Last night was hands down my best nights sleep on the trail. I didn't wake up until 7:30am, and the bugs didn't keep me awake at all thanks to my tent. When I did crawl outside I saw that the only people left were Smiley, who was heading on, the SoBo siblings, and a group of three girls who must have pulled into camp after I went to bed. I threw my gear together and started off without filling my water, because only a mile away was a rest stop. The hike there did a fair job of getting my blood pumping, so when I strolled over to the vending machines I had a powerful hunger and thirst. The caffeine and sugar helped, because I had a short but challenging climb ahead of me to contend with. About 50 stories over a half mile. It was another cool beautiful day though, with great visibility and almost no bugs. I crossed paths with Smiley a couple times on our way to Bear Mountain. We were already craving another soda, and there were more vending machines at the top. The hike up was wonderful. The trail was man-made, with tamped down gravel and stone steps placed along the way. It made for a gradual, smooth climb up an otherwise imposing rock face. It also made for some spectacular views, as I wound my way around the mountain on the serpentine trail. As much as NY can frustrate me with its occasional poor blazes and unnecessary challenges, it has had the many of the best views I've seen.At the top of Bear Mountain I stocked up on beverages and found a bench overlooking NY. Smiley joined me shortly after, and we ate our lunches while telling trail stories. The summit is a popular area, and there were many people milling about. We even saw Apple Butter, who was taking a zero and gave us each a cold bottle of water. Before starting down the mountain I made a bathroom stop, only to discover that my bowels weren't especially happy with me. That made the decision for me to stay in Ft. Montgomery for the night, just to play it safe. I said farewell to Smiley and started my walk down the other side of beautiful Bear Mountain. Many day-hikers passed me coming up, and we shared great views of the Hudson below. As the forest receded behind me I found myself in a very public park around a beautiful lake. People were grilling, picnicking, swimming and boating as I walked by. The blazes took me around the lake, and then across the street to pass by a giant mountainside swimming pool. A few steps further and I was walking through a free zoo that is also the trail. For the end of a beautiful hike to go through a zoo made my whole day feel like some kind of backwater Disney amusement park ride. They could have done without the hornets though, because the one who stung the back of my neck is not a creature I even care to see at a zoo. At first I thought I was hiking, but eventually I realized I was in line to see coyotes look at me menacingly. After staring down all the animals, I went to get a room at the Bear Mountain Inn. It's a beautiful place and a bit more comfort than I need right now, but aside from the demands of my burbling bowels it also gave me a chance to find a deer tick on my hip that was helping itself to my blood. One full-body tick check later I feel clean again. My stomach seems to be doing better now that I'm in luxury, and there's a good chance my parents are going to come visit me again tomorrow. Sometimes I think I'm too comfortable out here, but then I remember that I like comfort. I'll take this relaxing opportunity to watch the season premiere of Comedy Bang Bang, and just be grateful for the chance timing.

Railsplitter and I got up around 8am today, putting one of the swamp reality shows on tv and lazily wasting the morning. We were both doing 10 miles (plus the 2 to the trail) to a shelter today. With that plan, we figured we should enjoy the comfort of the real world until we had to hike. Eventually we packed up and walked to the gas station for breakfast. I got a turkey egg and cheese with hash browns. Again their food was surprisingly good. Railsplitter hiked on first, since I'm still slow to eat without my full hiker hunger. Once I started walking along the road I immediately remembered my distaste for it. People are much too comfortable buzzing the hikers. When I did get back to the trail I was greeted by very open land. No dense bushes or trees, just fields of ferns and the occasional tree. The slope was constantly changing from ups and downs over the densely rolling fields, but there were no painful rocks which made it a joy to walk. I was also hopeful that the cool air and lack of bugs would be an ongoing trend for the day. Surprisingly it was! I breezed over my first 5 miles of trail, except for one spot called the Lemon Squeeze. You have to take your pack off and raise it above your head, then shimmy through a little notch between two giant boulders. After that section of interesting challenges, I stopped at a shelter to take my shoes off. I was greeted by a couple leaving, and then another 4 hikers and a dog in the shelter. We chewed the fat for a bit while I let the sun dry my shoes, and Lost told me that there was a lake 1 mile ahead with vending machines and showers. Upon hearing this I immediately put my shoes back on and said "I'll see you there". It was a quick and pretty mile of trail, and then a short hobble down a road to the lake. I found the couple there as I ran past them to the soda machine. Dr. Pepper doesn't seem to be doing it for me this time around, so I've been going with ginger ale. By the time I finished the can, the rest of the crew from the shelter had arrived. The next coin-op under our stern gaze was the Blue Bunny ice cream vending machine. My strawberry fruit popsicle was the perfect thing to consume while looking out across the beach and lake. I left first, and after the annoying walk back to the trail, I got to see more of the same enjoyable terrain. I also got to see two large black snakes that didn't seem too happy by my presence. I was quite excited when I found the shelter, because not only had it been a good day, but the shelter itself was in a great picturesque spot. The whole area is actually very big, and that's good because there are a lot of people camping here. So far there are the 6 people I met at the shelter and lake, Railsplitter of course, an older man named Professor, a young (maybe) Swiss guy named Smiley, and two SoBos who are brother and sister. I got here relatively early, and staked claim to what I consider to be the best camping spot. No bugs for this guy tonight. I may not have seen them all day, but that doesn't mean much when the sun is setting. Professor started a fire to help smoke some out, and I used it to dry the seat of my pants.Tomorrow has me hiking 15 miles to the Graymoor Spiritual Life Center. They have an outdoor pavilion they let hikers use that have showers and power outlets. Rejoice! There are so many opportunities to shower in this stretch of the trail that it's almost unnecessary. Almost.

Last night was definitely one of the most sleepless I've ever had, and every other hiker had the same experience. I was bit up all night long, particularly my feet. The rain jacket seemed to keep them away from my upper body, but made my night was a hot sweaty mess, and my feet were still completely drained. I got moving around 8am, and as soon as I started walking I was able to escape the main cluster of mosquitos that had made their home around our camp. The humidity was awful though, and I soaked through my clothes within 30 minutes. The first water I came to, a stunning little waterfall, I soaked my head in along with my buff that I used to keep cool. The trail continued the trend of going steeply up, and then steeply down, always unnecessarily. At the 5 mile point I met back up with Railsplitter, who was as beat as I was. The mix of rough terrain, no sleep, and humidity had made us feel weak, so we decided to split a room in Tuxedo NY to clean up and cool down. I kept hiking, leaving Railsplitter at the road. It was another 5 miles to the highway we needed, and then 2 miles along the road to the hotel. Shortly after climbing away, it began to pour. It took almost 3 weeks, but I finally had a use for my Frogg Togg rain jacket. It kept me dry and cool, as advertised, and even helped with the post rain mosquitos. I made a scary slippery descent down to the highway, still feeling good but eager for a shower. I texted Railsplitter that I was heading into town and began my walk. Unfortunately hitch hiking is illegal in NY, so there'd be no simple ride into town. The road also had almost no shoulder, and cars driving by hugged the line. It seemed rather strange to see a single car coming toward me on a two-lane highway for about a mile, and when it reaches me the driver decides to drive as close to me as possible. With a whole other lane available it might be nice to avoid the frightened hiker hugging the wall, but what do I know. Right before the hotel was a gas station, so I stopped in for lunch and was surprised to see Whitespear picking up some beer. He's staying at the hotel too apparently. The gas station had a grill with large menu, so I got a double cheeseburger with fries and went outside to a picnic table to relax and air out my soaked feet. Railsplitter caught up and got his own meal. There was of course an insanely steep mountain driveway up to the hotel, but with a shower in sight I hardly noticed. They gave us a dirty room, since they were still cleaning, but we didn't care at this point. The night should hold all the joys of town. Shower and laundry, electricity and tv, beer and lazy friends. Eventually we'll meet up with Whitespear for a few drinks by the gazebo overlooking the mountains, and probably order some pizza. The days are rough, but the nights always hold some silver lining.

Leaving Anton's was tough. I thoroughly enjoyed my zero there, and the couple who owned the place were incredibly kind. The husband even gave me a ride back to the trail, although I had to wait until noon before he had time. I had to take the side trail back up from the lake to the ridge, which made for an arduous uphill mile. I was feeling stronger, but the bugs had come back out. I wasn't surrounded by mosquitos today, instead it was the sand flies. They don't bite as much, they do swarm around my eyes though. Mosquitos upset me, because I know I'll have to deal with their bites for a while, but sand flies are frustrating on a level I have a tough time coping with. I think it's finally time to buy a head net. I stopped at the first shelter, 5 miles in, and stopped to evade the bugs for a bit. I was enjoying some food when the rains came. It poured, and I was glad for my timing. A couple ran over to join me under the shelter and enjoy some food, and then a bunch more people came as well. I couldn't get myself back up and moving again, so I spread out my sleeping pad and put together my little nest. The mosquitos had finally returned, so Whitespear started a fire to try and smoke them out with the wet leaves. We were also joined by Rail Splitter, Mongoose, and Hermes. All of us decided to sleep in the shelter, hoping that mosquitos will abate. It's not looking good though. My plan for sleepwear is this: long johns, socks, underwear, shorts, long-sleeved shirt, buff wrapped around head and neck, bandana over eyes and forehead, cinched inside my sleeping bag liner, with my rain jacket covering me. By morning I'm hoping I won't be covered in bites, but that's beginning to seem like an extreme long-shot. Sleep, here I come.

I enjoyed a nice relaxing zero at the church hostel, hanging out with Fidget (one of the lesbian couple) who was nursing a bad spider bite on her ankle. I ate at all the local spots, and watched 12 Monkeys, Almost Famous, Twister, and Hercules throughout the day. It doesn't get much better than that. I started walking back to the trail, intending to get some lunch at a restaurant on the way. The food was good, and much needed fuel for the day. I only had to wait about 60 seconds to get a ride back to the trail. I was picked up by a mother with her baby in the car, which surprised me, but I wasn't going to complain. Back in the forest, it was apparent that I had transitioned from NJ to NY. Everything changed in the blink of an eye. I zipped right past the first shelter, where I planned to eat my lunch, because there was no sign. I went the wrong way multiple times because the trail is poorly and sometimes incorrectly blazed. The trail went straight up to ridge line over giant boulders. I'm not liking NY so far, though there aren't any bugs so far!My problem with NY, other than the poor blazes, is that the trail doesn't avoid unnecessary climbs. Typically, if there's a giant imposing boulder on the top of mountain, the trail will weave around it unless there's a view. That isn't the case in NY, as the trail specifically aims for each of these boulders. It's like a game of connect the dots that ends in tears. I hiked 10 miles today, but the terrain was so challenging that it hit me much harder than most 20's would. But after finishing I found the road that leads to Greenwood Lake, NY, and went straight for my nights lodging. Anton's on the Lake is very comfortable, cheap for hikers, and has stunning views. There are a lot of other hikers hanging out here around the lake, taking zeros and resupplying. It seems like the place to stay if you want to enjoy a hot summer day by the water.

I was afraid some kids might be playing basketball and wake me up at some ridiculous hour, but that wasn't the case. I slept well, and upon waking wandered back across the street to the Italian restaurant for some breakfast. It was a nice town to be lazy in and watch the motorcycles thunder by, and eventually I saw Bogey and Ledge wander in to do the same. They were both about to take a week off from hiking to visit family, so I waited with them in front of the General Store for their ride and said my goodbyes. The trail began by running parallel to the road, and I had to step aside at one point to let 3 ATV riders motor by. Eventually the trail pulled away and started its ascent, which I followed up to a shelter. A family of section hikers was resting in the shelter, so I just took a short rest at the picnic table before continuing to climb. The humidity was really taking it out of me, and I felt like I was breathing through a wet towel. Once I finished that climb though the rest of my day was much less strenuous. I followed the trail down into some swampy lowlands, with a long wooden bridge carrying people over it. It was a popular area to walk, as made obvious by the massive number of couples I passed holding hands. My only issue was that it was a full mile without tree cover, which always saps my strength. I finally made it to the road that lead to Vernon NJ, dripping sweat and exhausted. With no shade, I tried to hitch a ride for a while with no luck. One full car of hikers did give me some ice water, which was greatly appreciated, and gave me the energy I needed to start walking towards town. I only made it about a half mile before a kind gentleman pulled over to give me a lift. The church hostel was very nice. They had A/C, shower, laundry, sodas for sale, and a tv with a bunch of movies. I also saw my tough as nails lesbian friends, and met a few other thru's. I went outside to enjoy the evening breeze for a while, and when I returned at around 9:15pm, I discovered the lights out and everyone in bed. A sure sign that you're hanging out with hikers.

It was just Shrek and myself left at camp when I crawled out of my sleeping bag liner. I ate a big breakfast to prepare for the 14 miles that would bring me to Unionville, NY. I said farewell to Shrek, and hoped for happy trails. I was let down. It was a very long and challenging hike, which I wasn't anticipating. The elevation map made it look like smooth sailing, but the day was a constant transition between steep ascents and descents. This mixed with the bugs and rocks would make for a tough day alone, but most of the trail was also a boggy swamp. I did my best to avoid diving ankle deep into thick, boot-sucking mud, but when there's miles of it you can only be so cautious. On the upside, the days hike had some spectacular views from beginning to end. I crossed over High Point, with a breathtaking 360 degree view, and could have stopped at a beach to take a dip if I had more time. When I finally found the road into town, I walked right to the general store, said hey to BMW, and grabbed a variety of 3 drinks from their glorious fridge. I cooled my heels for about an hour before moving on to the town park where I could set up my tent.It was a crowded area, full of summertime kids with nothing to do, and families with their children. I wasted a lot of my evening in the pizza place across the street until it got dark, and then I ambled back to my tent. The only other excitement for the night came around 2am, when a group of 5 drunk teens came to the park to run around and fall over a lot. Thankfully my headphones worked just fine for drowning out their fun.

Yesterday was nice and relaxing. After meeting up with my parents we ate, checked-in to a Holiday Inn, and went to see World War Z. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was definitely better than I was expecting. Today they dropped me back off at the trail around noon, after leaving some redundant gear and picking up a couple of odds and ends. It was an immediate uphill climb, but I was only doing 10 miles so I didn't have to worry about conserving energy. My friends the bugs were absent for a while, but showed up to say hello again after I was nice and sweaty. I criss-crossed paths with a couple hikers during my travels, and when I finally found my shelter it was beautiful and bug-free! I had the place to myself for a few hours before more hikers began piling in. The first person I met was Shrek, which was amusing because I had received a text from my mom saying that they had given him a lift to the trail. We chatted for a bit, and shortly after BMW arrived, followed by Bogey and Ledge. The group made for a boisterous evening of card playing and storytelling until the stars came out. A great reminder of how much fun you can have if you find the right people.

The Mohican Outdoors Center gave me a great nights sleep, and when the sun woke me I packed and snuck out. I didn't want to wake the snoring sectioner. I stopped in for one last sandwich at the lodge, and then continued up the trail. The first planned half of my day was beautiful, 7 miles of cool breezes and rockless trail. I quickly left the section I'd hiked before, and was back in the wilderness of new territory. I stopped for a brief lunch, and almost immediately the trail changed on me again. The rocks came back, and with them the bugs. The last couple of miles before the shelter were torturous, and I couldn't wait to reach safety from my orbiting bloodsucking friends. When I finally found the sign for my shelter, I had to scuttle down a half mile just to find my worst nightmare. The shelter was sitting right next to a massive stagnant pool of water, and the whole area was abuzz with mosquitos. I tried putting my gear down, but my hiking poles and pack were immediately enveloped by the beasts, so I thrashed around to reclaim my gear and sprinted back up that half mile. I hoped reaching the top the bugs would abate, but my exertion made me hot and sweaty, which just kept them on me. My only option was to hike another 4 miles to town, where I'd be meeting my parents the next day. Wincing, cursing, and bitching my way across those last miles finally brought me to a road where I could collapse. Losing my tail of bugs was enough to raise my mood a bit, but then I had to walk another 2 miles to the nearest motel. Checked-in, showered, and fed, I was finally feeling like a person again. I couldn't do another big day of hiking right after today, but thankfully I'd be saved from that fate. Tomorrow will be a well deserved zero with the parents. What more could I need after a day like today?

I got up, packed my stuff, said my farewells, and walked to breakfast. I'm not a big fan of diner food, but for breakfast on the trail it's absolutely perfect! I wolfed down a corned beef hash omelette and slung my pack on my back to press on. The trail goes along I-80 for a stretch before reaching NJ, since it has to cross the Delaware. It wasn't too hot in the sun, so the roadside walk wasn't as uncomfortable as it could have been. As soon as I made it to the woods on the Jersey side, I was in an area I've hiked before with friends (you know who you are). There's something nice about hiking some place for the second time, because you know what to expect. I was quickly reminded that it's Saturday, because the parking lot was full and the moment I started climbing all I saw were weekend hikers. It was an 11 mile day to the Mohican Outdoors Center, a small lakeside camping spot that I had been to once before. The weather was perfect, the terrain wasn't rocky, and the bugs were taking it easy (except the ticks, which were out in force). All in all it was a perfect day for hiking. On my way I passed by 2 places I had camped before, which was fun to see. The trail also went around Sunfish Pond, one of the 7 wonders of NJ. It's a glacial mountaintop pond that is quite beautiful, but too acidic for most fish to live in. Mostly the trail ridge lined along a beautiful stretch between PA and NJ, giving a sprawling 360 degree view of both states. When I arrived at the MOC, I immediately ordered a sandwich and grabbed a couple beverages. It isn't really a restaurant, but they do make big homemade sandwiches that does the trick on a busy day outdoors. The proprietor showed me how to get to my cabin, and I made haste. It was a dumpy little bunkhouse, but it was dirt cheap and I only had one other person to share the place with. For the evening I bought a bunch of snack foods and found a nice bench by the lake to watch the sun set. It's good to be home.

