Damascus, VA

Howdy everyone! Just dropping a note here to say that we’ve made it to VA! The blogs are about a week (or more) behind, due to my having to mail them every 5-7 days.  If you haven’t found a good map to track my progress, I hastily uncovered this one (http://postholer.com/gmap/gmap.php?trail=at).  It’s pretty interactive, and you’ll probably have to zoom in to see the towns I’m walking by or through.

My birthday was marvelous! Birthday cake in a mason jar is a fine idea, Mom! Did you bake it in the jar, or cram it in afterward? Either way, it was delicious with a pint of cold milk…

Until next time…

Trail Letter 5: 3/30 and 3/31

11.0 “re-” miles today. After a very relaxing zero day in Hot Springs (we hit up the hot tub again, and the Goddesses had bountiful and delicious food — Elaine’s peach cobbler was the best I’ve ever had (you should post the recipe, Elaine)), the TN Studs were reunited and began trekking together again. We’re on a stretch of trail now — from Hot Springs to Erwin — that we (we being me, Bird, Dave, and Cody and J.D. and Austin) hiked about 13 months ago, except then we hiked N to S. We’re camping at the shelter where we met Negative Nancy last year — Negative Nancy was this guy who had nothing positive to say about the A.T. or Hot Springs, so he’s earned his name and his place in our hearts.

Feezel has decided to do no more than 15 mi each day, so we’ll be putting on the brakes for at least a week — maybe more. I can definitely use the slowdown but my body felt the best today than it has for a while. The blisters area on track to recovery, and the shin splint was nonexistent. We came out of the gates way too fast, so now we’ve gotta swallow our manliness and take it easy. I hate being passed.

I’m trying to use my poncho as my tarp/shelter tonight, like Feezel’s been doing. If I can get comfy with it, I can send my tent home and save 1 lb 10 oz. We’ll see how it does tonight — it’s purdy ghetto.

3/31

15.4 ever-improving miles today. The poncho-tarp shelter left me in a foul mood this morning. Most of my stuff was damp at best, including a half-soaked boot. I’m chalking it up to user-error, thought, and am still excited about making it work.

I started feeling better about 15 min. after we started, then less than 3 miles later we saw a sign advertising Trail Magic. (First we met Windex, thru-hiker class of ‘01 and her Laberdoodle — mix between Poole and Lab — and her friend.)

When we reached the road, Trail Magicians Hercules and Fal drove us to their home just down the road… and fed us the fattest Trail Magic meal (besides the Goddesses’ never-ending smorgasboard) we’ve had to date. Included: Belgian waffle, cup of coffee, bowl of super-delicious red beans and rice, cup of ??, then hot homemade blackberry cobbler. Feezel and Bigfoot ordered the banana split for dessert, and they were quite possibly the largest splits I’ve ever seen. Also available were brownie Sundays, tons of drink choices, ice cream, and pork stew.

The weather was dreary in the morning, but by noon was only cloudy. We hiked over one of the funnest parts yet — it was a rocky, rocky ridge with lots of little ups and downs. (It’s where we found that No. 27 last year, Cody.) We rolled into Jerry Cabin shelter and cooked some dinner, etc. Time Traveler is here, along with two section-hikers — an engineer who works at the GM proving grounds testing hybrids — and his wife.

Feezel “lost” his fuel before remembering he put it in the rafters — what a doofus. I’ve decided to give the Trail until April 9th to name me — and if it hasn’t by then, I have on ready to roll — a Trail name is more than notoriety, it’s a necessity.

Trail Letter 5: 3/27 and 3/28

14.1 rusty miles today. 3 zero days in a row is way too much down time, especially when the body’s in the middle of becoming a hiking machine. It was great for my feet, though. My left foot’s two blisters are well on their way to healing, and the right foot pinky toe is still nasty but is also doing much better. I wrapped up my skin as per Erin’s advice that a shin splint is muscle tearing away from the bone, and it’s felt OK today. Downhill is still very painful.

We stopped at Max Patch for the night – it’s a huge field that stretches hundreds of feet on a mountaintop. Incredible 360 degree vistas, and I can see the sunset and sunrise from my sleeping bag — I’m not setting up my tent, gonna sleep under the stars tonight.

We passed/met about 10 hikers today that we’d already passed. I caught up to Mangy Moe & Gracie/River, the dog I mentioned before. Snapped a pic of her & Moe’s back. Tomorrow we’re putting in about 20 miles to meet Feezel in Hot Springs.

There’s a kid up here on the windy bald with a “stunt kite,” and it is really cool.

