year-round spring. But the skies dumped on us in the meantime; and with the temperature drop, we were freezing cold for hours. It didn't help that we didn't pur rain gear on, so we were soaked to the bone. Hiked all day in wet shoes, and here's the kicker. McAffee Knob and Tinker Cliffs are supposed to have great views, but with the fog, there was nothing to see, especially on the Knob. It was like staring into the void, just a pure whiteness. I had been looking forward to that section too, so it was a big disappointment. S0 being tired and sore, plus wet and viewless, the day was a bit crappy. Yet it seemed to improve all day, from being in a terrible mood in the morning, to happy as a pig in shit by nightfall. Not a bad way to live a day, I guess. Improvement is always good.
Anyways, I'm zeroing here tomorrow. We're all pretty tired, and I don't know if we're going to make our schedules. I myself haven't slept good in a few days, thanks to a too-warm sleeping bag, lots and lots of bug bites (I hate no-see-ums), and extremely loud snorers in the last two shelters we stayed at. Makes a man want to camp out all the time, but when you're tired, you don't always feel like setting up camp. So here's to a nice day off and lots of eating!
Oh and by the way, if I find the hiker who's spreading the lie that Virginia is flat, I am going to kill him. Kill him dead.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Damascus, take two
EDIT: Wanted to point out I added some links, to Snap+Snack's blog, and to a link to a site that displays some photos of my trip.
Yeah, I'm back in Damascus. I woke up last Saturday to find that Kevin, AKA K-Bomb (newest member of the crew, who joined us about two weeks ago when the last member of his group left the trail with an injury), had made a deal with a guy to shuttle us up to US-11, near Atkins VA so we could hike south-bound to Trail Days, a hiker festival here in Damascus. I was originally going to skip it, in fact so was everyone else, or at least we hadn't decided, but it became so easy to get back that we figured why not. We're camped at a park that for the weekend is called "tent city," in probably the soggiest place ever. It's been rainy and we're near a creek; I wasn't there when the site was chosesn, I was busy jogging back to town as I'll explain below; but the whole park is pretty wet so I guess that's just life.
Anyways, Virginia is a damn beautiful state. Up by the Greyson Highlands and Mount Rogers, there's a lot of huge open expanses, like the balds I mentioned before; lots of grassy fields dotted with little trees and shrubs. The views are amazing, some liken it to Montana. I loved all the rock formations and outcrops, they reminded me of Lord of the Rings scenes of Rohan. And there's actually herds of feral ponies there; you can walk right up to them, and they like to try to eat your pack.
Still, you don't get good days without bad ones, and I'll admit I've had plenty in the last week. First day was great, second day was a stormy one in a very small, VERY full shelter. The third day I had a migraine and a 9 mile hike in freezing, damp, and very windy weather. Only 9 miles because I stopped at a shelter for a nap, threw up, and decided I wasn't budging. Fortunately everyone else was happy to stay, seeing as how we had a lot of time to get to Damascus and didn't want to get here early and spend money. I felt better nearly right after I puked; and being the only ones at that shelter, to stay occupied we were wrestling and throwing each other's shoes down the mountain, then played cards. Later that night Snap taught us some yoga, which I'm glad we finished before those two guys showed up because some of those moves were pretty ridiculous looking. Fourth day was the awesome day in the Highlands and sunshine, fifth day my left ankle decided it had had enough of all these Virginia rocks and was going to start aching again, this time in the tendons in front, also my right foot on top again.
Today was a short hike into town, but painful. I got a shower at The Place, a hostel, and left my wallet there. Thank God for good people, though; Rambo picked it up and gave it to someone else, who was there after I jogged back from Tent City once I learned of my idiocy. It's not often in my life I feel like a lucky man, but I sure did today. Not sure if it's a good omen, though, or if I'm ready for 3 days of straight up partying. I started thinking I should have skipped Trail Days, that I should just thumb it back up to Atkins and hike short days until my crew catches back up to me. Sad thing is, Snap and Snack are getting off for a week, for a wedding Snap is going to be in, so the crew won't even be the crew; I'll sure miss hiking with them. Funny how this Trail experience keeps changing.
Well, I'm about out of time here at the library, so I'll have to leave it there.