The rain came down in sheets last night, whipping up under the large shelter even. It was mostly just a misting under the roof, but surprising nonetheless considering how large the overhang was. One more hiker, Jeff, trundled in out of the rain before I passed out, but other than that all was quiet. Everyone but Lush and me was up at 5:30am and out by 6:45. I got up at 7 and left at 7:30, leaving Lush to his breakfast. It was only 7 miles to Delaware Water Gap, where I'd be staying for free at the Church of the Mountain hostel. The rocks did let up a bit for my last stretch in PA, but it was a wet and slippery decent into town. Not to mention buggy. When I made it to the gravel road into town it was 10am. As I was clomping down the sloped road, I noticed that my shadow was fuzzy. I glanced behind me only to see a frenetic mass of bugs with what I can only describe as hive-minded malicious intent staring me down. I did what any stout hiker would do.. and ran for my life, swinging my hiking poles in wild clumsy arcs as I panicked. By the time I skidded down onto a road with real traffic, I had lost my blood-sucking tails, and just looked silly for being out of breath running from nothing. I think I played it off nicely by ignoring it altogether and walking toward town. I immediately headed towards the hostel, where I saw Etch-a-sketch and was greeted warmly by Condo and Germaine. I dumped my pack, checked out the digs (where I found Dino DNA taking a nap), and wandered off toward food. The rest of my day was very relaxed, eating, reading, and chatting with other hikers. I saw a lot of other hikers throughout the day. Shade and Shadow were there camping, so it was good to see them again. Oh and I got a free root beer float because the ATM in Zoe's Ice Cream was broken. Maybe not quite trail magic, but definitely some trail luck. By the time night had fallen, beer had been acquired by a tough as nails lesbian couple (whose names I'm forgetting), so Condo, Germaine, Jeff, and I partook. That's how our night eventually came to a close (after a second beer run was made). It was agreed that it felt extremely right to be drinking in a church basement, considering that all of us are not only dirty hikers, but also filthy heathens. That's my kind of trail magic.

When I got out of my tent, around 8am, the only person left in camp was Etch-a-Sketch. I joined her for breakfast, and I'm beginning see different trends in this community of hikers. Where last summer most people I knew would yellow blaze, this summer everyone hates yellow blazers. I'm curious if this is because I'm out here with a much earlier crew, or if the hiker community this summer will continue to frown on it. Whatever the case, I finished up my meal and bid Etch adieu. My left hip is aching pretty good, so I started a little slow to let it warm up. No such luck since it was rocks right from the start. Also basically straight to the end. I hobbled over the terrain for 4.5 miles and then down into Wind Gap. Once in town I headed for the first open place that sold food, the Beer Stein. Inside I found Sky Pilot and Mr. Chips, two of the guys I had camped with last night. I hopped onto a barstool in the style of Commander Ryker, and ordered a quesadilla with 3 birch beers. It was noon when I finished my meal, and I quickly stopped at the gas station for some snacks before walking back up the road to the trail. I got a few waves and honks from the townspeople as I made my way, but mostly just curious stares. The climb out of the gap was of course a bitch, but thankfully short. It was another 9 miles to the Kirkridge shelter, so I tried to keep my pace quick and my breaks brief. I honestly don't know any other ways to say how rocky this bit is. It's all anyone is discussing, and I wish I had finished it before dropping off last year. I'm putting my feet through a lot of wear and tear right at the offset. I can't even take a moment to glance around, because if I'm not staring for my next awkward step, I'm about to fall. You couldn't pay me to hike the northern 40 miles of PA again. It was a nice day, if a little hot, but the bugs were the worst I've ever experienced. I couldn't stop moving or the swarm that rides my draft would catch up and attack in unison. Occasionally I would, just to start smashing them all against my body in a futile effort to quell their numbers. Even with how crap a day it was, my spirits are pretty high. It's starting to feel like home again out here, and Pennsylvania will be behind me tomorrow (the mantra I repeated all day). When I got to the shelter I was met by Sky Pilot and Mr. Chips, as well as Etch-a-sketch. She was on her way forward, to camp closer to Delaware Water Gap with the rest of her merry troupe. SP and Mr. C kept the conversation going while I stuffed my face, and we all dragged our gear under the roof when the sky started to darken. Just before the rain started to fall another hiker joined us by the name of Lush, who is from Lumerton. Tomorrow I just have 7 miles into Delaware Water Gap, and I'll be staying at the hostel there. That should give me a nice nearo to heal up, because I have the beginnings of some blisters. It's going to feel so good to be out of PA, and then I'll be on the same stretch of trail that I first did years ago. It's looking like it's going to be a very wet night, apparently with tornado warnings. Thankfully this shelter is much nicer than the last few, and I'll by cozy and dry in my sleeping bag. Well, mostly dry.. there's no such thing as dry on this trip.

By the end of the night there were 18 hikers sleeping in the Jail House Hostel. Surprisingly, there wasn't a snoring problem. When I got up I knew my first stop of the day was of course breakfast, so I stopped in the local diner and enjoyed a simple breakfast. My hunger isn't where I'd like it to be yet, but I won't overeat to compensate like I did last time, which just resulted in my puking everything up later in the night. I walked to the edge of town and started looking for a ride back to the trail. The sun was quickly heating up my skin, and I was about to give up and walk the long rocky side trail, when a friendly gentleman stopped to give me a lift. The moment I set foot on the trail I remembered what Gravy had said last night. He had already done this stretch, and he said that it by far the worst patch of trail yet. With that in mind I started up a harsh switchback, snaking away from the road. Shortly after I began climbing, the trees receded, and I had to put my trekking pokes away. The ascent was too steep and rocky for the poles to be of any use, I needed to climb with my hands. The heat of the rocks was somewhat uncomfortable as they baked in the sun, but nowhere near as uncomfortable as I'd be once halfway up the mountain. I wasn't yet prepared for this kind of wide open, dangerous, climbing. I wasn't a full hiker again yet, and even if I was this vertigo-inducing view may have made me nervous. So after an hour of nerve-racking climb, scurrying from one patch of sparse shade to another, I finally reached a safely level stretch. The moment I hit the top I realized that there were blueberries for days all around me. Every time I hunkered down behind a rock for shade I'd grab a handful and stuff them in my mouth. The next 5 miles were just one long stretch of sun-baking, tick infested, tall grass and rocks (with blueberries). I brushed a total of 7 ticks from my left leg, but none of them deer. It was too brutally hot and sunny for this bit of trail, but once you begin there's no turning back. Once I finally made it to the road, it was 1:30, and I had already drank 3 liters of water. That left me dry, so I started down to Danielsville. It was another 11 miles to the next shelter and water source, and I wasn't up for that this early in my trip, after such intense heat. My first stop was the town restaurant, where I had my first soda that lived up to last years hike. Nothing ever tasted so good. I also had a big bowl of chili and some water ice before continuing down the road a spell to the local B&B. I met an elderly couple who were thru-hiking, but they were the only other people at the place that night. I believe their names were Shade and Shadow. The caretaker took my clothes to launder and I enjoyed a lovely cold shower. Tick check, clear. I relaxed for the rest of the night, getting some food delivered and watching the latest Family Tree on HBOGo. If you're not watching it, you should be.

In the morning I got up at 6:30am for breakfast. A bowl of cantaloupe and bananas with an apple cinnemon muffin, and wonderful tomato and cheese omelette with sausage and potatoes. Orange juice and tea as well of course. Having eaten more than I should, I retired back to my room to continue my sleep. By noon I was ready to leave, and the owner gave me a lift back to the trail. It was a wonderful stay, and even if it was a bit pricey, it saved me from going a night without water. The trail began with another harsh climb, but nothing like yesterday. The sun was also behind the clouds; good for the heat, bad for the bugs. Other than tiring me out, the climb was uneventful, and I was quickly up to level ground. From there it was a long flat stretch of trail, taking me all the way to the shelter I was making my home for the night. Unfortunately it was also absolutely blanketed in rocks. I spent the rest of my day wandering boring flat terrain, with nothing to see but the seaming bugs, walking like a marionette. By that I mean by feet never quite land level, and it doesn't truly resemble walking. I couldn't count how many times I cursed Pennsylvania today. Loudly. But my ankles are tougher today, and there were no problems. I had started the days hike at 12:30, and finished at 4:30, covering a distance of 11 miles. I'm ecstatic that I can still make time like that, especially over such awful ground. Plus, other than my beat up feet I felt great. I feel like in at the end of week 2, instead of halfway through week 1. Good omens. Just before coming to camp I passed a large gathering of hikers having a nice sit. Probably around 7. We made introductions, but it was too many names all at once. I walked on to the shelter and met someone else new named Dino DNA. I of course asked him if the name had anything to do with Jurassic Park (I can hear that little cartoon DNA strand saying that every time I say his name). He said it wasn't originally because of JP, but it has of course morphed into that since the name was given. We all do love our references.. and acronyms. Once I had eaten my fill, and met a few more hikers, I filled up my water and gathered my supplies set up camp at the campsite. We all decided the shelter was a little rundown, and there was more room uphill. Cut to me in my tent, finally free of slapping at a mosquito every 5 seconds. It's the simple things. Tomorrow my hope is to make a run into town on my way to the last shelter in PA, and then the next day will be a short one into Delware Water Gap. I'll take advantage of this cluster of towns while I can, soon I'll have to up my miles, or carry more food. I'm not carrying more food.

I set up my tent to avoid the hornets, which turned out to be the right plan. I crawled into my little one-man bug net, and listened to mosquitos desperately buzzing outside. Hornets or no, bloodsuckers are worth avoiding. I was joined by two hikers last night, one of whom I've seen a lot of since named Iced Tea. By morning both had of them had left, so I enjoyed some cold oatmeal and packed up, getting feet on trail at 9am. My plan for today was still leisurely, since 9 miles brought me to Palmerton and their free hostel. Plus the next shelter is another 16 miles past Palmerton.. tomorrow could be a tough day. Today's terrain was as rocky as its namesake. I found myself scrambling down a mountain of boulders under a power line, with cicadas bursting into flight all around me from beneath the rocks. It was deafening to the point that I had a tough time listening to music over the buzz. In other wildlife news, twice I stumbled onto a wild turkey with its babies before they'd fly away in all directions, scaring the bejesus out of me. After six miles I came to a shelter where I stopped to hydrate and cool off. It was much nicer than the shelter I avoided sleeping in last night. I met a friendly Brit from New Castle, southbounding in a Where's Wally shirt. I say Wally instead of Waldo, because apparently that's his name in England. Who knew. He didn't have a trail name, and was only going from NY to NC, so I told him he should go by Wally. But I'll never know. After shoving off, I quickly stumbled down to a highway. And I do mean stumbled. The parts that have gotten the weakest since my 10 month stint in the real world are my ankles and my hips. Currently I'm giving my ankles a pretty good beating, but nothing truly damaging. I'm pretty sure that the ankle strength I had before was built more on how stiff they had become than actual strength, so this is par for the course. As I made it to the road I discovered that the trail went over a bridge for a while, which was a real shame since it was scorching under the sun. As I was crossing I noticed two hikers about 50 feet behind me. We met up once across the bridge and in the shade, and discussed hitching to Palmerton. The three of us spread out across the highway to be most visible, but someone spotted us getting into position and offered us a ride before we could pop out thumbs. It's great to accomplish something before you start trying. It was a quick 2 mile drive to the Jail House Hostel, during which I learned my hitching companions names: Chaos and Timex. As we climbed the stairs to check-in, we crossed my German friend from the night before, Iced Tea. He gave us the rundown of the town before wandering off to do some food shopping. It was now 2pm, and after checking in the three of us took turns using the open communal shower that none of us wanted to use communally. I may be only two days in, but it felt damn good to get clean. The remainder of my day has been great. I was feeling a little weak at the end of my hike, but could have gone a bit further. So being able to rest with some excess energy is good at this stage of the game. After claiming my bunk in the Jail House Hostel, I wandered out to claim my first Subway of the trip. The foot long and soda wasn't as good as I remember, but as my hiker hunger comes back that should change. I came back to meet a bunch of other hikers. To name a few: Gravy, Puffy, Pig Pen, Captain Planet, Oreo, Quohog, and more whose names I'm forgetting. It's a pretty full house tonight, and we spent most of the day relaxing on the grass lawn in front of the hostel. Apparently people in this town like to drive up and down the main drag, and it was amusing to watch, particularly when a pickup full of locals shouted at us to "Get a job!" So I already feel like hiker trash again. It brings a tear to my eye. Most of my fellow hikers went to watch the Bruins, and I wandered around town a bit. As it started getting dark I ran out to grab some buffalo chicken fingers and fries, and enjoyed them on the lawn while watching an episode of The Killing on my phone. Boy, it's good to be back in nature!

Hello true believers, it's that time again. It's been around 10 months since I took myself off the trail, but as of today I am back baby! If you were reading my blog before, sorry about the abrupt ending. I wasn't certain I was leaving the trail until the day I did, and apparently I'm only good at motivating myself to write this when I'm trapped in the woods with little to do. Anyway, here's a little backstory. In the past 10 months I got home, decided I had to come back out to finish the trail this summer, and was lucky enough to be offered a great job for a great company (thanks again Mo!). I've had a lot of possibilities when it came to hiking companions, but in the end I'm not sure if any of them will work out. So here I am, a lone wolf back in the woods, and so far it feels great!I used this time between hiking to earn some money and upgrade my gear, which is how I got my base pack weight down to 11lbs, and I must say that is a serious upgrade to comfort. After showering this morning I donned my old hiking uniform, the vague hint of sour reminding me of what I'm in for. Then I tossed my pack in my parents car at around 12:30pm, and we left toward Blue Mountain Summit B&B in PA. This is exactly where I left off last August, so I'm still on track. Back at the good old trailhead, my parents dropped me off and took some pictures before I let the forest envelop me yet again. The trail definitely still has that vague feeling of home. I only had to take a single step onto the trail to discover what the loud buzzing I heard was. Locusts. I knew this was their year, and worried about them keeping me awake at night, but hadn't seen any all summer. Well that has changed as of today! I began my hike walking through a battlefield of fallen locusts. They make for crunchy hiking. 20 minutes in and I was sweating like crazy, but still feeling good. I had a lot of concerns regarding what kind of shape I'd be in after a 10 month break. My lungs are surprisingly strong, so that's a big plus, but my muscles have deteriorated quite noticeably. I planned a short 6 miles today, seeing as it's my first day back. I started late (2:30pm), and the terrain was supposed to be very rocky. The trail didn't disappoint. After 3 miles of comfortable, confidence-building terrain, I hit the knifes edge. My pace slowed to a crawl because the trail was rocky, loose, and steep. The edge was absolutely one of the most dangerous sections of trail I've crossed. Leave it to me to start my journey here while I still have shaky legs. Obviously I didn't die, and even managed to finish without hurting myself. It's easy to forget how rocky it is out here, but once past it my pace picked back up and I made it to my shelter at 5:30pm. Currently I'm sitting on a log gnawing on some pork jerky, watching the sun sink into the trees. I would like this shelter except for two problems. First, there's no reception, so I won't be posting this until tomorrow. Second, the shelter is chock full of wasps. So the question of the evening becomes simple: do I play it safe and set up my tent, or be lazy and risk it. So far I'm leaning towards risk.

I'll attempt to summarize the last 2 days, as I wile away the time waiting for my ride in front of a B&B in Andreas, PA. Since I last posted I've fallen from a purist thru hiker, to a normal thru, or even section hiker. No point in waxing poetic before I explain the steps that have brought me here though, so let's go back to Thursday morning.

I woke in the Eckville shelter, as damp with morning few as ever, even with the 4 walls enclosing me. The sun was shining, and I could hear Slow Joe outside mumbling to himself while the SoBo who was in the shelter last night did his best to ignore him. I broke my fast with a few bits of food, but my supply was severely low thanks to the lack of a shuttle in Port Clinton.

Before I left, the SoBo and I shared details about each others upcoming hikes. He told me that the water sources continued to get more scarce, and that the only real option is to refill in each town I pass. This is bad news since most of these towns are 20+ miles apart. He tempered this bad news with a statement about how easy the climb ahead of me would be, and then the beautifully smooth ridge line that awaited after. At that, I filled my water bottles at the spigot, said my farewells, and walked back to the trailhead a third of a mile away.

I didn't even make it into the woods before I started dripping sweat, and swatting sand flies. The worst of omens. It was 11 miles to the Blue Mountain summit B&B, and by the time I had gotten close the sky was darkening and I could see rain in my future. With my water running low, and rain on the horizon I decided to pull into the B&B for a hearty meal.

As soon as I began downing my soda it started raining, and only intensified as I worked my way through a hot meal. With this downpour I decided to call it quits for the day and stay comfortable for the evening. This ended up being the right decision since it rained all night while I was cozy in the room I had procured, watching tv and reading through the night.

Upon waking up I began wrestling with whether or not I should get off the trail. With the dwindling water supply options, the heat wave, swarms of biting bugs, and lack of a group of hikers to bitch with, I was finding that I no longer wanted to be out here.

So I made the phone call I had been dreading making for my entire hike, the one asking for a ride home. Strangely enough I didn't feel downtrodden about my decision. So I'm relaxing here, on the summit of Blue Mountain, and thinking back over my trip so far. I have no doubt that I'll come back and finish the miles yet to go, hopefully sooner than later.

My parents are pulling up now to bring me back to the real world, so that's all I have time for. Thanks for reading up to this point, I'll be sure to continue my journey down the trail sometime down the road!

