Hi everyone!
Jared and I have been in much better spirits since being back on the trail. My foot feels much better, but still flairs up every once and awhile. Even so, the milder terrain of Virginia has allowed us to increase our average miles. Back in Georgia, 18-20 mile days would've been unthinkable...but now they've become the norm. And the weather! Finally (!) the couple weeks of snow and cold have passed...the temps have been in the 70-80s with cool breezes, which is ideal hiking weather.
After leaving Damascus for the second time, we passed through some of the loveliest terrain of the whole AT. The trail took us over Mt. Rogers, the highest point in Virginia, and through Greyson Highlands State Park for a couple of days. It felt as though we woke up to find ourselves in Montana...the ridges were exposed and grassy, providing that "big sky" effect, and we watched groups of wild ponies (one of the reasons that this region is famous) roam the countryside. The weather was still pretty cold and windy at this point, so clumps of snow still persisted on the ridges. Snow always makes hiking a lot more challenging, and since it was in the process of melting, our shoes got soaked....but you can't argue the fact that it made things even more pretty.
Once through the Greyson Highlands, the weather got a little warmer. I took of my jacket, hat, and gloves in the first time in a long time (or what felt like a long time). We met up with many fellow thru-hikers over the next few days, as everyone seemed to have left Damascus at around the same time. Everyone pooled together at the famed Partnership hiking shelter. This shelter is special because of its proximity to a road and ranger station with a pay phone. A town is located a few miles down the road, making it possible to order pizza to the shelter....this is the _only_ shelter on the whole AT where it is possible to do this, and we all took advantage of this novelty. Once the pizza arrived, all talking stopped...we were so focused on eating. Then a huge thunderstorm rolled in to shake things up a little bit. We got drenched, but hiked fast to make it to a motel near Atkins, VA where we could stay dry. Parents of one of our fellow hikers, "Biscuits", met up with us and provided food the following night. These guys were so friendly and welcomed all of the hikers to share the food that they brought.
Since that last motel stay, we've been hiking for 5 days to make it to Pearisburg, VA. Most of this time we have been walking high up on the ridge, with views of farmland and rolling hills to the west and east. Yesterday, we hiked over a suspension bridge crossing a large river. It was hot enough to warrent a swimming break, and we figured "we deserve it". What a wonderful change from the blowing snow only a week prior!
So finally, this brings us into Pearisburg, VA...approximately 25% through the state. This town is only 20 miles away from Virginia Tech (in Blacksburg) and you can tell that this town has been hit hard by last week's horrible shootings. Ribbons and signs decorate every street and business.
Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well! We are in feeling good and are happy with our progress.
Much love,
maribeth (aka dirty blonde)
Just a quick post from the Dirty Blonde. Unfortunately, we are back in Damascus :(
We left Damascus on Friday 4/13 (Friday the 13th) and hiked 15 miles. Woke up the next morning and hiked 8 miles to a road, and made a difficult decision to hitch back into town. For about the past week, I have experienced pain in the arch of my right foot. Ignore it as I may, the pain worsened when we started hiking again. I'm sure it's nothing, but will see a Dr. tomorrow to be on the safe side. We've heard some horror stories about hikers blowing off pain when, in fact, something serious is going on (like a stress fracture, or severe plantar fasciitis). Another bad weather system moved into the mountains last night, and this also influenced our decision. As I look out the window, I can see blowing wet, heavy snow coating everything. Hiking through snow drifts with a bum foot wouldn't be a great idea.
I think both Jared and I are a bit sad today over our loss of momentum. But don't worry! We'll be back on the trail before you know it.
love, maribeth
Erwin, TN to Damascus, VA.
Day 1, Erwin, TN:
After slackpacking 27 miles into Erwin we were beat. We decided to take a day off and stay at Miss Janet's House (one of the most famous hostels on the trail). We had a good time socializing with other hikers. We got in bed by 10pm, but Miss Janet and other hikers decided to drive to the "Beauty Spot" and bestow some trail magic (a case of beer) on some hikers known to be camping there. Meanwhile, a hoard of rowdy hikers stayed behind. I had to laugh at the impossibility of sleep. Finally Miss Janet (a former preschool teacher) came back and imposed order on the children, but we did not get to sleep until 2am.
Day 2:Erwin to Low Gap (15 miles):
We hiked along the rapids of the Nolichucky River, up into the hills and over Unaka Mountain. It was a beautiful sunny day, but the wind picked up and the temperature dropped precipitously at night.
Day 3: Low Gap to Hughes Gap (stayed at the Greasy Creek Friendly) 13miles:
We woke up to a frigid morning and cooked breakfast while pacing with numb hands. We made it 8 miles to Greasy Creek Gap where we happened across a sign for the Greasy Creek Friendly Hostel a little ways off the trail. The sign warned us to beware of the irrate neighbor whose dogs are ferocious but contained by a fence. We wanted to hike continue hiking, but stay the night out of the cold. We walked to the hostel without harrassment from the neighbor and met the CeCe (Connie Cooks and Cleans), the hyperactive hostel owner. She talked our ear off about her recent divorce and her neighbor over veggie burgers. She told us that her neighbor has threatened hikers with baseball bats in the past and she called the police. He does not threaten violence anymore but is still a nuscience. This season he ripped down her sign on the trail and replaced it with "Closed for business." Apparently, when he knows that hikers are staying at the hostel, he rides his lawnmower out to get his mail at 4am where he blasts a stereo and bangs pots and pans. There are no nuscience laws in North Carolina so as long as he is on his property, he can get away with it. After lunch, CeCe drove us 5 miles up the trail and we slackpacked back to her place, sneeking around barns so her neighbor would not see us, for a good night's sleep.
