Blackberry Cobbler & Humble Pie ala Mode

     Well, it's been a while since Waynesboro. The Shennandoahs were pretty cool, but had their ups and downs (literally and figuratively). Leaving Waynesboro I said goodbye to friends whe were aqua-blazing (paddling the river rather than hiking the national park), some of whom I may never see again. I enjoyed stealth camping, rolling into pay campgrounds after the ranger had closed shop and breaking down my camp before they opened again. I enjoyed camp store breakfasts of Starbucks coffee, Pop Tarts, beer, and Cocoa Krispies to fuel up for 20+mi days. I developed a taste for Dr Pepper (and his cousin Dr WHAM) and I had the most amazing blackberry cobbler with blackberry ice cream.

     Those of us that remained endevoured to make the aqua-blazers envious of us, so we had a huge Hiker Trash party complete with a girl (Spins) doing her fire poi thing and having the ranger come over and threaten to call the cops on us. Awesome. I also had a great time staying a couple nights at a Grateful Dead inspired hostel called Terrapin Station. I was able to do a slack-pack from there.

     Unfortunately, many of these wonderful times came on the heals of my learning my limitations. After numerous consecutive days of heavy miles (the last being a 26miler), it caught it to me and I developed shin splints. I feel that I deserved that because I had stopped at a shelter for dinner and when asked if I was spening the night, I boasted that I was doing another 12mi once I was done. Contributing to the shin splint, in addition to the heavy miles and heavy pack, were my lack of resting, and the fact that my boots had been falling apart.

     I have learned a lesson in modesty and in taking care of myself. I've completed the over 500mi of the trail in Virginia and here in Harper's Ferry I bought new footware from the legendary Baltimore Jack. I've never hiked with a big pack and done big miles in trail runner height footware, so we'll see how it goes. They feel really good and light, so I'm hopeful, but I'll be in Rocksylvania soon so I'm unsure. I know that I need to take it easy and allow my body the time it needs to heal. I know that taking time to rest is an investment in being able to hike further.

     There have been many good and less than great moments since my last update, but through even the worst, I've been having the time of my life. I honestly can say that I haven't been this happy and felt this alive since I was a kid. In fact, this may very well be better than that.   

Living on Appalachian time

Another week has flown by. The obvious signs are near empty food bags, low energy, and sore feet. I've gone over 350 miles since my journey began almost four weeks ago. My pack has shrunk and I think I have too a little bit. Hard to tell. The days out here seem to last forever, but in a good way. Time seems to stand still and I savor each day, even when it's over 90 degrees and I'm struggling up a steep climb. The community and the memories that we forge each day on the trail or in camp are dear to me and I kow I'll look back fondly on them for the rest of my life. It makes me sad to think that someday this will have to end and I'll have to go back to "the real world". In many ways I am, like Thoreau, sucking out the marrow of life and living more fully, more completely than I have been able to perhaps since childhood. That feeling of endless days that I remember from summers of my youth has returned.

After days ruminating over decisions to be made and actions to be taken upon my return home, I gained some clarity and insight and have, to an extent, come to some conclusions in regards to my life's direction. Beyond that, I kept spinning my wheels thinking more and more about these things, which of course accomplished nothing. Then, I got another awakening. This time from the words of a fellow hiker, Hippy Kippy who's a professor of philosophy out in California.

He said "The trail clears the busy in your head, if you let it. All those things that must be done are distant and beyond the horizon." He is a very wise and peaceful man and I feel my life is richer for having met him.

Right now, I'm resting up at a B&B in West Middle of Nowhere (Montebello, Va). In a few days I'll hit Waynesboro and then be in the Shannandoahs ("the Shannies" as they are called) which will put me out of communication for over a week, maybe closer to two. It all depends on how the miles roll out. I am enjoying my eexperience to the utmost and continue to meet wonderful people everyday as well as seeing people I'll only known a couple weeks but who seem like old friends. All I can say is that my days out here on the trail are the sweetest I have ever known. Namaste.

Timing, planning, and other things beyond my control

The past week feels like it was a month or a year ago. Bland now has a certain nostalgia about it. I wound up meeting Clean Shave and sharing a motel room with him and there were others staying there as well, so we actually had a ball there. I did a mad dash to get to Pearisburg to get a package there before the post office closed on Saturday so I wouldn't have to wait through the long weekend in that town. In Pearisburg I had cheap Mexican food, counseled a suicidal guy at the bar, and learned that you can get breakfast at Dairy Queen. The best part was having a guy called "The Captain" take my pack in his truck to his place while I hiked the 23mi there for a huge party/hiker feed that he was having. I only managed to find his house in the dark by dumb luck, but so many things out here happen this way: better than could be planned and completely by surprise.

I came across wonderful cold beverages as "trail magic" several times. There's nothing I crave more on the trail. I've been struggling with my pack weight still and am hoping to send a third batch of things home. Now that I am here in Roanoke visiting with Heather, Matt, and Georgie, I have prepared another box of stuff to go back to NH including my sleeping bag which I've replaced with a light liner bag and a thin fleece blanket.

The timing for my visit couldn't have worked out much better. Early yesterday morning, my tent collapsed on me as I slept. Apparently one of the connectors between two seconds of pole snapped in the night. Also, my water filter completely failed on me and the manufacturer (MSR) basically said, tough luck. Packing things up, I headed out quickly over a long difficult ridge by Dragons Tooth. I was especially concerned about being able to get to the Catawba post office before it closed at 5pm. I finally made it down off the ridge to the road and from there went down the road and around the corner to a store where a bunch of hiker friends were hanging out. What was originally just going to be a quick stop for cold drinks and maybe a bite of lunch turned into something much longer. We played up our roles as "Hiker Trash" hanging out on the sidewalk eating food, drinking drinks, and some smoking cigarettes. Eventually we shared a couple six packs relaxing in the shade. It was a lot of fun and it inspired me to say "One of the best things about hiking the Appalachian Trail is not hiking the Appalachian Trail". What I meant is that it's the moments in between that are often when the best memories are made.

Looking at my map I saw that I could just go down the road to the post office and skip a featureless section of trail which all agreed was fine since I'd be walking from one point to the next. As I walked there, the third gear failure occurred: the temporary fix on my shoulder straps of my pack gave out... just a little before I picked up the replacement ones Mountainsmith sent me through the mail. I chilled out on the lawn of the PO replacing them while Heather came to pick me up.

Today, the good folks at Walkabout Outfitters helped me get a replacement connector and a new filter. I also got to spend quality time with Heather and played with baby Georgie. It was a good relaxing day that I enjoyed freshly showered and then wearing freshly laundered clothes. I also finally ate my fill. Tomorrow I'll be sad to say "goodbye" to my dear friends, but I'll have the consolation of climbing McAfee Knob which is said to have the second best views in Virginia. I'll also be feeling better about my gear, though I'll now be carrying a ton of food. One important lesson I'm learning is that things don't always go as we plan, and that can be the best news of all.