I failed to realize how close we were to a highway before going to bed last night. I also forgot about the train tracks a couple blocks away. Needless to say, it was not a slumberous night. When I went to bed there were only two other people in the pavilion, but they multiplied while I hid in my tent. When I got up at 9am, there were no fewer than 10 lazy hikers strewn about the place. Some in tents, some in hammocks, and some just laying on the wood floor. Apparently the firehouse kept them in high spirits, the smell of alcohol emanating off of each fallen hikers. I quietly packed up, and snuck out. After walking a block I tried calling Cabela's for a shuttle (a big outdoor equipment store that shuttles hikers for free), but they didn't have anyone on staff to drive the van. That meant I had nowhere to get breakfast without hitching, so I walked back to the Port Clinton Hotel to wait for them to open. They didn't open the doors until 11am.

I ate a large breakfast/lunch while watching the Olympics. Not being able to get to the shopping center also meant that I couldn't resupply my food, so I bought a turkey sub for the road.

It was an insanely steep climb back up into the mountains, but as always in this area, it was a short climb. It was 15 miles of staccato ups and downs on the way to an enclosed shelter with outdoor solar shower next to a house. I tried to keep my pace fast, but for parts of the hike the rocks slowed me down, and for its entirety the bugs did the same. Today has been, by far, the worst day for bugs. I'm used to them swarming around my eyes and ears, sometimes my whole head. Today they swarmed my entire body. If you can imagine Pigpen from the Peanuts in the flesh, you have a pretty good idea of how I looked, in a haze of dancing black specks. Even now I'm being attacked from every angle, and I'm indoors(ish)!

Finding the road that meandered to the shelter was particularly satisfying today. Of course I was of the belief that I could escape these insects at that time. Regardless, there are 4 walls on this bunkhouse, a water spigot right outside, and I'm quite comfy. I'll also be joined by a SoBo this evening. I'm just starting to cross this years SoBo crew, and I'm glad that I got to see that. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for NoBo/SoBo conflicts in the log books.

At this pace I should arrive in NJ on Sunday afternoon. My mom, and possibly Chris, plan to join me there at the Delaware Water Gap. That's good, because it gives me something to look forward to in the near future. I need to be having a bit more fun out here if I'm going to make it for the long haul.

Ok now it's time to hide from the bugs, so if you'll excuse me I'll be diving into my liner and cinching it closed around my head. I'll look just like the hiker trash that I am.

I got back on the trail at 2:30pm yesterday. Joyce brought me back, but had a lot of appointments, so I waited for her in the Hampton Inn lobby. My options were to either hitch in the sun, or wait inside with A/C and power outlets. My choice was predictable. I was confident that I could pump out 15.5 miles without much trouble, but as I was immediately greeted by a trail blanketed in all manner of stone, my confidence wavered. I was fighting the clock, racing to get to shelter before it got dark. Rocks don't help with speed.. or anything else, save trail erosion. I was upbeat for the first 5 miles. It was challenging, but interesting as well. I passed a few section hiking families, most already settled into their campsites. It was at the end of this 5 mile stretch that I found a water source to refill at. I did so slovenly, not realizing that this would be the last source of water before Port Clinton. Besides the sweating and bugs, the heat also provides an additional hurdle: dry springs. That would be a 20 mile stretch with noting to whet my whistle, but thankfully it was cool enough that I didn't have a big problem on my hands. The second 5 mile stretch was mostly uneventful, but lead directly into the sun setting. I didn't have time to relax, so I kept going into my final 5 mile stretch for the day. The sun was just going down, and depending on the shape of the ridge line beside me, I was walking where the sun was continually rising and setting for about an hour. It made for an interesting view, but it was fully set by my last couple miles. I was also worn out by then. The terrain had nerfed my pace, but it increased my exhaustion. Balancing from sharp rock to sharp rock for hours at a fast clip can really take it out of you. There was still enough light to see by when I arrived at the shelter at 8:00pm. I was met by a NoBo section hiker. He plans to do the whole trail in stages over an 8 year period, and he's going up to Maine after he finishes PA. More power to him. He passed out early, as I quickly unpacked my bedroll, and stuffed down a quick dinner. It was a nice shelter to bunk down in, and the cicadas sang me to sleep. This morning I slept in, lazily going about my morning rituals before leaving at 11am. It was 10 miles to Port Clinton, and I had only a half liter of water remaining. Today's hike was a little mundane, as my interest in the challenging terrain waned. I entertained myself with a podcast of This American Life, and then some music. I kept that up until the last mile before town, which was a dangerously steep descent down loose rocks. At times I had to sit down on my ass to drop to the step below. This exertion drained the last of my water, but I was close enough to town to taste soda, so kept moving. Once in Port Clinton, the trail dumps you at a rail station and you just have to find your way out. A few blazes may have helped my aimless meanderings. After looking lost for a while, I remembered that we live in a technological age and pulled out my phone. This lead me to the Port Clinton Hotel, where I stopped for a prolonged lunch and soda at the bar (my kind isn't welcome in the dining room). After lunch I continued off the trail to find the town pavilion. They allow hikers to sleep in the pavilion for free, and after the rocky mess I just descended I decided that was the way to go. The place is very large, and sits next to a small privy and river. It seems that all the heavy drinking hikers are making this their home for the evening. That's fine by me, so long as they don't keep me up. One of them has a bit of a reputation for being loud and obnoxious when drunk. That's what Tapeworn and Shenanigans informed Mr. Fantastic and me back in the day, but we'll see what tonight holds. Just in case, I set my tent up in the pavilion, so I can be out of sight and out of mind. Though that's also because I want to sleep sans pants. I have some weepy wounds on my hips from pack friction that I'd like to dry out. Yes, if you were wondering, I am going to end today's blog on that note.

I'm doing a bit of catch-up blogging today, but there wasn't much to write home about. I spent all of Friday at the Days Inn, resting and eating. A day off the trail has a feeling of hibernation, or even being in a cocoon. I thoroughly enjoyed a day of no plans though, and soaked up the comforts. Saturday I started hiking out, walking from Lickdale back to where I left the trail. In my head I thought that I had a 4 mile hike to the next shelter, where I planned to lunch. I accidentally packed my map, so had no way to confirm my mileage without taking my pack apart. After an hour and a half I came across another hiker as the clouds were gathering. He told me I had another 3 miles before the shelter, and that's when I realized how badly I'd misremembered the mileage. This wouldn't bother me if I didn't hear an earth-trembling, thunderous, roar slowly catching up to me with each boom. I ignored the drizzle that fell for about 30 minutes, but then it picked up and I had no other option than to don my rain gear. I'd love to be able to say I was just in time, but in reality I was already soaked through. I jumped under the cover of shelter the moment I arrived, mud caking my calves, shoes squishing water with each step. Two others were already there, avoiding the insanity that existed just outside the shelter. Soon we were joined by the guy eating lunch that I had passed earlier. While I wasn't tired, and there was enough day left to make it to the next shelter, I decided to call it. I was rained out. Wet clothes are one thing, but wet shoes lead to bad things when hiking. Plus the trail was 4 inches of dark water, with sharp angled rocks hiding just under the murky surface. No good place to put your feet on the trail. At least it was a nice shelter, with a massive second story to stay warm and dry. I awoke alone on Sunday morning, to wet gear and a shining sun. I decided that comfort was important enough to me that I'd really like to dry my clothes at the next town. Thanks to the generosity of my old hotelier buddy, Brad, I was able to relax for one more night at the Hampton Inn in Pine Grove, PA. Speaking of thanks, I'd like to say a couple more thank you's to Vince and Bill for the donations. It's crazy how expensive it is to be homeless! Or more aptly, a NoBo hobo. I called a shuttle service from the bulletin board at the road, and Joyce picked me up with a cup of ice water to greet me. She told me all about the little town of Pine Grove, and we commiserated about people who deface trail shelters. She dropped me off at the Hampton, and I commenced relaxation.I did my laundry, took a shower, and walked across the street to get some Subway. As I finished paying I looked outside to see another insane rain storm. Sheets of rain fell so thick that I couldn't see my hotel 100 feet away. I'm not sure how many curses I uttered as I walked that short distance, but it had to be some kind of record for obscenity density. I was having flashbacks to the beginning of this trip, where it always rained immediately after I dried my clothes, and I lived in a state of perpetual prune. Thankfully my clothes dried overnight. Now it's Monday and I'm waiting for my shuttle back to the trail. I ate a wonderful Hampton breakfast, watched an episode of Newsroom, and then had lunch across the street at the DQ. All that's left for today is to see if I can fit 15 miles in after 2pm. Hopefully I'll find myself feeling strong, and maintain some motivation. If I can keep that pace up I'll be back to hiking NJ in a just a week. While the rocks haven't been nearly as bad as I was anticipating (though I do have 100 miles to go yet), I'm still looking forward to finishing up with PA. Jersey should be beautiful, so everyone tells me. I'm mostly looking forward to revisiting the bit I hiked before, so I can compare it to my experience there as a section hiker. I remember how much it kicked my ass when I was out of shape, so it'll be pretty amazing to hike it while relaxedly breathing through my nose. It's great being aerobically fit!

A few animals wandered through camp last night, with the sole purpose of keeping me awake. I eventually fell back to sleep, and when I truly woke Jukebox and Slim Shady had already hiked on. I started moving at my usual time, with a range of possible locations to end my hike. I pressed steadily onward, until I came to the road into Lickdale. This was the first of two towns I could hike to today. It was cheaper to stay here, and it turned out to be the right choice. When I arrived in town, after an uncomfortably sunny walk, I found the Days Inn was adjacent to Wendy's, Subway, McDonalds, DQ, Sbarro's, and a gas station grocery store. That's all I needed to know. I checked in and got a room in the basement, which I found interesting. The lack of windows gave it the feeling of a low-level cruise ship cabin, where they stash all the smelly hiker folk. Works for me. I stocked up on food for the night, and bumped into Jukebox and Slim Shady just a few doors down. We exchanged pleasantries, however once I was back in my room I knew I was in for the night. My plan was to hibernate a bit. Do nothing but eat and rest for a night, possibly even a second. So my day ended early, at around 11 miles, but that gained me some much needed comfort. I caught up in some podcasts, read some comics, and surfed the web, all while I ignored a bit of television. I've adjusted my pack, and plan to just rest my back. It's kinda great when these things become chronic enough to be important, because then you can take a moment to treat yourself.

My morning was damp, as expected, but also loud. Everyone was jolted awake by someone on a bullhorn in the distance yelling "Good morning campers!". For some, this was the end of sleep, to them I say Zzzz. I could feel the wet air through my liner, and did not want to greet the day. Of course eventually I did, and the only people remaining in the shelter were Jukebox, Slim Shady, and NPR (still asleep). I hiked out at 10am, which seems to be becoming my start time. I had 18 miles to go, with little water, and no shelter along the way. Not only was there no shelter for lunch, but the shelter typically located at my end point is under renovation, so the day would end with a good nights tent. I divided the day into 3 separate 6 mile hikes, with a break between each. The first section ended at a spring, where I could finally get a morning drink. I slaked my thirst and filled my waterskins for the dry road ahead. Another 3 miles up and I came to a campsite with rock chairs built around the fire ring. It was also of particular note, since I found a rattlesnake cut up and staked to a tree. I entertained myself for a moment by flicking its rattle with my trekking pole, and then continued up the trail. There's something a little unsettling about seeing animal skins strung up by the campfire in the middle of the forest. So 3 more miles and I sat down to take another real break. I found another stone throne to lean back on, and dug into my feed bag for a while. Once back on my feet I made short work of the final 6 miles. The hike ended in a nice rolling glen of pine trees along a small stream. That's where I found a perfect flat campsite to lay stake at. It was a tenth of a mile before the tent site at the renovating shelter, but that was located a third of a mile off the trail. I opted to skip the shelter, just to shave those two thirds of a mile. Plus, it really was a perfect campsite. Switchback and Steady Yeti arrived, and departed. They were continuing on another 6.2 miles to the next real shelter. Kudos to them. Jukebox and Slim Shady arrived next, and decided to set up camp. Long after I had finished my dinner, NPR hiked down, said hello, and decided to hike up to the shelter. By this time I was in my tent, preparing for a night of forest sounds. The cicadas are out in full force, and along with the rushing sound of a burbling brook, it's bound to be a loud one. The 18 miles were manageable, but still took it out on my lower back. I think it's time to make some pack adjustments of my own. I believe tomorrow will end with my at a motel, so I can clean up and make gear alterations there. After all, simple tasks are so much simpler without a swarm of gnats around your face.

Sleep was a wonderful thing last night. Somehow being directly across the street from a train line that runs every 30 minutes had no impact. I vacated my room before the 10am checkout, and crossed the street to pick up some breakfast. I ordered a dish that came with 2 pancakes, but these pancakes were the size of 4.. each! I had to leave some of a pancake behind, my hiker hunger having been defeated. I then did a very quick resupply at a Quick Shop, and waved goodbye to the Doyle. I started out, the first couple of miles, just following the trail through the streets of Duncannon. After crossing two long bridges, one over the Susquehanna, I was able to get under tree-cover. Back up into the hills, I eventually came across my lunch shelter. I was surprised to see Slim Shady and Jukebox both hanging out, and learned that Jukebox got poison ivy and they had gotten off the trail for a week. They moved on, but we were headed to the same shelter, so I relaxed, snacked, and watched an episode of Louie on my phone. It was only another 6.7 miles to my final destination for the day, so I was able to hike a pretty leisurely pace and still arrive at 5:30pm. Slim Shady and Jukebox were already there, but soon after we were joined by NPR, Switchback, Steady Yeti, and 2 SoBos. It would have been a full shelter if this one didn't happen to have a second story and room for 20. It's as fancy as it sounds. Everyone got under cover just before it started pouring rain. The rain was so heavy, and the wind so strong, that even tucked way back into the shelter I can feel a wet mist hitting my face. I'm bracing for a damp morning. Until then, and the 18 mile day that waits, I'll dither away the time with some Nerdist podcast, and maybe an episode of Wilfred.

I slept in until almost 10am, completely wiped from the day before. If I had known that the rocks would start in earnest today, I may have slept in a little later. It was immediately apparent to me, upon standing up, that I had overdone it yesterday. My hamstrings, in particular, felt like over-tightened drumheads behind my knees. It would be 12 miles before I reached Duncannon, and the last 7 of those would be almost entirely rocks. At first I wasn't impressed by the challenge of the terrain, but slowly the volume of rocks increased. By the end, hiking down out of the hills, I was stumbling down a sheet of loose rocks and boulders at an uncomfortably steep angle. When descending a steep slope, sure-footing is always on the top of my list of priorities. There was none of that to be found here. Although I did find a massive rattlesnake on the side of the trail. Few things prick your ears up faster than the sound of that rattle. Regardless of the challenge, I made it into town unscathed, although hurting. I had planned to eat lunch, restock, and hike 5 miles out of town to the next shelter. That was out of the question, as I was now limping my way up the street. After a massive lunch at the local pizzeria, I decided to follow suit with the other hikers and hole up in the Doyle hotel for the night. I got a small single room in this beautiful dump, an enjoyed dinner in the downstairs bar. It was only around 4:30pm when I got there, so I enjoyed a long evening of relaxing, napping, reading, and catching up on some tv (on my phone, as the room doesn't have a TV). I also spent a lot of time stretching, and believe I've helped my hamstrings and lower back out immensely. It was a wonderfully relaxing short day, after the pain had been slogged through. I hope to do another 12 miles tomorrow and work my way back up from there. That'll of course be after a quick resupply, and jaunt through town for breakfast. Here's hoping the rocks don't put me through the ringer.

I slept in until almost 10am, completely wiped from the day before. If I had known that the rocks would start in earnest today, I may have slept in a little later. It was immediately apparent to me, upon standing up, that I had overdone it yesterday. My hamstrings, in particular, felt like over-tightened drumheads behind my knees. It would be 12 miles before I reached Duncannon, and the last 7 of those would be almost entirely rocks. At first I wasn't impressed by the challenge of the terrain, but slowly the volume of rocks increased. By the end, hiking down out of the hills, I was stumbling down a sheet of loose rocks and boulders at an uncomfortably steep angle. When descending a steep slope, sure-footing is always on the top of my list of priorities. There was none of that to be found here. Although I did find a massive rattlesnake on the side of the trail. Few things prick your ears up faster than the sound of that rattle. Regardless of the challenge, I made it into town unscathed, although hurting. I had planned to eat lunch, restock, and hike 5 miles out of town to the next shelter. That was out of the question, as I was now limping my way up the street. After a massive lunch at the local pizzeria, I decided to follow suit with the other hikers and hole up in the Doyle hotel for the night. I got a small single room in this beautiful dump, an enjoyed dinner in the downstairs bar. It was only around 4:30pm when I got there, so I enjoyed a long evening of relaxing, napping, reading, and catching up on some tv (on my phone, as the room doesn't have a TV). I also spent a lot of time stretching, and believe I've helped my hamstrings and lower back out immensely. It was a wonderfully relaxing short day, after the pain had been slogged through. I hope to do another 12 miles tomorrow and work my way back up from there. That'll of course be after a quick resupply, and jaunt through town for breakfast. Here's hoping the rocks don't put me through the ringer.