You know, the return to creature comforts for three days wasn’t as relaxing and enjoyable as one might expect. I felt very de-motivated and soft? the entire hike today. I now know, assuredly, that no matter what, the truth is that hot tubs, cable, TV, running water, CHA, etc. no longer serve as rewards or things to look forward to anymore.

(I’m posting two a day until we get back up to speed.)

Trail Letter 5: 3/28

20.0 squeaky miles today. The hike yesterday greased the joints/muscles/feet fairly well, but I’m still not a well-oiled machine. We rolled into the town of Hot Springs today — the Trail passes through “downtown”, by a Laundromat, some five and dimes, an outfitter, a post office, and some restaurants.

Bigfoot and I bought a campsite for the night, then showered up and tried to find Feezel. We ended up sitting in a Hot Springs Resort Spa hottub for an hour, and as we were walking back into town, Feezel rolled up in a Ford Expedition. His girlfriend Caitlin’s mom and a group of her peers/friends are meeting at the campground for a “Goddess Weekend.” It’s usually women only — actually it’s always women only — but they’re tolerating us very hospitably. They’ve fed us till we’re stuffed, and they paid for Bigfoot’s and my campsite for a night. And they’re super entertaining.

Feezel’s been downing 2000 mg Vit. I for the last couple of days — knee problems. We’ve decided to back off on the mileage — both Feezel’s and my body need less stress for a while so we can heal. It’s ironic that Bigfoot, with the heaviest pack, has no “serious” injuries whereas lightpackers Feezel and I are having trouble. Maybe I should put some rocks in my pack…

Anyway, we’re taking a zero day tomorrow to hang out with the incredible Goddesses (and heal up some more).

Erwin, TN

I’ve found some internet here in Erwin, TN! Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement and other comments.Gr. Diana, it’s been a pleasure reading your comments and enjoying your nibbles. I hope my little journey can make you the popular-est lady on the block! J.D., send me an e-mail/leave a comment about your ship and your job. Where are you right now? I’m glad to hear the rubber is hitting the road on your photography career…contact my brother at bschwenk@idmcomp.com for website assistance. He’s done a handful of sites, all of which are nothing short of professional.  The more detailed in your description of what you want, the better, but just contact him first to see if he’s pro-bono and/or available. And then I want my goodies! Josh, I failed to mention this, but I picked up some insoles and sock liners in Hot Springs. That plus the moleskine has healed my feet to nearly 0 pain. Feet are very sensititve to small changes, as I’ve found out, so it’s important to listen to the pains they send and be very responsive to any baby blisters, pains, etc. So luckily, it looks like I made it out of this one relatively unscathed but with a valuable lesson. Thanks for looking out for me, and keep me posted with suggestions/ideas! Kristen, unfortunately for our communication, my feet are getting better. Maybe something else of mine will start deteriorating, and I can gross you out with horror stories about it. Mom, thanks for the much needed mail drops! Keep up the good work! Brah, excellent job on the site. I was gonna call you this morning, but it looks like we’re heading out…right about… now. Take care all!

Trail Letter 4: 3/23

17.6 magical miles today. The Smokies’ trees were dusted with icy-snowy-whiteness, and the gusty winds kept blowing the icy mix off the trees and into our faces and vision… mix that with some rays of sunshine leaking through the canopy and the near-luminescent-glowy green moss and you’ll hardly believe you’re on Earth. Earlier in the day, too, we could see a sea of clouds with mountain-islands poking through — it was like being on an airplane, except we were walking. Pics to follow, hopefully.

I forgot to note that yesterday I found an Indiana Jones style hat hanging in the shelter. My initial plan was to put a note in it asking other hikers to carry it to the next shelter, hopefully all the way to Katahdin. But the hat grew on me, so I’ve worn it all the way to Bigfoot’s house. Maybe *I’ll* take it to Katahdin…

After writing in the journal last night, I hung out around the campfire with tow engineers who worked for Siemens — they work on turbines for steam power generation and have made some for TVA. They said a huge one is scheduled for delivery next summer at Watts Bar.

Anyway, we made it to Bigfoot’s with Easter dinner still warm and the hot tub still hot. Both Dynamite (who looks like Napoleon Dynamite) and Sam tagged along and are taking zero days tomorrow on account of possible bad weather. It looks like Bigfoot and I may take 3 full days off(!!) before walking two more to Hot Springs where we’ll rendezvous with Feezel. The Feeze is continuing hiking the Smokies beginning tomorrow, and his dad’s doing two days with him so he won’t be lonely…

Hopefully I’ll be able to load some pictures soon (see right).