Yeah, I'm back in Damascus. I woke up last Saturday to find that Kevin, AKA K-Bomb (newest member of the crew, who joined us about two weeks ago when the last member of his group left the trail with an injury), had made a deal with a guy to shuttle us up to US-11, near Atkins VA so we could hike south-bound to Trail Days, a hiker festival here in Damascus. I was originally going to skip it, in fact so was everyone else, or at least we hadn't decided, but it became so easy to get back that we figured why not. We're camped at a park that for the weekend is called "tent city," in probably the soggiest place ever. It's been rainy and we're near a creek; I wasn't there when the site was chosesn, I was busy jogging back to town as I'll explain below; but the whole park is pretty wet so I guess that's just life.
Anyways, Virginia is a damn beautiful state. Up by the Greyson Highlands and Mount Rogers, there's a lot of huge open expanses, like the balds I mentioned before; lots of grassy fields dotted with little trees and shrubs. The views are amazing, some liken it to Montana. I loved all the rock formations and outcrops, they reminded me of Lord of the Rings scenes of Rohan. And there's actually herds of feral ponies there; you can walk right up to them, and they like to try to eat your pack.
Still, you don't get good days without bad ones, and I'll admit I've had plenty in the last week. First day was great, second day was a stormy one in a very small, VERY full shelter. The third day I had a migraine and a 9 mile hike in freezing, damp, and very windy weather. Only 9 miles because I stopped at a shelter for a nap, threw up, and decided I wasn't budging. Fortunately everyone else was happy to stay, seeing as how we had a lot of time to get to Damascus and didn't want to get here early and spend money. I felt better nearly right after I puked; and being the only ones at that shelter, to stay occupied we were wrestling and throwing each other's shoes down the mountain, then played cards. Later that night Snap taught us some yoga, which I'm glad we finished before those two guys showed up because some of those moves were pretty ridiculous looking. Fourth day was the awesome day in the Highlands and sunshine, fifth day my left ankle decided it had had enough of all these Virginia rocks and was going to start aching again, this time in the tendons in front, also my right foot on top again.
Today was a short hike into town, but painful. I got a shower at The Place, a hostel, and left my wallet there. Thank God for good people, though; Rambo picked it up and gave it to someone else, who was there after I jogged back from Tent City once I learned of my idiocy. It's not often in my life I feel like a lucky man, but I sure did today. Not sure if it's a good omen, though, or if I'm ready for 3 days of straight up partying. I started thinking I should have skipped Trail Days, that I should just thumb it back up to Atkins and hike short days until my crew catches back up to me. Sad thing is, Snap and Snack are getting off for a week, for a wedding Snap is going to be in, so the crew won't even be the crew; I'll sure miss hiking with them. Funny how this Trail experience keeps changing.
Well, I'm about out of time here at the library, so I'll have to leave it there.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Damascus, VA
Made it to another new state! The hiking of late has been excellent, I'm feeling much better than when I wrote last time, the walks are often incredibly beautiful, and the terrain has been pretty easy. The land has changed slowly as I've been walking. The views no longer reveal seperate mountain peaks, now the mountains are long, mostly level-topped ridges, with the occasional higher knob along the way. Makes for easier walking--most of the time. This will never really be easy; just when you think it is, either you're doing more miles, pushing harder, or you get hurt, or it rains... best leave your pride at home.
And it's true, a huge number of people have recently dropped out, including many of the guys who were doing the big miles early on, all the ones who one would think would have easily made it. Injuries can happen to anyone. So can discouragement, and boredom. So I'm just trying to do my thing and not feel too big about it. It does suck, though, because much of the group I had been loosely hiking with the last month or so are gone; on the plus side I'm meeting many new people.
Had a great night on Tuesday. We were up on Iron Mountain, a long ridge that parallels Lake Watauga, formed behind Watauga Damn. One of the most beautiful views so far, and it didn't diminish one bit come nightfall. The stars came out over the lake, and for once we could get a good view of them, through a large opening in the trees. The mountains across the valley, before inflamed by the setting sun, were now so dark, though you could still make out seperate ridges; they pale in the distance so that it almost looks fake. There was a little town directly down below us, close enough to hear the dogs bark, but I guess it was a few miles down and away. There were lights all around the lake too; the whole sight was beautiful, jewel-like. Here we were, way up on a mountain, so far from that world down below, with everyone watching TV, with flush toilets and showers close at hand, more food than they can eat. You miss some of it sometimes, though not all of it by far, and not all the time. I didn't mind that I was sleeping in a sleeping bag with only the stars for a roof; I guess I prefer it that way.