For a second time, the Allenberry has been a great place to stay. Once we awoke from our slumber, I threw in a load of laundry, and we made our way to the breakfast buffet. Their sticky buns lived up to their reputation. Chris couldn't get ahold of a taxi service willing to come out to Boiling Springs, so we waited in the lobby for his dad to arrive. He graciously gave me a lift back to where we got off the trail. We said our farewells, and I walked back into the woods. It's amazing how fast your perception of the trip changes the moment you go from a hiking troupe, to a single hiker. It was only 6 miles before I'd be back, yet again, in Boiling Springs. I tried to push my speed back up and get these miles done quickly, using lunch in town as a motivator. It worked. It took me an hour and a half to arrive at the Cafe, and I spent an hour relaxing and eating there. By the time I started moving again it was already 3:30pm, and I had to make haste. The trail was flat for many miles, which was nice, but also left me with nowhere to camp. I was hiking through corn fields, cow pastures, and meandering over streams. With no other option, I had to do another 14 miles to the next shelter. I had high hopes that I'd find my trail legs fast, but knew I was also taking a bit of a chance doing that many miles that soon after a long break. It wasn't until the last couple of miles that I would realize it was too far. The walk was very pretty, and I passed tons of day hikers out with their families. It's a popular area for hiking apparently, and another place where I was treated like a rock star. People honked and waved as driving by, children called out to their parents "Look it's a real hiker!", and old men stopped me to grill me about my experiences. It was a good day for moral, less so for my legs. I trundled up the last mile back into the cliffs, arriving at the shelter just before it started getting dark. Following me to shelter there were NPR, and Switchback. I've met NPR once before, and heard of Switchback, so it was nice to see some actual thru-hikers again. We all relaxed and complained about aching joints as the sun vanished behind distant cliffs. Just as I was tucking myself in to get some sleep, I heard a cacophony of scratching noises from somewhere in the darkness of the shelter. Typically I'd chalk this up to just another mouse, but it was so loud that I grabbed my headlamp for a peek. Looking up toward the ceiling I saw what I first thought was a flying squirrel, but quickly realized was a massive sugar glider! I yelled for the other hikers to check it out with me, as the little guy wandered about the beams, and eventually scurried away. I knew sugar gliders were out here (thank you NatGeo AT documentary), but never dreamed I'd see one. Even though my hamstrings, glutes, and lower back were on fire, seeing one of my favorite animals out here in the wild made the long hike worth it. So long as everyday ends with a similar thought, I expect to make it to Katahdin with a smile on my face!

Once again I was awoken by a loud, wet, fart. This was immediately followed by the sound of a shocked and confused Chris. I did my best to not let my imagination run wild, and just went back to sleep. He told me the next morning that he startled himself with his gas, but didn't shit himself. Good news for all involved. We didn't get started until 10:30am. Not the best start to a rough day. We began with a short, but incredibly steep ascent. Once summited, we entered the aptly named Rock Maze. This was a half mile ridge line up, over, twisting around a wild stone jungle. At this, Chris was genuinely feeling the challenge of a strenuous hike. We dropped down to a road with a stream beside it, and Chris jumped into the pool of water there, desperate to cool off. By then it was already 2pm and we had only come 2 miles, so time was against us. With 6 miles remaining ahead, Chris and I decided to walk into Boiling Springs via the road, because that was going to be the end of his hike. He definitely didn't seem to be enjoying it at all by the end. Ironically his reason for leaving was the same as everyone who stops in their first week of attempting a thru-hike: "It wasn't what I was expecting". Taking the road dropped the trip from 6 miles down to 4.5, with the hope of a hitch. We did get a bit of a push, as a local hiker shuttled us forward about a mile and a half, but otherwise we were hiking on hard pavement under a harsh sun. By the time we finally reached the Inn, Chris was stumbling and light-headed. Still, we made it up to the room, and flopped on our beds. Mission accomplished. We enjoyed a bit of the Olympics while eating a delivered pizza. We also enjoyed showers, and relaxing in A/C. It all becomes so precious, so fast. After pizza, we went down to the bar to enjoy a boatload of free food (meats & cheeses, chicken satay, quiches, and eventually sushi), before ordering large dinners (italian on flatbread with fries, and steak & pasta). Our same bartender from the last stay at the Allenberry was serving us, and gave us free beer for being late with our orders (they weren't that late). We then returned to the room, watched more tv, and eventually both dug into our food stores. If nothing else, on the final night Chris found his hiker appetite.

Strangely enough, last nights sleep was the best I've had since I got off the trail. I only woke up once during the night, because I heard what I thought was a bear defecating outside of my tent. It was just Chris farting though, to my great relief. There's a sentence I never thought I'd say. Before setting out, Chris adjusted his pack to raise the hip belt. The result was an external metal frame that doesn't press against his back. That small adjustment helped him immensely. We had 3.5 miles to hike to the next shelter, which held the first available water source and a place to break for an early lunch. We made it in good time, and Chris celebrated by laying down in the shade of the shelter for an hour. He snacked, I ate in earnest, and we pressed on. It was only another 1.8 to a road with a General Store / Deli. There I had a full lunch, while Chris attempted to eat for a hiker. We upped our food supplies, and walked back to the trailhead. This was the part of the days hike that included a long ascent, and the Chris-guts were none too happy about that. About a mile into the climb I heard him starting to dry-wretch while he hiked. It wasn't long before the floodgates opened. He stood there, leaning on a tree, tossing up large pieces of hamburger sub, backpack on, like a hiker. With his cherry popped, I welcome him to the illustrious club of trail-puckers. It's not a very small club. We lugged ourselves the rest of the way, bringing the days total miles hiked to 8.8, and set up camp. Water was filtered, dinners eaten, and bear bags hung. We discussed body odor. I believe I smell like a moldy towel, while Chris believes he smells like a wet dog. If it's possible to have more fun than this while miserable, I don't know how. We have an optimistic goal of 8 miles for tomorrow, which would bring us to Boiling Springs. Since I was in that town before I know the quality of the Inn there, and we intend on taking advantage. So if we can make it 8 miles, our day will end with a shower, laundry, and comfortable beds. If not it'll end at a shelter before town, and we'll just go to Boiling Springs to resupply. Either way, I'm getting a soda while there.

After an extended vacation from my vacation, I'm back on the path of the beam. During my week and a half of not hiking I got a lot done. I finally saw Moonrise Kingdom (fantastic), The Dark Knight Rises (great), and my cousin Shannon getting married (joyous). There was also time spent with family and a couple of friends, and plenty of entertainment downloaded to my phone in anticipation of my return to the trail. Chris gave me a ride back, with the plan of hiking with me until the 3rd of August. We left NJ around 11am on our journey to the AT museum and site of the half gallon challenge. It felt like so long ago, until the moment we pulled up. Then no time had passed at all. We ate a small lunch, and found some extended parking to stash his Jeep before finally setting foot onto the trail. The plan was to hike 7.5 miles to the first shelter, but didn't start hiking until about 3pm. By 6pm we had come 3.8 miles and found a small nondescript campsite. As Chris was pretty beat, and a storm was very quickly blowing in, we decided to make camp with haste. It was a very short day, but I'm just happy to be back out here. I lost one hiking partner, and gained a temporary one. That helps to make this seem like a whole new hike. We missed the rain last night, each huddled in our respective tents, but now have to push further today to make it into town. The need for food and water always helps to motivate. The sun is coming up in earnest now, so it's time to drag down the bear bags, stuff away my tent, and start being a hiker again. Damn, it feels good. One last thing, since it's been a while since I've written one of these, I have to say thank you. Of course thank you Mom and Vince for picking Mr. Fantastic (now known as Tim) and me up from the trail. That was amazing, especially on short notice. Also thank you Vicky, Bill, and Melanie for your generous and needed donations. Without your help there would have been a strong chance that I couldn't have made it back out here. So thank you in advance for all the pain and fatigue you've granted me! Now, back to hiking.

It was a rainy night, and I woke with my gear all more wet than when I went to sleep. Then things quickly got worse, as I realized the weakening laces in my Saloman shoes had finally split apart. This wouldn't be a problem if the shoe took normal laces, but it's designed to fit thin kevlar laces instead. I only had a 3.5 mile hike to the ATC museum and the half gallon challenge, and every step felt like my right foot was in a slipper. We did have one pitstop along the way, as we finally hit the true halfway point on this runaway trail. One quick photo op later, and Mr. Fantastic, Eva, and myself were continuing on towards a nauseous future. We caught up with Short Term at the road, and walked the short trip to the general store that is the home of the half gallon challenge. By the time all of the 1.5 quart ice cream containers were dispersed (I know it's a pint shy of a real half gallon, but that's how they sell them now), we had a rather large crew of challengers. Red Fury and High Life started before us, then Knock on Wood and Yoopak (previously misspelled U-Pack), and finally Eva, Free, and Short Term. And Short Term doesn't even like I've cream. Mr. Fantastic and I both went with Cookies all located together, I assume, to collect our sound and smell pollution. Jukebox and Slim were kind enough to throw our laundry in with theirs, and we watched tv and took showers in the meantime. Once back in our clean duds, we all trotted back to the main office to find the bar. Mr. Fantastic and I enjoyed a beautiful AYCE before joining the rest. It was at this time that plans were made. While enjoying an assortment of sushi, meat, and potatoes, my mom and I schemed. With my shoelace debacle, and Mr. Fantastic's current plans to leave the trail, we had a possible option to discuss. Instead of picking us up on Thursday for the wedding, I asked if they could pick us up any sooner. My problem was a distinct lack of gear shops in the area, to buy kevlar laces or new shoes. But back at home.. REI is KING! Plus, in that extra time I could easily see Moonrise Kingdom. When discussed, my mom offered to pick us up tomorrow morning, bringing Mr. F to his "Boo-sauce", and me to Wildwood with them. It sounded too perfect to pass up. Not to mention, that ending the trail at the halfway point could have some poetic finality for Mr. Fantastic. We said yes. It was time to take our place among our friends at the bar, and turn the night into a celebration. The rest is mostly a blur, but involved a few key points of reference. We all had a couple of drinks, and then went up to Jukebox and Slims room to enjoy the wine that we had nipped from the "Free cheese & wine" downstairs. After those bottles were done, Mr. Fantastic and Eva procured 2 carafes from our friendly neighborhood bar tender across the street. After those carafes were done, we all went to said bar tender across the street to up the ante. Things got a little crazy at this point, but eventually led to us being cut off. A quick .1 hike brought us back to our rooms, where everyone split up for their respective Z's. Tomorrow morning will be the beginning of something crazy: a trip home. I have every intention of coming back out to the trail and attempting the second half alone, but it will require a lot of adapting. I don't think I would have made it this far without having a Mr. Fantastic to lean on during the bad days. Having emotional support built-in always helps, even if it did frequently come from a sideways angle. I probably won't blog much, if at all, for this week, since I won't really be wandering. When no place is home, everywhere is home. When someplace is home, after 3 full months without one, it may be tough to leave. Hopefully I make the right choice.

Waking up to a hot breakfast being served to you is the right way to start the day. Dick Flap caught up with us this morning so he could eat properly as well, which was certainly surprising. While eating, he regaled us with a new tale of "stealth" camping that amazed everyone. He's always good for a crazy story. All I'll say is that it's amazing the police officer didn't arrest him and Suds. We took our time leaving today, and I charged up my phone while lounging around the campsite. When Mr. Fantastic and I did get started, we very quickly adopted different paces. I was aiming for my 10 miles in 3 hours again, which would take me to a shelter for lunch, while Mr. F nursed his mostly healed foot. I hit my mark again over some lovely terrain. Pennsylvania may end in nonstop rocks, but early on it's really quite relaxing. I kicked off my shoes, stuffed my face, and watched some podcasts in the shelter as everyone else ambled in. I stayed there for 2 and a half hours to really soak up the ambiance of the relaxing day. Eventually the crew (Eva, Short Term, Free, Scientist, Red Fury, High Life, U-Pack, Jeez Louise, and Knock on Wood) all trickled back onto the trail. Mr. Fantastic and I followed behind, and adopted our paces. We only had another 6.2 left, and it was starting to spit more than just a drizzle. The weather managed to stay wet and cool, without ever turning into a full fledged rain. That's pretty perfect weather for hiking, as it keeps you quite cool and comfortable. I finished those last miles in an hour and 45 minutes, which made me happy, and found myself at a pair of rather mundane shelters. Everyone arrived immediately after, and only Red Fury and High Life continued past. It was another easy hike, and Mr. F's foot seems all the better for it. Unfortunately he's done a little math and is realizing how unlikely it's becoming that he can finish on time. A possible solution he threw out there would be if he skips ahead about 200 miles to make the timing manageable, and allow him to finish at Katahdin. He's hoping I'll join him, which is sounding good to me since I'd like it if we can take our pictures together at the finish line. Afterwards I can go back and hike the 2 sections I skipped with no real timeline. It makes sense, but for now we're just doing a little mulling. Tomorrow is a BIG day. We will finally hit the actual halfway point, and attempt the half gallon challenge. I'll let you know how that goes, and if we manage to complete the 16 miles that will follow said bellyful of dairy.

My sleeping-in-the-snorers-shelter gambit paid off, as no one else joined us. It did get surprisingly cold though, to the point where I had to get up to put more clothes on so my feet didn't need to be amputated by sunup. The chill took a little while to shake off, and I didn't crawl out of my liner until 8:30am. Mr. Fantastic was still stuffed into his mummy bag, so I enjoyed a breakfast of leftovers and got ready for the day. Butter passed us as Mr. F was getting up, and kept on trucking, keeping up her killer pace. Once I got going I decided to try and keep a quick pace toward the hiker feed at the campgrounds 10 miles out. I succeeded in my goal, and then some. Since there was only one water source along the way, and it was off the trail, I booked it straight through with no breaks and arrived at the campgrounds in 3 hours. That has now shattered my previous goal of a 3mph average, and left me feeling quite elated. Those 10 miles were also my favorite miles of hiking I've done on the trail so far. They're not my favorite for being the most beautiful, or the most technical, but for bringing out a sense of joy to just hike. Feeling confident and strong out here is very important. Today filled that quota perfectly. Once I arrived I wandered the campgrounds for 30 minutes looking for the feed. It's a massive place with a swimming pool big enough for an army. When I eventually found the campsites where the feed was to be, I found myself alone with a note that read "Make yourself at home". There was some Kool-Aid and snack bars, but it was otherwise a ghost campsite. The downside of arriving early is that if plans fall through, you have nothing to do. So I snacked, read a little, and then decided to head Mr. Fantastic off at the pass so we could eat in town and get our resupply done. I crossed paths with Butter on the way back to the highway, and she followed me back to join us in town. When I finally found Mr. F he was relaxing at the hiker feed sign (and trail magic that I had enjoyed earlier) with Eva and Short Term. We happily joined them, getting ready to walk .3 to a pizza place. Mr. Fantastic had apparently had a very bad day, so we're back to our usual roles of inverse moods. He's experiencing a stabbing pain on the ball of his foot, which made for a rough hike. We have a mantra to help keep us on the trail: if I have 5 bad days in a row I'll quit. It works well, because that'll probably never happen. Mr. F counted today as day 1. He also decided he had to stop hiking for the day, so that meant that we could enjoy the hiker feed dinner and breakfast, a hot shower, and the swimming pool. This was all discussed as we ambled along the highway on our way to pizza. We all ordered too much food, while Mr. Fantastic and Eva mimed dance moves and lip synced to whatever random songs played on the radio. It was a fun lunch, and we spent far too much time there. Butter left before us in her eternal search for a phone charger, and eventually Eva and Short Term started heading over to the market another .4 down the road. We were all leaving our packs behind for this quick trip, but as Mr. F and I hit the parking lot to start our walk, we were stopped by a man in a truck. He pulled up and asked if we were hikers, then went on to explain that he was Cook Doctor, the hiker feed chef, and he was on his way to the market. He gave us a lift, and we threw Eva and Short Term's packs in his truck with us, arriving at the market moments before they did. We all quickly stocked up, and hopped back in the truck to ride in style up to the campsite. We quickly pitched tents, and then ran down to the pool to make the day that much more complete. It's quite lovely to go from a smelly salty hiker, to a damp clean one, over the course of playing games and swimming around. I also happily discovered that Mr. F doesn't know how to tread water properly, when he asked me how long I could do it for and he guessed 2 minutes. Priceless. We made it back up to the campsites just as everyone was starting to eat. Butter was back, along with Red Fury and High Life, Knock on Wood, U-Pack, and plenty more. Hot dogs, hamburgers, corn, chili, and apple sauce covered everyone's plates while conversations jumped all around the long table. It was an amazing dinner that was then followed by a boatload of ice cream. I'm still nursing a food baby, but I'm also looking forward to breakfast. It was an amazing day for me, jumping from one high to another. A day of nonstop peaks never happens out here, as it's the contrast that makes everything so wonderful. With that in mind I think today will easily be one of my favorite days on the trail. Who knows what tomorrow could hold?

