Ashby Gap to Boiling Springs

It's definitely been an eventful week!  It's hard to believe that just a week ago I was in Montana with my family!  I flew back to Washington DC last Monday and was now to get in 3 miles that night.  The next 2 days were pretty short, an 18 miler then a 10 in order to get myself to the VA /WV border.  So I got myself there around noon, set up camp, then grabbed my water bottles and some money and headed down 2 miles to Harpers Ferry. I am so glad i went down!  In town I was able to grab a good lunch and hang out at the ATC for awhile & get my picture in the book.  I was also able to find some hiking friends' pictures from previous years.  I ended up getting back up to camp at around 5 and trying to sleep until midnight, mostly without any luck!  

-THE 4 STATE CHALLENGE-

So even though there really isn't a whole lot to tell about this day it was one of the more exciting for me!  I was on the trail right at midnight and night hiked down through Harpers Ferry and made it up to Waverton Cliffs for sunrise 5 hours later... Almost 15 miles in already!  I felt good and awake and was making great time until about 8:30 when I had to stop and take a quick nap right on the trail... My pace went significantly downhill as the day wore on.  When I got to 33 miles at around 1:00 I took a nice 30 minute break with some people at a shelter and this gave me a bit of a second wind.  When I was about 2 miles from the MD/PA border (the end of the 4 state challenge) I ran into another thru-hiker, Bud.  It was great to have someone to talk to for a bit and someone to take a pic at the line!  After hitting the state line at 5:45 I decided I could do more... So I went 7 more miles to a shelter to make a 50 mile day!!  Very exhausting but also very exciting.., and 3 days later I can now say that I have completely recovered:)

-HALFWAY-

The day after my long one I only nanaged 13 miles, but i got some great trail magic at the shelter i ended up in!  There was a group of 4 locals staying there with me and they gave me a steak and a baked potato for, then they gave me apples and snacks for the next day!!  Along with the awesome food they gave me, I was also entertained by tales of unrequited love from the 22 year old in the group and a rousing game of Texas Hold 'Em for pistachios, which I sadly lost.  The next day I managed to get myself across the halfway line and successfully complete the half gallon challenge (eating a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting) in 28 minutes.  This challenge was a bit easier than the 4 states:).

Buena Vista to Ashby Gap

After a wonderful 5 zeroes I made it back onto the trail Tuesday evening.  I was picked up at the airport by my friend Snausage and his friend Molly.  I was so well fed in Roanoke by Snausage and his roommate Alex, who are chefs by trade, that the walking was slow going and I made it only 5 miles that first night.  The next couple of days I struggled a bit just getting back into the swing of things and dealing with some heavy rain.  I did make it to shelters a couple of times before real heavy downpours occurred.  One of these shelters was called 'The Priest'.and while I say there for 3 hours I was able to read a series of confessions left in the shelter register by other hikers... Most having to do with food or pooping, quite entertaining reading to pass the rainy afternoon away.  On about the 4th day of this stretch I hit Shenandoah national park.  It was an interesting stretch of trail to say the least.  The trail crosses skyline drive every couple of miles so when it was sunny there were plenty of people out.  I met up with Patches and hiked with her for a couple of the days through the Shenandoah.  This was awesome for so many reasons!  First of all her parents were there to support her on this stretch do I experienced an amazing amount of trail magic, complete with camp pad Thai, s'mores, etc...  Another huge perk was that the miles went by quite quickly with somebody to talk to.  After a few days with Patches we caught up with Chuck Wagon and later that same day Patches had to head out to an outfitter.  So for my last couple days of this stretch I hung out with him, drank a blackberry milkshake at the last of the waysides to make sure I got the whole Shenandoah experience, saw 8 bear, got great weather, was treated to a couple of nice wide open views, and got to eat his camp made raspberry cobbler at a shelter one night!!  It was a really fun stretch for me, lots of people around for the most part but it will take me awhile to catch them because I am now in the middle of another planned 5 zeroes... An awesome break for a family reunion up in Montana!

Pearisburg to Buena Vista

This was a 170 mile stretch that I did in 7 days.  I started to run into a huge bubble of thru hikers, passing probably 50 along the way.  Some of the highlights of this stretch were the Keffer Oak (largest tree in the south on the AT), the Audie Murphy monument, the trail magic, Dragons tooth (an awesome rock formation with great views), hitting McAfee Knob at sunrise followed by Tinker Cliffs and Mexican food in Daleville all in one day... I think the pictures speak for themselves for this stretch:)

Damascus to Pearisburg

Such a great stretch of trail for so many reasons!  Starting with the zero in Damascus, filled with chores (including picking up a package of Allybars, YUM!), cards, and food with fellow hikers, mostly Grand Poobah, Bounceback, Twigs, and Chuckwagon whom I spent the majority of this stretch with.  For the time that I was with this awesome group we had nice campfires each night with good company, so fun to be surrounded by fun guys.  During this stretch i reached my 35th highpoint, Mt Rogers!  We went through the Grayson Highlands together on an  amazing clear day, had some awesome interactions with wild ponies and day hikers:). After about 4 days most of the guys had to head back home, sad to see them go, but I did get all of their left over food!  In addition to the food given to me by my friends leaving I experienced enough trail magic in southern Virginia to go an extra 9 days before having to resupply again!  After the boys left and I was on my own again I came to Woods Hole hostel.  This is hands down my favorite hostel so far!  It is a farm ran by a young couple.  Neville made an amazing dinner and breakfast while I was there, I got a massage and the hiker box there had a pair of shoes in it that I thought might work (they didn't!!). Woods Hole was just an amazing, relaxing, peaceful stop that I am very glad I made!  From there to Pearisburg it was only 11 miles, about a mile from where the trail heads downhill into town a thunder storm hit and lightning got pretty close do I did some running on that portion of trail!  Made it into Pearisburg where I bought some 10 dollar shoes at Wal Mart and spent a nice night in the hostel there with Fingers and Patches.