Well, anyways, the last couple of days we've been doing big miles, so we could push into Damascus early the third day (today). Tuesday we did ~18, and did a 22 miler yesterday. Hiking miles like that just isn't much fun, not the 22 at least. You don't feel like you can stop and enjoy anything, I even felt rushed at our lunch break; I wanted to take a nap, but had too many miles to go. But everyone seems agreed there, I think we're going to be staying in the teens for a while. It the terrain stays like this, 16, 17 mile days aren't bad.
Lastly, I wanted to make sure I didn't offend anyone with my comment about the Protestant church I visited. Didn't mean the service was bad, just that they stumbled through it a bit. Maybe I was just expecting something different. But the sermon was one of the best I ever heard; had to do with not staring at the sky after Jesus ascended, not only focusing on only the life to come, but to get to work HERE, in this life. There's a lot we need to do Saw a sticker at a hostel today that summed it up nicely: If you care for the Creator, care for the Creation. Which of course fits right into what I was saying before about war, nukes, and pollution. Environmentalism, war... these are NOT political issues. They are first and foremost moral issues, and people need to realize that before any progress is going to be made. And I don't mean some kind of strict moral code from some high authority. Just simply look at what pollution and war do to each other and the world we and our children live in; it should be clear that they are wrong, for anyone, whatever their religious persuasion might be.
And it's true, a huge number of people have recently dropped out, including many of the guys who were doing the big miles early on, all the ones who one would think would have easily made it. Injuries can happen to anyone. So can discouragement, and boredom. So I'm just trying to do my thing and not feel too big about it. It does suck, though, because much of the group I had been loosely hiking with the last month or so are gone; on the plus side I'm meeting many new people.
Had a great night on Tuesday. We were up on Iron Mountain, a long ridge that parallels Lake Watauga, formed behind Watauga Damn. One of the most beautiful views so far, and it didn't diminish one bit come nightfall. The stars came out over the lake, and for once we could get a good view of them, through a large opening in the trees. The mountains across the valley, before inflamed by the setting sun, were now so dark, though you could still make out seperate ridges; they pale in the distance so that it almost looks fake. There was a little town directly down below us, close enough to hear the dogs bark, but I guess it was a few miles down and away. There were lights all around the lake too; the whole sight was beautiful, jewel-like. Here we were, way up on a mountain, so far from that world down below, with everyone watching TV, with flush toilets and showers close at hand, more food than they can eat. You miss some of it sometimes, though not all of it by far, and not all the time. I didn't mind that I was sleeping in a sleeping bag with only the stars for a roof; I guess I prefer it that way.
Well, anyways, the last couple of days we've been doing big miles, so we could push into Damascus early the third day (today). Tuesday we did ~18, and did a 22 miler yesterday. Hiking miles like that just isn't much fun, not the 22 at least. You don't feel like you can stop and enjoy anything, I even felt rushed at our lunch break; I wanted to take a nap, but had too many miles to go. But everyone seems agreed there, I think we're going to be staying in the teens for a while. It the terrain stays like this, 16, 17 mile days aren't bad.
Lastly, I wanted to make sure I didn't offend anyone with my comment about the Protestant church I visited. Didn't mean the service was bad, just that they stumbled through it a bit. Maybe I was just expecting something different. But the sermon was one of the best I ever heard; had to do with not staring at the sky after Jesus ascended, not only focusing on only the life to come, but to get to work HERE, in this life. There's a lot we need to do Saw a sticker at a hostel today that summed it up nicely: If you care for the Creator, care for the Creation. Which of course fits right into what I was saying before about war, nukes, and pollution. Environmentalism, war... these are NOT political issues. They are first and foremost moral issues, and people need to realize that before any progress is going to be made. And I don't mean some kind of strict moral code from some high authority. Just simply look at what pollution and war do to each other and the world we and our children live in; it should be clear that they are wrong, for anyone, whatever their religious persuasion might be.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Dennis Cove, near Hampton TN
First, there are a ton of new pics posted on Snap's blog; see previous post for the link.