It was an ordinary morning out on the trail. I woke up around 8am, ate about 1200 cold calories, packed up my gear, and got my feet on the trail at 9am. The plan was to hike 9.5 miles and hitch into town, but plans were happily deviated. It was 6 miles to the first shelter where we took a quick break, and immediately after some serious rocks began. In those last miles before the road I had my first potentially dangerous fall, and actually got quite lucky. While taking a steep falling step from one rock ledge down to another, I lost my footing and had my knee aiming for a 3.5 foot drop directly onto a pointed rock. Thankfully at the last moment I stabbed my trekking pole into the ground and managed to vault my momentum into a little gap; narrowly escaping a hike-ending injury, and incredibly, avoiding even a scrape or abrasion. I was laughing at my own luck when Mr. Fantastic quickly turned to see if I was alright, but as I hiked on I became a little shaken at how close a call it had been. It's easy to forget how human you still are after doing this for so long. Thankfully there were no other near-catastrophic falls for the rest of the day. When we came to the road that we planned to hitch from we found ourselves at a local park. The road was unfortunately barren of traffic, so we decided to eat lunch there, under the blessings of a soda machine and power outlets. While gorging, we started to realize how annoying it was going to be to hitch into town 2.5 miles further on (the next busy road) when we were already full and power charged. Consulting the guide we learned a few key pieces of knowledge. Tomorrow, after 10 miles, we will hit a park that is having a week long hiker feed (thank you section hikers for this piece of intel). They also have showers, and even a swimming pool. Even better, the park is located on a road that is only a .7 mile hike to a supermarket. Since we both had enough extra food to last us through a dinner and breakfast, we could greatly ease our burden by taking this advantage. So what does any good hiker do when they learn they have extra time in the day? If you said take a nap on a picnic bench, you are correct!With 8.5 miles to go, we relaxed until about 4pm, filled up our water, and started out. A third of a mile brought us to the Mason Dixon, and finally into the North and Pennsylvania. No more South! We each snapped a quick pic, and then threw in some earbuds to listen to podcasts and hike at different paces. The gnats were really bad today, and the best thing to do is hide behind sunglasses so they don't dive into your eyes, and put in headphones so you don't have to hear their incessant buzzing. I tried soaking myself in bug spray early in the morning, but since it did nothing at all I threw it out at the next trash can. Why carry extra weight and coat yourself in poison if the bugs don't even care?For the rest of the hike I listened to The Nerdist, with Levar Burton of Reading Rainbow fame (hilarious!), and Doug Loves Movies. Both of these are constant recommendations of Monica, and I was happy to finally have a chance to listen to the hour-plus long audio podcasts. It also gave me a fun new movie game to play on the trail. These two podcasts brought me all the way to my shelter by 7pm, where I found a wonderfully novel setup. There are two smallish shelters, separated by a covered picnic table. One shelter says "Snorers" while the other says "Non-Snorers". Of course the non-snorer shelter already had two older gentlemen in it, and if I've learned anything out here, it's that all old men snore. So I jumped into the empty snorers shelter, because I think those old bastards are either lying, or live in blissful ignorance. Only time will tell. While today had a big scare, it felt great to enter the North. Tomorrow has the makings of an awesome day at the pool, and we're only getting closer to the wedding. I can't wait to see family, and Mr. F can't wait to see Keith. Big things are coming, and at least so far big rocks and cumbersome falls can't stop them. Each step only brings us closer.

The shelter we were in last night had a thick coat of paint on the floor. This is unusual, and with my air mattress caused so much noise that at 3am I was forced to move outside. I slept on the unpainted wood slats in front of the shelter from that point on, and was glad they hadn't decided to paint those as well. I couldn't move my foot, let alone take a deep breath, without a plastic on plastic sticky creak waking everyone up. Mr. Fantastic started the day off right with his Hall and Oates Pandora station. I have to agree with him, that it may quite possibly be the greatest thing that has ever happened in music. We were both feeling much more chipper, which was a good thing since we had 21 miles ahead of us WITH a stop in town. A feat we have never before accomplished. Butter started out before us, I believe with the intention of making it to the road at the same time we did so she could hitch with us. We passed a good number of people on the trail this morning, including some section hikers, and one guy going for a quick-paced jog. 5 miles into our hike we caught up with Butter, and she followed for the last 2 to the road. We weren't having a ton of luck hitching, but thankfully the jogger we had passed earlier saw us and offered up a lift. He actually brought us to a town further away than our plan, so Butter could look for a phone charger at the CVS, and then even waited while we did a resupply at the Safeway. After that he dropped us off at the Subway, where we thanked him profusely. He's the first ride we've gotten from a stranger who has waited for us to shop, and that was pretty spectacular. Lunch was wonderful, made especially so due to Butter's newbie nature. She was loving every minute of the experience and couldn't believe how amazing her sandwich and soda were after a quick and dirty morning hike. I think her optimism was quite infectious. We caught a ride back pretty quickly, and got to take our usual seat in the back of a pick-up. The locals were then treated to Butter hooting and hollering her joy at such an event, and we were again reminded of how special, strange, and freeing what we're doing is. Our driving angel made quick work of the curving mountain roads while we all absorbed the day in our own way. Back on the trail at 1pm with 14 miles to go, we told Butter she could and should try to keep up, but I don't think any of us expected it. She dropped off after a couple of miles and we unfortunately didn't get a chance to say goodbye. But hey, that's what Facebook is for. We hiked onward to another shelter for a snack and rest, where we met an older couple who thru-hiked in 2006. They were on a trip with a blind couple through Maryland, and we all shared stories and advice. Apparently the blind couple are kicking some ass, which is always amazing to hear about. The gentleman apparently even went to the base camp of Everest to be there when the first blind person summited. Pretty crazy!The last 5 miles were the hardest, as everything over 16 always is. We felt our feet getting their usual amount of pounding, but were ecstatic with the cooler weather. The body can do amazing things when it isn't bogged down by thick humid 100 degree air. We felt strong again, for the first time in a while. I finished with my muscles, heart, and lungs all feeling healthy and great. Sore feet we can manage. At our final shelter we met 3 guys in their 60's and 70's who planned on section hiking the 40 miles of trail in Maryland, today being the end of their first day. We shared a lot of info with them, and they asked questions with a voracious appetite. We've had a lot of days in a row of feeling like experts out here, and it's been great to share stories and the sorts of simple things we've learned. I think we're both feeling like we're truly back on the trail now, having had one bad day together, and now one good. Maybe our cycles are just aligning, I'm not sure. Tomorrow is only 18 miles, with another quick romp into town. We have a wedding to look forward to, and visits from a few random friends. Most immediately though we can be excited to finish Maryland tomorrow and begin our Pennsylvanian adventure. Here's looking forward to lots of rocks!

P.S. At 9:20 Butter rolled in, quite ecstatic with her amazing progress in just a single day. Her plan is to go 100 miles, but at this rate she may crush a bit more trail than just that.

Our stay in DC was great. Maybe a little too great (a little too Raph for you Ninja Turtles Secret of the Ooze fans). On our zero day we went to REI, which was like a giant candy store. Mr. Fantastic returned a lot of gear, so he's back in working order. I picked up the next 3 maps, a new pillow, and sturdier water bladder for my filter. Jackpot. We grabbed some pizza on the way back, and enjoyed a familial lunch. That night was Mr. F's big birthday dinner, and I prepared by taking a prolonged nap. I also watched Indie Game: The Movie, which I would recommend to anyone interested in learning about the smaller end of the gaming industry. I woke up just before the crowd started arriving. Dinner involved a lot of people, amazing food, and fascinating criss-crossing conversations around a massive table. It was a dinner party in the purest sense. The following day was spent relaxing and watching Wimbledon, before Mr. Taylor gave us a lift back to Harper's Ferry. Goodbyes were hugged, and well-wishes tossed around. It was a great refresher from the trail. Once back in town we jumped into a local B&B hostel for the night and met some other hikers. It was a great place to stay, but unfortunately had an awful snorer in there as well. No sleep. In the morning we finally made our way to the ATC headquarters to register as official thru-hikers. We got our picture taken, and looked through the book at those who had come before us. We also bumped into Tiny Dancer and Pinball Wizard there, shortly before Dick Flap made a surprise appearance. He is now the last of our old crew that is still on the trail. Tapeworm was told he had to stay off of his knees for a month or he'd do serious damage, Optimus has stress fractures in her feet, and Meta stopped enjoying his trip. Mr. Fantastic and I both understood the loss of motivation, as each person we've met drops off you start to lose the best part of the trip: the community. We still managed to get back onto the trail, though, after a lackluster lunch. When we ate a snack at the first shelter we came to we both talked about how much our motivation was failing us. We had just spent a couple of days in civilization, and came back to find our community lost. It's rare that we both feel down on the same day, but today it hit us pretty hard. We hiked on toward the next shelter, passing a soda vending machine on the way that we lacked the proper singles for. What a loss! We wandered the park for 30 minutes asking strangers if they could make change, to no avail. At least we were able to fill up out water bottles, and then move forward. Reaching the shelter I decided I would stop for the night. We had originally planned to hike another 5 miles, but with my lack of sleep and our late start I didn't have it in me. We met Dick Flap's lady friend, Butter, who was dozing in the shelter. We had heard about her often, so it was nice to place the face. The three of us chatted while Mr. F and I caught up on some calories. Hopefully tomorrow will hold a quick resupply and a 21 mile day. We have to amp the miles back up, but we'll see what the terrain has in store for us. I think our spirits are higher now, but knowing that we won't bump into the old crew along the way steals a lot of the random joys. However I must say, the weather has cooled and I can feel a modicum of strength returning. I'm banking on that trend continuing!

I woke damp from the humidity. Not the most pleasant feeling, but I did sleep well, so why complain. I was immediately informed by Dirty D that Mr. Fantastic and Gizmo had arrived last night and had camped on the screened-in porch. At first I was a little jealous, but then Mr. F told me that the porch was full of mosquitos, despite the screen. Score one for the tenters. I climbed back up the half mile to the ridge line and waited for my crew of 2 to join me. The sign says it was only a .2 hike, but we all decided that was as the crow flies, not as the hobbling hiker walks. They caught up in a few minutes and we began our 12.5 mile hoof to Harper's Ferry, the spiritual halfway point, the end of West Virginia (so fast!), and our ride to DC. There was nowhere to get water on today's hike without adding a mile to the trip, so we decided to go all out with no lunch till town. Thankfully most of the terrain was quite pleasant, but unfortunately it was about 100 degrees again. The hike was uneventful and we spent most of the time chatting about 90's TV shows and videos games. We're all of that oh-so-special age; children of a decade that promoted tearing holes in ones jeans to fit in, and gaming consoles with mascots. Other than a few quick breaks for water, stretching, or to tape up feet, we walked straight to our destination. Once in town we went to the Secret Six Tavern, after a few minutes of confusion when we got separated. We all quickly overate before Mr. Taylor arrived to shuttle us around. First we made a quick stop back to Front Royal (now feeling like home after so many days there) so that Gizmo could get his car, and then it was off to DC. It was fun to travel so far in a car again, it feels like it's been forever. Once at the Taylor household the three salty hikers went to three separate showers. How perfect is that. We all quickly cleaned up and then hopped in cars to go to Mr. Fantastic's dinner. For the last 2 months he's been talking about where this meal would take place, and exactly what he would order, so reaching this restaurant felt like an achievement all its own. I've never had Vietnamese before, so I let Mr. F choose my dishes. Crispy spring rolls and spicy orange chicken, which ironically is about what I'd order at my favorite Chinese restaurant. Dinner was fun and amazingly tasty. I ate more than my fill, and strangely enough (for me), felt completely at home and welcome at this family celebration. We talked about having a classic video game contest, with some SNES Street Fighter II Turbo, but everyone was too tired to start it tonight. Tomorrow is another day though, and among the myriad of plans, the Taylor brothers will learn the bitter taste of vicious gaming defeat. Game over man.

Mr. Fantastic started today on Gizmo's schedule, and got on the trail around 7:30am. I was a bit slower this morning, enjoying the comforts of my tent a little longer than necessary. Still, I got going at 8:30am. We had thought that the Virginia roller coaster was further back, and that we had finished with it. We were wrong. I queued up for the ride, not really knowing what to expect. The profile on my map looked exceedingly easy, but its notoriety said otherwise. After the first couple of pointless up-downs, I caught up with Mr. Fantastic and Gizmo. I had already passed by Dirty D, who had camped with us last night. Speaking of Dirty D, he remembered you, Mom and Vince, and even snagged one of the Gatorades you left by the trail. He was very grateful, and spoke highly of you both.The temperature was quickly rising, and when we finished the 7 miles to the shelter for lunch, we were all happy for the break. Dirty D joined us as well. I started off before the others, because I could already feel the heat of the day taking its toll. Dirty D passed me pretty quickly though, and at the second water source I stopped and waited for the rest of my retinue. They joined me for a brief rest, and then we got back on the roller coaster. None of the climbs were long, but many were very steep and rocky. It made for a day that was easy on the muscles, but terrible on the joints. The energy would have been nice to savor if not for the heat, which sapped any enjoyment from that area. Plus it was one of the buggiest days yet. I don't know how these gnats could have evolved to kamikaze into my eyes and ears, but it seems rather juvenile to sacrifice your life just to try and trip me up. After a couple of miles I got out in front and kept going. The speed grants me a mild bug reprieve, a subtle breeze, and a chance to make it to the hostel before the sun sets. Of course hiking alone also means that when I reached the end of Virginia, the largest section of trail, and the 1000 mile marker, I did so alone, to no fanfare. Regardless, both achievements helped to raise my spirits on a rough day, and I kept on towards the faint possibility of a soda. When I finally reached the blue blaze pointing toward the hostel I was dry but salty, starving, and very sore. The first thing I did was drop my pack at the bunk house, and follow Dirty D's instruction to meet the caretaker for a free soda. Thank you Chis! Dr. Bob is yet another Dr. Pepper knockoff, but it was fantastic all the same. I ate a slow dinner with D, and decided to set up my tent instead of staying in the bunk. No A/C in a small bunk house full of people I don't know sounds like a recipe for a hot miserable night. So here I lay, exhausted in my little tent. Mr. Fantastic and Gizmo still haven't arrived yet, so I'm beginning to wonder if they may have decided to camp along the trail. It was a rough day, and if I was Gizmo I'd never make it this far. Of course he is in much better shape than I was when I started this adventure, so who knows what'll happen. Maybe he's trying out a little night hiking. Either way, I'll reunite with them tomorrow on the way to Harper's Ferry. Then onward to DC. It feels great to be this far along, and I'm hoping that the second half of this trip will have an emotional feeling of downhill. Not a physical feeling though, as that's how I hurt my knees and feet.

It's been a few days since I've blogged, so bare with me. I have to refresh my memory a bit, and squeeze a lot in. Saturday morning we awoke to the same lack of power that we passed out to. Using my phone I found out how bad the storm had been, with something like 1.5 million residences still without power. I wandered up to my parents room to find them packing up. Vince had made some calls and found that the Days Inn still had electricity, so we were switching hotels. We also had to do a little laundry and find a restaurant with power before heading up into the mountains. This was all accomplished before noon, when Mr. F, Bonecrusher (my moms trail name), and I found ourselves setting foot on the path. The trail was quite rocky, and took its toll on Bonecrusher's knee (somewhat apt). We stopped for lunch at a hut where we met a couple of section hikers and a ridge runner. Conversation was light and entertaining, and we enjoyed a prolonged break. By around the 7 mile point it was starting to get quite hot out again. Between the heat and her knee, Bonecrusher was starting to feel what a full day on the trail can do to you. With that in mind, we ended the hike a little early, and were picked up by Vince to check into the hotel and grab some much needed dinner. After dinner we watched (500) Days of Summer, which made me happy as always. The following day had us hiking 10 short miles, which Bonecrusher decided to abstain from. She joined me for a quick mile hike that I had to make up in the beginning, and then joined Vince to visit the Luray caverns. She was afraid of slowing us down, but really she made the right call because of the brutal rocky downhill that ended the hike. Even though it was a short day, in much milder weather, I finished beat and weary. Worse than that though, my stomach bothered me the entire hike. They met us at the end with cold sodas and cookies, which was about the greatest thing ever, and we went out to a glorious dinner with live music. Then, back at the hotel room, we watched Lost in Translation to everyone's enjoyment. The following morning brought with it the main event to my weakening stomach. I've never been one to have problems with diarrhea, but it seems that it was time for me to learn its dark ways. I had issues when I woke, and then again after breakfast, and yet again at the point where my parents were dropping us off. Speaking of the drop off, we had to be shuttled about 8 miles past where we had last gotten off of the trail, thanks to closures due to the fire. It just kept raging all this time, and we even got to see helicopters ferrying water to and fro. At a couple points they even landed in our hotel parking lot, possibly for shift changes. But back to my own misadventures. I told Mr. Fantastic to hike on, as he had a schedule to keep, and I waited for a little while with the rents to see how things panned out. Things were only getting worse, so we decided to give it the night and see what happened. We moved from the Luray Days Inn, ahead to the Front Royal Holiday Inn. This was a step down in price, and a massive step up in quality. Taking a 3 hour nap that afternoon didn't do much to help me, though my bowels had at least slowed their constant evacuation. Regardless of stomach ills, I was starving, so we all went out to dinner. The place was small and cute, with a charismatic waiter who was married to the chef. Everything was delicious, and when we were finally leaving they gave me a bag of food to see me on my way up the trail, as well as some beer. It made for a wonderful and fun night, despite my ails. I awoke no better the following morning, so we decided it best to go to the local clinic to get checked out. They ran blood, urine, and stool samples, but thankfully came to the conclusion that I was good to hike once everything passed. I was to give it another day of rest, and come back if the problem hadn't subsided. After the poking and prodding, we all had a quick lunch and decided to go watch the new Spider-Man reboot in 3D at the local theater. My parents thoroughly enjoyed it, and I thought it was clunky but a lot of fun. This was my last night at the hotel, because if I wasn't better and hiking by morning I'd have to go home for a brief stint. We watched some of Final Destination 5, and I downloaded a boatload of entertainment for the trail. By this morn I was finally back in the solid stool club, and happy to be a member. We ate breakfast downstairs at the Houlihans, and packed up our things. On the way back to the trail we decided to catch one more movie, swinging by to see how funny Ted might be. It was a good comedy, if not boring at parts, and made us all laugh heartily. It's good to see Seth MacFarlane testing the waters of the film industry. Back out in the heat, we drove off toward Ashby Gap, where I'd pick up the trail once again. I've skipped ahead at this point, but once I reach Katahdyn I'll come back down to complete the missed section. Reaching the gap, we found ourselves face to face with Mr. Fantastic and his brother Gizmo (JS having already been named by Mr. F). Timing was rather crazy, yet again. Vince shared some water and Gatorade with them before we all took off. We said our goodbyes to my parents, they snapped a couple of pictures, and we sweat our way back into the woods. I had an especially short nearo at 3.6 miles, whereas Mr. F and Gizmo had already come 10. That was fine by me though, as 2 zero days and an illness can steal a bit of your trail legs. The hike was quick, but very hot and humid. I soaked through my clothes at the first climb, even though the terrain was honestly rather easy today. Dinner was small for me, as I didn't work hard enough to earn the big hiker appetite I'm accustomed to. I quickly set up my tent with the new trekking poles Vince got me, and rolled out my new sleeping liner that my mom gave me. In heat like this I'm so grateful to have a new system that's easier to setup and doesn't cause me to sweat all night. I can finally welcome summer in at least one way!Tomorrow I'll be back to hiking the big miles, and I'm sure it'll be a bit of a shock to the system. Then again when isn't it a shock to the system? There's still plenty to look forward to in the next few days though. We have tomorrow and Friday to hike before we make it to Harper's Ferry. This is, of course, the spiritual halfway point of the trek. Not only that, it's also where Mr. F and Gizmo's dad will pick us up to drive us to DC. Another couple of zeros, as well as birthday festivities for Mr. Fantastic will make our halfway point truly memorable. Plus once back at Harper's Ferry we get to tackle the half gallon challenge. More on that soon!