Day 4: Over Roan and Bald Mountains to 19E (18.5 miles)
We started off the day climbing over 2000 feet up Roan Mountain (6,200 feet). The frozen spruce/fir forest at the upper elevations resembled the north country. After Roan we climbed a series of beautiful high elevation balds. The frost heaving from the previous night had thawed creating slippery, muddy trail conditions. The wind was howling and the snow started falling as we climbed the exposed Hump Mountain. We descended the mountain gradually over rocky trail and made it to Mountain Harbor Hostel before it really started snowing.
Day 5: 19E to Abby's Place (12 miles)
The temps stayed below freezing all day and 6-12 inches of snow had accumulated on the trail. We were the first to hike this section of trail after the snowstorm so we were blazing trail. It was difficult to follow the trail in the morning because it was not well blazed and followed a network of logging roads. Luckily we were hiking with a group (Monkey, Cocoa, and Flick) that had a map. The snowy scenery was serene, but the hiking was difficult. Each step required much more energy and it was a long 12 miles into Abby's Place. Upon arriving we were disheartened to see that Abby's place was a tool shed turned hostel, with no insulation and wood burning stove. The funny thing was he had many luxury amenities such as satellite TV, internet, and free long distance phone service. The hostel owers were extremely nice down to earth folks and we spent much time in their home keeping warm. We learned that Ken had hiked the AT twice, the international AT stretching from Florida to Quebec, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Long Trail in Vermont. His step father followed him for many of these treks in his RV allowing him to slackpack long miles and stay in a warm bed at night. This was the coldest night yet (single digits) and unfortunately the power went out in the bunkhouse leaving us without heat. We compensated by sleeping close in the same small bunk, wearing all of our clothes, and wrapping the body of our tent around our sleeping bags. We were able to sleep comfortably.
Day 6: Abby to Kincora (12 miles)
The snow gradually melted off the trail and we had a relatively easy hike into Kincora Hostel. It was Easter and also happened to be my 25th birthday. We were blessed to arrive 15 minutes before a huge Easter Feast was to be served. There were 20+ hungry hikers and everybody had heaping plates of seconds and even thirds. We ate until we burst and then had birthday muffins over a spirited game of Euchre. It was an ideal way to spend my birthday.
Day 7: Kincora to Vandeventer Shelter (17miles)
We climbed though the rocky and scenic laurel fork gorge to Laurel Falls. We then ascended and descended Pond Mountain to Watuga Lake. We stopped for lunch at the lake, heard a dog barking, and "Golden Boy" shouting for help. The dog had cornered him. I ran to see if the dog belonged to a neighbor near the lake and found that somebody had let the dog free to assault passing hikers. The dog finally bored of harrassing GoldenBoy and he slipped away. After lunch we hiked around the lake and up onto a ridge with no sign of the dog.
Day 8: Vandeventer Shelter to TN421 (18 miles)
Easy breezy ridge walk though some pretty Tennessee pastureland
Day 9: TN421 to Damascus, VA (15miles)
The winds were sustained at 20 mph with gusts to 40. We had to lean into the wind to stand up straight. We crossed the state line into Virginia, the longest state on the trail (533 miles). We have walked 459.5 miles and have now completed Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. We have walked merely 21% of the trail, though from what I have heard the southern section is more difficult than the middle sections encompassing Virginia and the Mid Atlantic states. We are slightly behind schedule right now, but expect that after we climb over Mt. Rogers 15-20 mile days will become the norm.
What an incredible journey with so much more to come!
Backbend (Jared)
Wow! We got slapped with a cold spell after we left Erwin, TN...the temps have been in the single digits and teens at night, and I don't even want to know the wind chill. We have been "hostel hopping" as much as we can...hiking far enough during the day to get to one of the few hiker hostels in the area, just to stay warm. It's only a $15 difference between being cold and miserable or warm and toasty...easy choice. We've met some cool people at these hostels, and I'll write more about it when we get into Damascus, VA (and we have some beautiful cold-weather pics to upload too!).
So yeah, this is just a quick post to say that we are doing pretty well.
love,
dirty blonde
Hi,
We are at Miss Janet's hostel in Erwin, TN.
On the AT people are given trailnames that encompass some trait or experience unique to the hiker. Other hikers refer and remember each other by their trailname.
Mb's trailname is "dirty blonde"
Jared's trailname is "backbend"
Our hiker friends names are hellbender, jonny hand, freight train, stash, remix, invisible man, night rider, anonymous, etc.
First full day of rain on April 1st. The trees have not yet leafed out and the wild flowers have exploded in the last week.
April 2nd we met "hellbender's" friend at Sam's Gap along a road. She volunteered to carry our packs to Erwin, TN, the next trail town. I carried a few supplies to carry us through the day, about 10 lbs in total. We slackpacked 27 miles to Erwin. We had to hike fast to make it before sunset. We were torn up and exhausted by the end of the day, but we made it. We are taking it easy today. We'll hike 5-12 miles today out of Erwin. It supposed to storm tonight.
North Carolina Balds
The forest service and the people of North Carolina love bald (treeless, grassy) mountain tops. We've hiked over a number of balds since entering the state most notably Max Patch and Big Bald. They were originally created by grazing animals and insect damage that prevented tree and shrub regeneration. Now the forest service maintains them with a mower and a chainsaw.
Our next stop is 71 miles at Kincora Hiker Hostel. After that we will hike another 50 miles into Damascus, VA.