Well, I seem to have hit a wall the other day. I blame poor meal planning, mainly. In Erwin, the hostel owners ran a shuttle into town to the Post Office, leaving me only ten minutes or so to run down to a Walgreens to try and get my resupply. Well, ramen, easy mac, granola bars and snickers were the mainstay for the next few days, and I definitely didn't have my lunches and snacks figured out too well. I think I exhausted myself, I've been feeling nauseous on and off the last two days. Fortunately, we're taking a zero today. Unfortunately, I can't gorge myself to try and regain some energy reserves, though as the day goes on I'm getting my appetite back. Spent most of the afternoon napping, which also helps.
I have had some great times even so; I think the morning climb two days ago up Hump Mountain was excellent; probably the most beautiful mountain so far. Roan Mountain the day before was also beautiful, reminded me of Michigan's UP, what with all the conifer forests. I really love the balds, though. Hump Mountain is a bald; that is, the top of it is grassy and meadow-like, for reasons unknown to anyone. Great views from the tops, you can see the trail snaking along the grass-covered ridges.
Our sleeping arrangements last night came about in a pretty interesting way. Early on in the hike we had met this married couple from Johnson City, TN, named Adam (Slowtrain) and Rachel (EZ Does It). Turns out Adam's parents have a cabin about 200 yards from the A.T. where it crosses Dennis Cove Rd. But they had been off the trail a few days for a wedding, and were a few days behind us anyways. So we got to the cabin, with no one there, and were going to just camp out on the lawn or porch (as they had suggested we do if they weren't there). Then, needing resupply and dinner, we start walking into town, which was starting to feel like a long walk over a damn mountain; after 15.5 miles already that day, we weren't excited for that. So I heard a car coming and stuck out my thumb. Best luck ever hitchhiking so far... a very low-traffic road, and the first guy stopped. We rode down a really twisty-turny road in the back of a pickup that was going way too fast. Tons of fun!
After a great, cheap meal and grocery shopping, we started walking, but no one was driving by. We ended up calling Kincorra Hostel, which was also near the AT, for a shuttle back. Bob Peoples is a great friend to hikers, and a great guy, didn't even charge us for the ride, even though we weren't staying at his hostel. We hung out there a while with everyone that was (the place was full, no room at the Inn) then walked back to the cabin, ready to sleep out.
Well, Adam and Rachel ended up showing up! It was so cool, they're a lot of fun to hang out with, and we stayed up till 3 talking and drinking. Considering we usually go to bed at 9 or whenever it gets dark, it was a real crazy night. We went to church this morning, which was different. Never been to a Protestant church; actually, the presentation seemed almost half-assed. I don't really mean that offensively, I'm just used to the exact-same-every-time Catholic Mass... they have that thing down to a science. I'm glad I went though, it was a good experience.
Kind of goes along with where my mind's been lately. There's a lot of time to think when you hike, since you're mostly staring at the ground for 8 hours. Half the time I'm just playing songs in my head, since that's all the music I have, but sometimes I have some pretty deep thoughts, about God, and nature, philosophy, the pollution killing all the trees in the Smokies. Being so far from the canned news sources and media, there feels like there's so much freedom of thought, and much more depth to thought.
For example, the other day I was hiking alone through some beautiful forest, and was thinking about how between God and man, only man has ever shown any real intent on destroying the world. Nature, or Creation if you prefer, has been flourishing for so long, since the beginning. But look at how we war; we invent the atomic bomb and use it immediately. I got so depressed thinking about how the longer we have nukes, the more certain it is we're going to use them. Sad to know that all this beauty I'm walking in will probably be turned to ash unless we get our act together as a species. If only we could have time to think about what life really is all about, not all the little bullshit material things, but the things that matter, like family, friends, love, faith, and nature; if only we could open up to one another and to the world, open the clenched fist in our hearts, silence the voice that screams No! to the world and say Yes; if only we could look for what connects us rather than what divides, because the differences are so small, the similarities so overarching.
I'm only just scratching the surface here; hard to condense so many hours of ideas into a little blog. So long as I don't waste all my time playing songs in my head, I just may end up with some material for a book.
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