Waking up to bone dry water bottles is a downer. I got up and quickly got moving toward the spring that was about .6 up the trail. Mr. F had already started snacking, but I needed some water to help the food go down. I was already dripping sweat by the time I found the spring, and the heat had started to give me a bit of a headache. The spring itself was more a stagnant pool than a flowing source, but it did have a little movement, so I stocked up. After a drawn out breakfast in the shade, I decided to keep moving. Mr. Fantastic still hadn't caught up though, which made me think he had either skipped this source or missed it. By now the heat was getting rather brutal, dramatically slowing my pace as it caused my head to thrum with building momentum. I slogged along, sweat dripping from my elbows with each step, until I came to the halfway point. Hiking down to the shelter I finally came across Mr. Fantastic. He followed me back to the shelter and explained that he had stopped at a different crappy spring, just 20 feet before the one I found. Another long break was required for me to find any energy in this heat, and then we were off. Had I not been planning to meet my parents today I would have stopped at that shelter, even with it's trickle of a water source. If you'd like to recreate the way I felt at this point, do jumping jacks in a sauna with a terrible hangover. Just keep doing that for about 5 hours. The rest of the hike continued to be miserable, until about 1.5 miles away from our destination. We finally found a decent source of water, and took advantage. I soaked my Buff and wrapped it around my head, finally calming my pounding temples, and we each chugged a liter of water. Refreshed, and ready to face the final push, we kept on towards our meet destination. The campground was the most welcome sight I could ever imagine. Mr. F collapsed on the ground, and I worked on explaining to Vince exactly where we were located. 15 minutes later we were inside the lodge, ordering dinner, and drinking the best tasting soda I've ever had. There was still no A/C, but in the shade we were cool. It was great to meet back up with my parents, and made it feel like I've been gone for no time at all. We found out it had been topping out over 100 degrees for the day, and that there was a forest fire raging further up the trail. Not having the energy to put too much thought into that just yet, we got in the car and headed for the Best Western. The room was air conditioned, and we joyously showered and lounged. The Matrix was on, and we were exactly where we needed to be on such an insanely hot day. That's when the hail came. The storm came on hard and fast, and we lost our precious power before we had a real chance to prepare. The loss of Internet was frustrating, but the loss of A/C was a little bit soul crushing. We wandered around the hotel room with head lamps on, doing our best impression of indoor camping, until we both finally passed out. We plan to hike 8 miles with my mom tomorrow, but we'll see what the temperature does. It could be too brutal for any of us to be out climbing mountains.

I headed over to the camp store the moment I woke up this morning, still craving the soda that we were denied last night. We got in just 20 minutes after the store had closed. Mr. Fantastic was awake when I returned to camp, while the people who had arrived and setup at 5am were still asleep.. city folk. The 7 miles to the next shelter sang their siren song, and after my breakfast I set out. More comfortable, level(ish) terrain lead me North. Mr. Fantastic caught up just before I finished the 7 miles, and we watched another episode of TRS in the shelter while having a rather large first lunch. I took longer than I had intended, but after an hour break I pushed on to do another 8 miles to the following shelter, already craving second lunch. A goldilocks trio of bears crossed my path during this stretch of trail. This was made far more interesting by the fact that all 3 of them were hanging out up in the trees. First I came across 2, hiking along and hearing a violent clatter from far above me. I looked to my left to see what looked like a scene out of Planet of the Apes. The bears looked like big gorillas as they quickly and gracefully swung their way down a tree, as if it were a massive curvy firehouse pole. Thankfully they were doing what they do best: running away from me. Who could blame them, I do look pretty beastly at this point. It could also just be the smell. The second bear did the same about 2 miles further up the trail, but by then I was less impressed. Our second lunch was just as big as the first, and included yet another TRS podcast, this one reviewing Brave. Relaxation was cut short, as we had 6 more miles to go before a mountaintop we planned to find a decent campsite on. There was no shelter, or hut as they're called in the Shenny's, where we needed one this time. We found a small space beside the trail to call our own for the night, and setup camp before the sun set. Dinner was brief, as our water was pretty low by then. A challenge of camping without a water source nearby. In the morning we'll break camp and hike to the next spring before enjoying breakfast. It's a shorter day, only about 15 miles, and then we'll meet up with my parents. There are so many plans in the next few days to keep our minds occupied, which is typically a challenge out here. Your body is always busy, but you mind just wanders free. Here's looking forward to all that tomorrow will bring, but most immediately, the sound of a running spring to slake our thirsts.

I slept in until 9am today, but truly needed it after my lack of sleep the night before. Not to mention that rough night hike. We got moving a little after 10am to travel 19.2 miles deeper into the Shenny's. First things first, we had to pick up some water at the spring, because it would be 13 miles before we came to another water source. Loaded down with provisions, we walked across a rather rocky beginning to this theoretically easy stretch of trail. A couple miles out Mr. Fantastic stopped to use the little boys room, or tree, and I kept moving. I didn't see him again until the 13 mile water source at the shelter. During my time alone the trail lost its rocks, and I was able to enjoy a leisurely hike across terrain that reminded me of the woods in Jersey. When I arrived at the shelter with the water, I came across Tiny Dancer and Pinball Wizard, both putting the finishing touches on a massive pile of food. They planned to do another 13 miles to the next shelter, a marathon day. Mr. F and I had the campsites in mind instead, not willing to put in that kind of time/distance quite yet. Mr. Fantastic arrived, and we wished our fellow hikers luck in their travels. We, in the meantime, watched an episode of The Totally Rad Show and enjoyed a few snacks. Then, after finding the privy, we continued our 6.2 miles toward the campgrounds. We talked about video games on the way, trying to figure out our top 5 games for each system starting with Nintendo. It was a challenging discussion, but kept us both entertained and engaged for most of our hike. The campsite is massive, a giant maze of roads and plots that look like a bloated cancerous heart. Instead of finding thru-hikers, in a place like this you see people driving in. Mr. Fantastic called them "city folk", since anyone who carries a tote bag into our neck of the woods can't be one of us. It's still nice to see people, always alleviating the fear of bears a bit. At the same time the national park areas of the trail are always the most littered with trash, and the most likely place to find a bear accustomed to people food. That's what you don't want. Let's all say it together now, if you pack it in, pack it out. I'll share a story about Suds to finish today's post. A few weeks ago he was climbing up a mountain and found a pile of trash in the middle of the trail that someone had just lit on fire. They had set it ablaze, and quickly hiked away, leaving the fire to its own devices. Since Suds could still hear them he grabbed the pile of burning trash and ran after them. When he caught up he dropped it at their feet saying, "I think you dropped this". One of the guys shouted an impotent "Hey!" after him, but Suds had taken off up the trail as fast as he could, not wanting to get in a fight with a bunch of angry day-hikers. Thankfully he knew that they'd never be able to catch him, since he was in thru-hiker shape. Just another day for Suds, keeping the trail safe from pollution, forest fire, and assholes.

I'll attempt to keep this post short, as it was a long day. I didn't get much sleep last night, mostly because in the YMCA field I was able to leech off of someone's wifi. With an opportunity like that I have a hard time not downloading things to entertain myself while deep in the woods. The sun was definitely a wake up call, not having the cool, dappled tree cover of the trail to dull its power. So, we got up, broke camp, and walked toward laundry and breakfast. Weasie's breakfast was massive and spectacular. We were both so full by the end of our plates that we couldn't even eat dessert. This isn't the norm for a hiker appetite. Breakfast was finished around the same time as the laundry, so it was time to check out the gear shop. It was a mile walk over to the store, but Mr. F needed new shoes, and I needed new trekking pole tips. He got what he wanted, changing from boots to stiff-bottom hiking shoes, but they didn't have tips for Black Diamond poles. I did however get a bottle of bug spray with Maxi Deet. Hopefully that'll keep the little gnats away, since nothing else has seemed to work so far. My steripen drowned in one of the rainstorms, so I've been using Aqua Mira to purify my water. That works, but I wanted something better, and thought I'd follow the recommendation given by a Mr. Charles Hoover. So I picked up a new squeeze filter, and we called for a ride to the movie theater. DuBose came and picked us up 20 minutes later. He was a fun, surly, older gent who told us a secret. Yesterday, when Miss Lady was giving us her tour, she told us that the Y didn't actually give free showers, but that a secret individual was paying each year for all the thru-hiker showers. When we told this story to DuBose, he admitted to being the very same trail angel. We thanked him for his annual kindness, but mostly we were just excited to have discovered a mystery, and solved it, in just 2 days in Waynesboro. Go team!DuBose dropped us at the theater, and even offered to hold onto our gear and pick us up after it was over. We happily accepted more of his kindness, and trotted in to see pure sci-fi thriller. I found Prometheus to be a pretty big letdown overall, but I will say that the first half was spectacular in its design, and in Michael Fassbender. Still, it was worth the time and effort just to enjoy a flick. DuBose met us, just as he said he would, and dumped us off at the post office. Mr. Fantastic had to ship a few things home. After that it was a brief lunch on the way to Krogers. I had a burger that may have been the juiciest I've ever eaten. It was like a hot beef peach, juices soaking into my flavor saver. At Krogers we saw Tiny Dancer and Pinball Wizard, and decided to share a ride back to the trail from Miss Lady. We also bumped into Eva and Short Term, all doing their own resupply shopping. Hikers take a controlling share in any food market along the trail. Miss Lady came 5 minutes after we called, and we all enjoyed her company again. This has definitely been one of the best towns on the trail. Back in the woods we had to fill out our registration forms, as we're now back in the National Park arena. I hope the Shenandoahs are nicer to hikers than the Smokies were. The 7 mile hike took us to the first shelter well after dark. Not the best way for Mr. F to break in new shoes, especially on the rocky terrain. We did make it however, sore feet and all. We have 2 long days ahead of us before a short day that'll end in a reunion with my parents. That'll be a lot of fun and we're both excited. I need to get some sleep now, or I'll wind up passing out sitting up. I hope tomorrow isn't quite as rocky so I can baby my mashed up feet.

It didn't rain for long last night, and I awoke to a dry tent. This is after I awoke to the sound of a bear nosing around our campsite. Stoves was shining his headlamp around our grounds as the bear ambled and snorted its way near the shelter and my tent. We just think of them as big dogs at this point, so I went back to sleep. I was the first one up in the morning, and pulled my bear bag down for a delicious cold breakfast. Mr. Fantastic quickly followed suit. Tiny Dancer and Pinball Wizard walked in off a side trail, a brazen blue blazin' duo. This finally got Stoves out of his hammock and he joined us all for breakfast. Mr. Fantastic and I then got a surprise, as Just Brian hiked in. We haven't seen him since way back at the Fontana Dam Hilton, before the Smokies. He arrived with a new trail name in tow; Olympus, named for the camera always displayed in prominence around his neck. We shared info on each others upcoming terrain, as is always quite handy. He also mentioned that Prometheus is playing at a theater in Waynesboro, which solidified our plans to make it into town today. Back on the dusty trail I made good time to an overlook 6 miles out. There Mr. Fantastic rejoined me, and we hiked together for the rest of the trek. Climbing atop a small mountain we stumbled across someone dozing in their hammock. We made to continue up the trail, when we heard a tired taunt from a lazy Dick Flap. Stunned to see him, we wandered over and sat down for a quick reunion and lunch. He had apparently yellow blazed up a few miles in an attempt to make it to Harper's Ferry by the 4th to meet his girlfriend. We shared trail gossip, as is always the best thing to do when bumping into old trail buddies. It's hard to describe the feeling one gets when wandering through a secluded forest, bumping into an old friend, and talking about other friends both ahead and behind. It's an experience unlike any other and truly solidifies the feeling of community out here. I know stories of people ahead of us, behind us, off the trail, and even of people I haven't yet met. We had to keep our visit short, as Waynesboro beckoned, so kept on moving. The rest of our hike breezed by (this is in no way accurate) and we finally arrived at Rockfish Gap and the road into town. There was a flyer with a massive list of trail angel phone numbers to call for a ride into town, so we quickly dialed one up. 10 minutes later Miss Lady pulled up in a pristine truck, and we hopped in. As we drove through Waynesboro Miss Lady gave us the royal tour, pointing out everything a hiker might need, before dropping us off at the Ming Garden Buffet. She truly was an angel, and made us feel as if we belonged here, asking us to give her a call tomorrow when we needed another lift. The buffet was amazing, as all AYCE restaurants are to the hiking crowd. 5 plates of food and 10 dollars later we closed the place down. We left at the same time as Tiny Dancer, Pinball Wizard, and Stoves to head over to the YMCA campsite. It was a pretty short walk, and tents were pitched just as the sun was setting. Tomorrow will hold a plethora of activities, before a short 7 mile hike to the next shelter. Showers, laundry, breakfast, gear shop, resupply, lunch, movie, hike. It's going to be pretty jam-packed, but completely glorious.

Too hot to sleep in my mummy bag, too buggy to sleep in the open. Another night of failed slumber. The bugs trick me by being absent when I first go to sleep, and then they swarm in for the kill!I made it out of camp at my usual 9am today though, so all was not lost. Mr. Fantastic was just waking up, so I left him our communal TP and wandered up the trail. I had 7 miles of relaxing ridge lining ahead of me, and took advantage by saving my strength for the nightmare to come. Once at the Priest shelter I enjoyed a quick and hearty lunch and refilled my water supply. I was joined towards the end of my snacking by Chewy, Tiny Dancer, and a couple of other guys whose names I didn't catch. They told me about a rumor that there was a hiker feed going on today at the bottom of The Priest. That was all I needed to hear to incite a little enthusiasm for the painful 4 miles that were to come next. I said thankee and continued on my trek, hot food on the brain. The descent really was quite brutal, and brought about pain in my knees the likes of which they haven't seen since way back at Blood Mountain. All 4 of the guys I had lunch with passed me as I delicately shimmied my way down. Reaching the clearing at the bottom I was delighted to see them all standing there, because I knew what that meant. There was an amazing trail angel busy on the BBQ, cooking up his own pulled pork recipe that had me salivating before I could even drop my pack. He offered me a plate, which I gratefully accepted, and I sat down in a comfy camp chair. I also met Stoves at the feed, another thru-hiker whom I had heard of on a few occasions. Once the pork and Gatorade had been downed, I decided it would be foolish to rest for too long and moseyed back onto the trail. The ascent was divided into 2 portions, both 3 miles. The first leg would bring me to another shelter, where I could rest briefly, refill my water, and write Mr. F a note about what my plans were. I made it up to that shelter in record time, and let me feet enjoy an airy stint outside of my shoes. The next leg was nowhere near as easy though. The climb turned from smooth switchbacks into almost bouldering up a jagged cliff face. If not for the fact that I found myself with an odd overabundance of energy I would have been quite frustrated. As it was I just kept pushing, and truly felt like a thru-hiker. While we're all thru-hikers in spirit, none of us have finished the trail before, so it still feels a bit presumptuous to name ourselves as such. There are rare moments, though, when you feel like everything just clicks; you hit your stride, and can push through any obstacle in good time. Today was one of those days, which was perfect since the terrain demanded absolute attention. I made it to the summit, barely sweating, with an ear to ear grin. The breeze had kept me comfortably cool, and I was looking for a decent campsite up there to no avail. It was only another 3 miles to the shelter, and by the time I found a good place to camp, it was so close that I decided to keep moving and go all the way. This made today's hike just over 20 miles across the most challenging terrain we've yet faced. Still, I walked into camp with plenty of daylight, and a spring in my step. Of course once I stopped walking for just a few minutes I was able to feel exactly how sore my feet had become. I also got to read the sign declaring there to be a rattlesnake that has been living beside the shelter for the past month. Joy. Pitching my tent and stuffing my face followed my arrival, as I want to avoid another night of muggy, buggy, heat (and our friendly neighborhood rattler). Mr. Fantastic and Stoves hiked in while I was enjoying my dinner, and quickly joined the picnic. We all talked about how challenging, yet rewarding today's hike was, and made plans for tomorrow. We also talked about food, but that goes without saying. Because of the extra miles we did today, we have two options for tomorrow. If tired, we can hike 15 miles to the next shelter and call it an early day. It's looks like truly easy terrain ahead of us, so we have no concerns there. If we find ourselves with excess energy, however, we can hike 20 miles and finish in Waynesboro. Doing that has the benefit of being able to stay at the local YMCA for free and make use of their showers. I'm hoping for the latter, if for no other reason than we would be able to enjoy all that Waynesboro has to offer. Of course tonight the weather finally decides to be accurate and it does rain, so my tenting wasn't necessary, and is more of a pain than anything. It's hard to be too upset with the kind of endorphin high I'm on after today's hike though, and I think I'll sleep just fine regardless of how noisy the rain might get.

Having a Subway in the parking lot of the motel you're staying at is almost too handy. Breakfast was easy to get, and delicious to eat while relaxing on beds and watching tv. Breakfast in bed really is the way to go. We packed up slowly, unwilling to meet out 11am checkout in a timely manner. While I was sitting out front waiting for Mr. Fantastic to finish collecting his gear, Suds wandered over to our almost vacated room. We all chatted for a while, and Mr. F made a few calls. Then it was over to the Burger King across the street to lunch up. Suds joined us as well. Thankfully the BK was also attached to the gas station Quick Stop, which we used as a resupply. Weighted down by food and water, we walked to a corner to begin the hitching process. The sun was scorching, but we managed to shuffle in and out of the shade as we thumbed. After awhile (crocodile) we were picked up by a pickup, and rode our way back to the trail head in the standard open-air fashion. We had a rough climb up to the ridge line, and Mr. Fantastic shot past me. It was thankfully a good deal cooler than the last few days, so once up top it was a nice hike. Not much happened on our 13 mile walk to the shelter today other than a steady 3mph pace for a good portion of it. We chatted and walked, agreeing that it was quite the interesting thing to know each day that you are in exactly the best shape of your life. That trend will hopefully continue for the next 3 months. We had a very slow start today, so didn't make it into the shelter until a little before 9pm. We quickly ate our dinner and assembled sleeping pad/cot in the empty shelter. Like I said, it was a rather uneventful day. That was all before a giant moth entered our shelter. The moth flew in and made such a racket that we were sure there was a bat in here. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but it has green wings about 4 inches in length, trailing down into 2 long stabilizing tails. It seems like it's going to be a noisy night if this guy decides to flap around the ceiling all night, but neither of us are willing to confront it in the dark. Maybe in the morning we'll make it pay if it keeps us up all night. Tomorrow we tackle The Priest; a section of trail I've been dreading since we entered Virginia and picked up the maps. After a nice ridge line we're going to descend straight down 3000 feet over 4 miles, and then climb directly back up the same distance over 6 miles. 10 solid miles of sheer hell. I can't wait! At least after that the trail levels out and cuts us some slack for the rest of Virginia. Ok, it's time to try and ignore the plethora of giant moths flapping all around us and get some sleep. We'll surely need it.

The bugs and heat woke me up early this morning, but I got a decent nights sleep at least. We had a rough climb ahead of us, so we ate big breakfasts, stretched, and started another days journey. It was still hot, and 10 minutes in I had sweat pouring down my face. Again with no wind, the sweat does me no good. Once we got two thirds of the way up we were treated with a great view of the river below, a gentle breeze, and decent 3G signal. This was of course the place to take a break, even if we had only been moving for an hour. As we continued through the rest of the climb we kept checking signal strength and thinking of other things to do online. Anything to slow the hike down and entertain ourselves. Once I saw that the forecast called for thunderstorms at 5pm though, I got my ass in gear. Mr. Fantastic was chatting, so I gave him my leave and started walking my fastest pace toward the shelter. Thanks to being up on the ridge line the wind had picked up, and that's all I needed to find my strength. I walked/jogged along a wonderfully smooth section of trail, headphones in and mood high. Another climb up, and steep decent lead me to the shelter. It was 1pm when I started eating, only to be accosted by more of the vicious biting gnats. By the time I had eaten just one tortilla roll, my feet were covered in bloody smears and I was sitting in a haze of bugs. Mr. Fantastic caught up with me, and smartly left his socks on so they couldn't destroy his feet. While eating we hatched a plan to turn our 18 mile day into a 20 miler, and hitch into town. Between the brutality of the bugs and the impending storm we were desperate for a 4th wall. We talked in length about bug genocide, and the pros/cons of enacting such a plan. I gingerly slid my soggy shoes back on once Mr. F finished his lunch, and we took off for greener pastures. We started out moving a little slowly, as Mr. Fantastic's boot tread had worn off just like mine. Every rock was causing him pain, and he realized he had a purchase to make, or this terrible trend would continue. After a while I took the lead though, because our timing was going to make getting into town a challenge. It's easier to keep a fast pace when your shoes protect your feet. We wanted to avoid the rain, and spent a portion of our journey just shy of running. It was rough on Mr. F, but I fared better thanks to the thick bouncy tread on my new shoes. When we were about 4 miles out from the road we started hearing skull-cracking thunder echoing in the distance. It wasn't just occasional thunder either, it was pretty much a constant bombardment of electricity, and that's when we really started moving. We walked while listening to this and seeing the sky slowly get darker and darker for 2 miles. After a while it felt like it would never start raining, and it was so dark that it truly seemed like we were under water, hearing the sounds of a mighty war booming above us. But finally, as it always does, the sky opened up. We got our packs covered quickly, and hiked those last 2 miles through sheets of rain running into rivers down the trail. Shoes were quickly soaked through, but our spirits were still high, as we knew that town beckoned. The rain let up shortly before we made it to the road, but it had cooled our day off so much that I found myself shivering in my rain jacket. Once at the road, looking like wet rats, we desperately tried to get a ride and were continually turned down. Eventually, after our spirits were finally beginning to falter, a kind gentleman stopped to pick us up. He told stories about the town, and how his morning 5 mile walks helped him beat cancer. He was a great guy, and even offered us a ride back to the trail in the morning if timing worked out. We were dropped off at the Budget Inn, given the dirt cheap hiker rate, and made haste to each take a shower. Subway and Dominos were each in our near future, and having soft beds to sit on made the brutality of the day worthwhile. The next few days forecast sun and cooler weather, but still plenty of sweating over mountains I'm sure. Laundry and resupply will take place tomorrow, and hopefully new boots for Mr. F. I think I've said enough to feel like I'm being a good blogger, which is good, as this bed is quickly lulling me to sleep. I can't say lull without thinking of Mitch Hedberg, it really does have to many L's.

While everyone else was getting bitten by bugs this morning, I enjoyed my breakfast from the sanctuary of my tent. It was very smile-inducing. Mr. Fantastic left before me today, ushered to the trail by little pinching bug bites. My feet hit the dirt about 40 minutes later, and I enjoyed the near forgotten sensation of hiking after a good nights sleep. I put on some music and attempted to make good time, vaulting over dips in the trail with my trekking poles and carving out tight corners down the steep descent. It was a fun morning, and after a few decent views I caught up with Mr. Fantastic. Once we made it to a campsite with water we stopped to refill, and met up with Eva and Short Term. We had met Eva at trail days briefly, so that was a fun reunion. We had a brief lunch there before continuing on toward our resupply. Even with all downhills, it was oppressively hot out. A lot of the trail had no cover from the sun, looking and feeling a bit like traversing a scorched desert. We kept moving down a nonstop, leg-breaking descent until we stumbled onto the shelter. Even though it was only another 2 miles to the road we decided to take a break and rest our feet. Eva and Short Term caught up with us, along with Brownie who was at the same shelter last night. We all enjoyed a moments respite, and then moved on up the trail. We crossed a river before hitting the highway, walking across the longest foot bridge on the trail, and asked a lady at the parking lot which was the best direction for food. She gave us a little info, and then offered a ride into town. Glasgow was a pretty sad place for a ravenous hiker, having no place to get some hot food. They did however have a Dollar General, and we stocked up accordingly. I bought too much food for the coming stint of hiking, and my back was feeling it immediately, but too much is better than not enough. The hitch back didn't go nearly as easily, but it was story-worthy. As cars zoomed past us, ignoring our plight, we were getting a little delirious in the heat. At one point a van drove by, and gave us a dejected look that said to me, "I would if I could, but don't have the space". After a couple of minutes he came back though, offering to squeeze us into the back of his van with his cleaning supplies. We were ecstatic! It was a fun ride, bouncing this way and that around the insanely curving highway, and we all chatted about trail life. When the driver found out that we were from Jersey and DC he was shocked, saying "No way! I thought all you guys from Jersey and DC could do was work on laptops and talk on phones!". This of course cracked us up, and as he dropped us off back at the bridge he wandered off to look at some girls in bikinis swimming in the river. It was quite the entertaining ride. A quick 2 mile hike brought us to the next shelter, where we bumped into Eva and Short Term again. We enjoyed quite the riotous conversation before they left to do a 20 mile night hike. Quite impressive. Laziness is stopping me from pitching my tent tonight, which I'm sure to regret, but getting in close to sunset has that effect on me. Who wants to work in the dark after all. Tomorrow is going to start with a pretty strenuous climb, which is my least favorite way to start the day. It's also supposed to rain, but anything to cool this heat off will make me happy. For now I'll just focus on making it to Buena Vista and getting the hot meal I was denied in Glasgow. Everything else is trivial.

Another sleepless night. This time it was because of the heat. In just shorts and out of my sleeping bag I was still dripping sweat all night. I sweat so much throughout the night that I actually woke up dehydrated. After all my caution the day before, I was unprepared for a situation like that. The shelter we were at had no water source, so headache in tow, I started down toward a swimming hole at the bottom of the mountain. The great thing about hiking is the endorphins, so I felt better by the time I reached the bottom and could start chugging water. Unfortunately today was the hottest day so far, and we had a massive day-long ascent ahead of us. So, with nowhere else to go, and nothing else to do, Mr. Fantastic and I sweat our way up to the first shelter. There was water close by, beautiful cooling shade, and the best shelter we've seen on the trail. It was a two-story beast, with beautiful architecture, an Ian Fleming book ripe for the taking (which I took), and a million bees. Why does there always have to be a downside? We tried to make the best of it, drying our clothes in the oppressive sun and eating as much as we could. The upside to the heat is it's ability to dry clothes, but of course the downside is that we soak them with sweat after 20 minutes on the trail. After a shorter break than planned, we pushed on. The bees had just become too much, swarming around us and covering our gear. They seem to absolutely love sweat for some reason. We had 5 solid miles of climbing ahead of us to the next shelter, and they were brutal. On a normal day on the trail I consume around 2.5 to 3 liters of water and that keeps me well hydrated. I ended today drinking 6 liters to finally catch up with what I needed by nightfall. I'm not sure, but I do believe that's the most water I've ever drank in a day. The next shelter housed a few other hiker friends, sleeping off the afternoon heat. Mr. Fantastic and I ate in silence until they woke up, which felt natural after the beating we were taking. This shelter didn't have many bees, but was swarming with little gnats, and I was again driven forward. With the little phone signal I found I was able to check the outside world from Black Rock lookout (Lost reference, in case you're wondering why I'm name dropping this location), so I wanted to say thank you for donations again! I heard of another hiker who had to leave the trail back in Daleville, and it always is a sad way to say goodbye. So anyway, thank you to Melanie, and Linda and Bob. Your donations will help us win this vicious war against nature, and push it back to the gates of oblivion from whence it came! Boy do I miss video games. With only 5 miles left of hiking to do, the temperature was finally abating a touch, and giving me a breeze to make my sweaty nature actually serve a purpose. I passed over the peak of Apple Orchard Mountain and didn't find any apples, just a massive tower of some kind. However, a little bit past this I came across the Guillotine rock formation. I've seen plenty of images online, but it was still pretty nifty to see in person. This was also, thankfully, just before reaching the end of today's hike. We finally found a shelter with other hikers again, probably about 15 all together. I quickly discovered that I would be enjoying the comforts of my tent for the first time in a long while, because this is yet another home to bugs. While eating my dinner I had bees investigating, flies irritating, and little biting gnats drawing drops of blood all over my feet. Not a place to sleep outside of your tent with exposed skin!It was a fun, upbeat night with all these people. We all shared stories of our miseries during the day, and laughed at and with each other until the sun went down. It's good to be back in my tent, I definitely missed the nightly seclusion. Tomorrow will be another day of hitching into town, and another day of unbearable heat, but with one key difference: tomorrow we don't climb up a mountain, tomorrow we stroll down a mountain. As for tonight, I will sleep like a baby, but first I must remove a curious frog from from my shoe.

I left at 9am on the dot today after a long night of tossing and turning. I didn't stretch enough at the end of the day yesterday and continually woke with tightening muscles. Everyone walked to the next shelter for breakfast, as the water was of much higher quality. The rainwater runoff from the roof was "filtered" through a pump behind the shelter that we had slept at, and tasted of dead leaves and bird shit. At least that's what I was told, I didn't even try it after seeing its cedar water pigment. After the delayed breakfast Mr. Fantastic and I continued on, attempting to up our speed today. You can become complacent at a 2mph gait, and we are hoping to up it to 3 by the time we finish this trip. It's good to push your limits because you realize the reserves of energy you've built up and haven't been taking advantage of. We made it to the following shelter at 3pm, which had us at 13.5 miles. So 6 hours - 1 hour for breaks = 5 hours for 13.5 miles, or 2.7mph. Not bad for a turing test. Of course my exhaustion started to take hold after that aggressive a start to the day, but thankfully it was only another 3 miles to the road into town. We started hitching at 5pm, after passing our first naked hiker. We hear that Thursday is naked hiking day, but he apparently has to work then, so came out early to strut his stuff. It was as funny as it was disturbing. It didn't take long to get into Buchanan, where we ate at a diner/pharmacy. Yes, it was odd, but the food was delicious. A $2.95 milkshake, which was really 3 milkshakes when all was said and done, made the meal. A very short resupply at the local gas station/Burger King (yes, they like to combine things in Buchanan) and we were back on the hitching road. The way back was challenging, as no one was driving the winding country road at 7pm on a Tuesday. Finally after 45 minutes we got a lift from a generous couple who had heard Mr. Fantastic asking about alternate routes at the gas station. Arriving back at the trail at 8pm with 3.5 miles to go meant the possible beginnings of a night hike, but since we had already eaten our fill it was less of a concern. The hike wound up being quite breathtaking after a short rocky climb. The trail was soft on the feet, flat and easy on the muscles, while facing a glorious sunset through wide open ridges. We were afraid the shelter would be full, but it was actually quite empty, and we were grateful. It's a hot night, and I don't think I can goad myself into getting in my mummy bag. I'm hoping not to wake from a wolf spider crawling through my hair as I did last night. It was apparently 95 degrees today, and while I literally dripped sweat on each ascent, I managed to stay comfortably hydrated. Things are already looking up for summer, and much of my fears are alleviated after a day like today. We're right on track, and just have to keep pushing. Tomorrow is only a 17 mile day, but it's a rough 3000 foot climb up Apple Orchard Mountain. I hope, but somehow doubt, that it'll live up to its name.

A midnight run to the neighboring Subway kept me up late with a full stomach. Totally worth it though. I still woke up around 9am, because the included breakfast beckoned. We wasted a lot of time today enjoying the comforts of the clean indoors, it was very nice and very lazy. We got moving at around 12:30pm (thank you late checkout) and made a beeline for the Dollar General, which is a massive market here in Daleville. We quickly stocked up, as we will hit another town tomorrow, and walked outside into a torrential thunderstorm. After divvying up the food and throwing on rain gear, we made our way back to the Mexican place for another delicious meal. One of the waiters showed a lot of interest in the trail and we chatted for a little while. I also got a chance to watch a couple of movie trailers there including Django Unchained. Thank you Tarantino for being such a badass filmmaker! Walking past the trailhead, we made our way to the gear shop. We saw Meta on the way, and Tapeworm with his new shoes. I followed suit, and picked out my new vehicles for the next few hundred miles. I stuck with the Salomon brand, but went with shoes that have a thick grippy tread. Swapping my Super Feet out of the old shoes and into the new, I donned my footwear and we jumped back onto the trail. By the time we got started we were limited in our shelter choices to one only 5 miles up. It sounded good to me since I now have to break the new shoes in a little. The hike was easy in its brevity, and at least so far the shoes have worked out beautifully. The biggest difference between my old worn boots and these is that when I stepped on a rock with boots it felt like a sharp point, and now it feels like a dull edge. My feet are grateful!The shelter is a little crowded tonight with plenty of dogs wandering around. Good bear protection. It's nice to have company again, even if some of them are a little odd. Kooky but entertaining. I'm looking forward to my first full nights sleep in a while, and we're both very happy to be back on a normal schedule. It feels great to get everything done before the sun sets. Tomorrow may be a long day, but we may end up at a shelter with Tapeworm, Meta, and Shenanigans. That'd make for a fun night, and the possibility for fun is what each day out here is about.

No rest for the weary, at least not last night. A couple of weekenders showed up at the shelter at 11:30pm and they decided they had to start a fire. After an hour if snapping twigs they succeeded. I finally fell asleep around 1am after they quieted down, but at 5am they got back up and started another twig-snapping fire. In the daylight I saw one of them had on baggy jeans and a dragon-print polyester tee. That's when I knew they had no idea what they were doing and wouldn't understand hiker etiquette, so just let it go. After going back to sleep until around 8:15am, I got up and started into the last of my food stores. Mr. Fantastic and I chatted while eating for a while before we noticed that Shenanigans and Tapeworm had arrived while we were asleep. Apparently there wasn't any sleep to be had back at the hostel either, and they did a little night hiking to catch up with us. With no more time to waste if we wanted to make it to town for dinner, Mr. Fantastic and I made tracks toward McAfee Knob. It was a relatively short hike up to the peak, and definitely one of the most gratifying views at the top. It's no wonder it's the most iconic image of the AT. We had our little photo shoot, as was obviously necessary, and made a few phone calls with all the glory of 3G on a mountaintop. Regardless, I would like to yet again say happy fathers day to all those dads out there, and happy birthday Mommom! We took a long break up on McAfee, so it was time to make haste, and I think we did a pretty good job of it. The total distance for the day was 18.7 miles, and our feet felt every foot of it. We came along a few of the best bits of hiking we've had, walking atop giant boulders along a sheer cliff face. It was all rather epic, but that is frequently the case. Finally breaking through the tree line onto a busy highway brought on a rush of relief, and a rush to the local Mexican restaurant. Dinner was almost too good, and we both made faces of giddy joy throughout the meal. Our post-hike walk to the hotel was an easy one, no hitching required. The last time we stayed in a nice hotel was all the way back in Georgia, and we appreciated the little comforts so much more this time around. The shower was amazing, and I am happy to say that I still don't have any ticks. Others have found a few on them, but they seem to be avoiding me. Maybe word has finally gotten around in the tick community that my blood is 99 percent potato. After some wifi, tv, and laundry, we walked down the street to the 24 hour Subway for a midnight snack. Thank capitalism for all 24 hour establishments, without them we would be lost. Tomorrow won't be a big mile day, but we do plan on accomplishing other key things. Resupply is important if I want to eat in the next 2 days, the gear shop will help my war torn shoes and socks, and we found a sushi restaurant within walking distance! If sushi doesn't put a trail town on the map, nothing does.

After spending a night in the shelter that time forgot, we were both looking forward to moving ahead. I was feeling a bit off when we first started out at 10am, but quickly recovered. We had Dragon's Tooth ahead of us, and had been hearing some rather scary predictions of its difficulty, so I was going to need my strength. Our plan had turned into a 6 mile hike to the road, where we'd walk to the hostel and get a lift to The Home Place, an AYCE that we kept hearing about. Of course those first 6 miles went over the Tooth, and that slowed us down considerably. This was the most intense, technical, dangerous piece of hiking we've done by far. There were sections with metal rungs drilled into the rock because you had to climb straight up or down. It was made especially challenging by the realization that I have almost no tread left on my boots. That, combined with the holes forming around high stress areas on the tops, means it's definitely time to go shoe shopping. Thankfully there's a proper gear shop coming up tomorrow to solve this problem. Once we made our arduous, painful, journey down from Dragon's Tooth, we were deposited on the road we had been so desperately waiting for. As we walked toward the hostel a car pulled over and Tapeworm yelled a happy hello from within. He had been visiting with his sister and brother-in-law, and they yellow blazed him up to the hostel from Pearisburg. The hostel was just a big garage, but seemed like a cool place to relax with friends. A very high school kind of atmosphere, where no one has anything better to do and that's the way they want it. We enjoyed seeing a few hikers we knew, and got ready to go hitch, as the owners weren't home to shuttle us around. Just as we got ready to leave, Tapeworm and family returned with beer and snacks in tow. We obviously had to postpone lunch to grab a beer and meet his family, which lead into them giving us a lift to The Home Place before they started back for Illinois. It was a wonderful surprise and they are definitely good people. Lunch was fantastic. All you can eat that they set on your table and refill as you need. Fried chicken, roast beef, country ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, corn, and biscuits arrived and we all went to town. This was of course just the preamble to the peach cobbler a la mode. We ate too much, and left the place with a massive line of people forming out front. Apparently The Home Place is the place to be. A quick hitch back to the hostel brought us back together with Meta and Shenanigans, who had each arrived while we were eating. We chatted a bit, but then left to get back on the trail and do another 6 miles. The plan was to hike to a shelter, and then in the morning hike the 17 miles into Daleville. This time we are planning a real proper night in town by staying at the Holiday Inn Express. Only the best for us trail weary vagabonds. Tapeworm plans to attempt a 23 mile day tomorrow and meet us there, so people could be crashing on our floor. Tomorrow isn't only great because of a gear shop, proper resupply, comfortable bed, washer/dryer, wifi, and shower. We'll also hike to McAfee Knob, which is one of the most photographed spots on the trail. It should be rather spectacular. Whoever said that all of Virginia is the same is a madman!

The night was full of mice and bats, while the morning was full of wasps. I guess every shelter has its downsides. This morning in particular was very slow and laborious. I got up first, but that wasn't until 9:15am. I followed the water trail to refill, which let me enjoy a beautiful short morning hike. This trail led me past a dilapidated little cabin with a collapsed ceiling, as well as the remains of a rather large cabin, covered in vines with just the stone chimney still standing. Then back for breakfast! By 11am I finally made it out of the shelter and back up to the trail. Late nights take their toll, that's for sure. I took a break to enjoy a moment of 3G when I got up to the ridge line, but then had to continue on over some challenging rocky bits. Just as I got through them and started a long descent, Mr. Fantastic caught up with me. We both decided to take our lunch at the next shelter. Magic Lungs was enjoying the privy when we arrived, and then Voodoo joined us. We all ate and enjoyed the nice weather. It was almost a little too nice, because I didn't want to leave to walk the 10 miles between my next campsite and me. Once started those were a great 10 miles to hike. There was a steep 2 mile hike, but the trail was so smooth in its ascent and clear of any rocks or roots that it was a joy to climb. At its summit I came to the Audie Murphy Monument, which was impressive to see. After walking along the ridge for a few miles I began a switchbacking descent alongside a beautiful sunset. I could see into a valley between two parallel running mountains, which made it hard to look away to make sure I didn't walk off a cliff. Watching foot placement is key when the ground drops a few hundred feet to one side. Just a mile before the shelter I met up with some other thru-hikers that were doing the trail all out of order and slack-packing. The gentleman asked if I wanted cake, and handed me some chocolate cake wrapped in plastic. If a beautiful sunset didn't make my hike today, that certainly did. I finally came to the secluded shelter at 8:30pm, just as it was getting dark. Strangely enough there was no one else at this shelter either; it really seems like the number of people on the trail has significantly dropped. Another night of eating with a headlamp on was ahead of me. I started to get nervous that Mr. Fantastic had stopped short on his hike, but he came in at 9:30pm sporting his own headlamp and clacking his trekking poles. Our plan for tomorrow is currently evolving a little as we go. It seems like we'll get to the hostel early, shower and launder, continue down the trail, resupply, then go to a shelter a few miles more on. It'll be a work in progress as we find out which hurdles are where. It's still another late night, but I'm getting to sleep 2 hours earlier tonight than last. By tomorrow we should be back on a "normal" schedule.

I'm writing this entry the morning after, as opposed to last night. The reasons for this will be obvious by the end of the post. I woke up today, our 2 month anniversary of being out on the trail, with stuffy sinuses and a renewed energy. The sun was shining and I ate a quick, large, breakfast with FedEx and Mr. Fantastic before setting forth. It was 17.1 miles to the road that would take us into town, so starting too late would make for a stressful hike. The trail began by throwing a lot of large rocks in my path, slowing my pace considerably. Thankfully that was only at the outset, and soon I was making great time. 9 miles brought me to the next shelter and my lunch break. It was sunny enough to set my shoes and socks out to dry, and I curled up in the shade of the shelter, eating and reading the logbook. Mr. Fantastic caught up with me there and enjoyed some food as well, while we both stretched and massaged our beat up feet. After a refreshing break I started hiking again, wanting to get those 8.1 miles covered before it got too late to hitch and resupply. The sun beat down on me today, with not a cloud in the sky and less tree cover than I'm used to. It made for a few sweaty climbs, but eventually I made it to the road where I met Magic Lungs. He had attempted a thru-hike last year, but made it just shy of where we are now. So this year, now that he's graduated college, he plans to finish his sojourn. A nice story to hear for those of us desperately fighting failure out here. Mr. Fantastic caught up shortly, and we started the hitching process. It was 6:30pm already, but we had to try to get the 8 miles into town, resupply, and then figure out where we could hole up for the night. We were quickly picked up by a couple of section hikers who informed us that there was no hostel, motel, or hotel, and that the only resupply was at a gas station. A definite monkey wrench in our plans. The gas station actually had a pretty nice market though, with fresh produce and everything. After a prolonged time there, choosing food, eating food, resting feet, it was time to work our way back to the trail. This time when we threw our thumbs up, a couple of guys behind us gassing up said they knew a guy who could give us a lift. They called their friend over, and told us how they always give rides to hikers in the area and love to do it. So back into the bed of another pick-up we went, wind in our hair as the miles flew by. When we were back to the trailhead it was 9pm, and we had decided to hike 3.9 more miles to the next shelter. This meant our first experience hiking with headlamps, and our first 20+ mile day! It was a tough last stretch, especially since I hadn't had dinner yet. We climbed through the darkness, chatting and clacking out trekking poles to warn off any lumbering animals. We passed Magic Lungs, who had set up camp about 1.5 miles from the shelter, but pressed on, needing a water source. For a night hike it was a brutal climb, one of our steepest, and I summited more drenched in sweat than I've ever been. Once at the top the breeze and night air quickly cooled us off, and we ridge lined under the starry sky, desperate to not miss the shelter in the swampy darkness. We did find the shelter, and were joyous to see that it was empty. We didn't want to set up tents in the dark when this tired, and we didn't want to have to tiptoe around sleeping hikers. It also helped that it's a gorgeous shelter with high ceilings and a roof over the picnic table platform. Quite posh indeed. It was 11pm by this time, and we both ate ravenously. Adding these last miles to our day made planning the next 2 days much easier. We only have 16 miles for the next day, and then 12 into town after that. Once there we can enact our failed plan for this past town, and find a place to stay, shower, and launder. Mistakes are a dime a dozen out here, but it's all about turning them to your favor.

I awoke in a haze, quite literally. Hiking in a cloud has both pros and cons. It keeps you cool and keeps the insects at bay, however it makes the grass wet which quickly soaks through shoes. Stumble left before me, but I was the next to head out. Unfortunately it wasn't until 9:15am until that happened. It was 12 miles to the next shelter, so I took an early lunch at a campsite, trying to unload some food weight in my pack by stuffing my face. It's a strange thing when you're eating to lose weight. I came across a bear cub in the middle of the trail a few miles past my 1st lunch. The baby bear, like the baby deer, didn't know to be afraid of me. It just stared at me as I clacked my trekking poles together and whistled. Stupid bear. Eventually it wandered off, and I cautiously continued on, making sure the mother wasn't hiding somewhere that I was getting between her and her cub. Back on the hike, I walked by some fascinating stone structures jutting out of the ground. Mr. Fantastic later described them as looking like cube shaped rocks that punched their way out of the ground. When I finally made it to the shelter for my second lunch, and planned nap, I was dejected to realize I'd be joined by 3 section hikers. They were nice people, but couldn't stop talking to me. I was there to stuff my face and recharge, not have long conversations. As soon as I ate enough to get me up the climb that was ahead I shouldered my pack and said my farewells. Shortly down the path I came across the little zip line that crossed the river to Captain's place. That's where the annual Hiker Feed takes place, but we missed it this year, so I continued upward. The climb was steep, sweaty, and buggy, but thankfully short. I did see another bear before my day was over. This one thankfully knew well enough to run away when I got near. I picked up some water off a side trail and hobbled my way up to the shelter. Upon arriving I met up with Stickness, whom I hadn't seen since Gatlinburg, and met Chainsaw and FedEx, who Stickness was hiking with lately. Speedbump joined us all for dinner shortly before Mr. Fantastic arrived. It's a nice group of hikers at the shelter tonight, which is always a plus. As I wandered away to make water I came across an amazing tree that had seemingly grown through a boulder, splitting it in the process. Interesting finds like that can make a whole days efforts worthwhile. Now, as the day winds down, we look ahead to tomorrow and plan for the resupply. It's 17 miles into town, so we have to get there early enough to resupply at the supermarket before they close. Then we hope to find a dirt cheap room to get some shut eye in. It's a good day that ends with a dinner I don't have to prepare!

Things got silly last night, but I was still up by 9am, and thankfully sans hangover. I watched the second half of GoT with the balcony wifi, and was contented by 10am to get the resupply done with Mr. Fantastic. This is the first time in 4 resupplies that we had a supermarket available, instead of a gas station or Dollar General. The benefits of having so many options can be tempered for me by my inability to not buy too much. All things said and done, my 2 day resupply is more like 4 and weighs about 15lbs. But I guess my luxury item on the trail, and everybody has at least one, is variety of foodstuffs. After saying our hopefully temporary farewells, I slung my dramatically heavier pack onto my shoulders and strode over to the DQ. I will say, I was shocked by how good their chicken fingers are with buffalo sauce. After the Blizzard that followed, Mr. Fantastic had joined me and we started off toward the trailhead. By the time we were back to the trail it was around 1pm, and we had given up on any notions of doing a big mile day. Our only good option, in light of our timing, was to go to the first shelter only 7 miles away. Mr. Fantastic stopped early on to have his lunch on the trail, but I had just eaten, so continued on alone. The climb out of Pearisburg was a rough one, especially in the heat of the day. Once ascended the ridge lining trail was fun to follow, and lead to a great shelter in the woods right next to a bald. Since I had arrived at 4:30pm, I had plenty of time to dry my clothes, fetch some water, and eat a long enormous dinner. Big Daddy Tickle joined us (he was also at the shindig last night, I forgot to mention) along with Stumble, a guy who gave himself this trip as a graduation present from college. The sun is getting ready to set, and my sleeping bag beckons. With mostly clean and dry gear, and sun in the forecast, tomorrow should be a nice 16 mile hike. It feels good to have a real day planned out again.

Breakfast! Grits with cheese and fresh vegetables from the garden, eggs from the chickens we watched all afternoon, bananas, and cinnamon rolls that were to die for. Plus seconds. It was too much, but in a good way. The day began with relaxing on the porch, overeating, and cleaning up after ourselves. Tapeworm and Mr. Fantastic got massages and were in heaven. The whole experience at Wood's Hole was almost too nice, and none of us really wanted to leave. It took us until 1pm to set out, but we were taken care of by a couple of section hikers who were there. They had a car and shuttled our backpacks to the Plaza Motel, where we planned to stay. That makes today our first official experience as slack-packers. Everyone else got a ride into town, but Mr. Fantastic and I are purists and insist on hiking each and every mile. It rarely feels good to be a purist, but so long as we finish the trail it'll all be worth it in the end. The 10 mile hike into town was surprisingly tough, even without backpacks. It was very rocky with a massive descent, and we were both quite grateful for the diminished weight. There were a couple of nice views, but otherwise it was just challenge pure and simple. Once at the road we walked over to Hardee's and had a great, greasy, post-hike meal. Another block brought us to our planned party motel. Most people had already arrived, and they had no vacancy left. Thankfully Goose let us move in with him for the night, and he happened to be next door to the party room. After a few hours of showers and tv, people finally got into gear and we headed across the street to the Mexican restaurant. Stonechair's farewell bash was attended by Meta, Dick Flap, Tapeworm, Goose, Rowan, Cadence, Suds, Ulysses, Hoppel, Shenanigans, Wendigo, Mr. Fantastic, and myself. We filled the restaurant's bar, dominated the pool table, and owned the juke box for the entirety of our stay. We of course closed the place down, but when last call is at 10pm is doesn't take a lot of effort. Back at the hotel the cases of beer came out, and everyone started getting loud, inside voices abandoned. This is of course the point of the night when we get complaint phone calls, so I'm going to take this chance to watch the Game of Thrones finale, and rest up for possibly 19 miles of hard terrain tomorrow. It may not be the best planning, but this trip isn't about planning, and we have to send our fellow hiker off in style. So long as we don't get kicked out, tonight was a raucous success.

The sun doesn't shine down as early when you're deep in a valley, subsequently the birds stay quiet a little longer. Waking up to eat breakfast right next to a beautiful river is very nice, so I took a little extra time to masticate. Setting out at 9am, I was welcomed back with 6 of the easiest miles I've walked to date. Walking beside the winding river and tributaries, I made my way to a shelter for a quick early lunch. I enjoyed a couple of my pizza tortilla wraps while chatting with Yin, Yang, and Palm Tree. It was brief, but energizing, which I knew I would need for what was yet to come. Right off the bat the trail went uphill, but quickly turned into the steepest bit of hiking I've done. It was only about a mile of really steep, but it definitely exhausted me. Thank goodness it was only a 12 mile day. Once I arrived at Sugar Run Gap I followed the signs toward Wood's Hole hostel, just .5 off the trail. By this point I had been out of water for 5 miles and was desperately thirsty. I was greeted by Suds, who was taking a zero here today, and I ran to the fridge to grab and down 2 sodas. Wildly refreshed, I took my shoes off and stayed awhile. Soon we were joined by Meta, Stonechair, and Tapeworm. They informed me that Stonechair has to leave the trail and tomorrow is his last night. He has to leave because he's out of money, so thank you again to all who've donated. This sad news was greeted with the appropriate response: farewell party tomorrow. Instead of enjoying a zero we're going to hike 10 miles down into town, get a hotel room, and toast Stonechair's departure.. many times. Mr. Fantastic arrived soon after, as well as Wendigo, Hoppel, 4 thru's I haven't met, and a couple of section hikers. Wood's Hole is full up tonight, and Dick Flap still hasn't stumbled in. While they weren't making their typical full organic dinner, fresh bread was being baked and they had great cheeses to offer. The best were the fruit smoothies made with Amish ice cream. The whole place is very interesting, with dogs, chickens, goats, pigs, and a beautiful garden. Let's not forget laundry and a hot shower. With these kinds of luxuries and such a beautiful location, it hardly matters how challenging the day was. Hopefully the 10 into town tomorrow will be relaxing, but not before a promised breakfast of cheesy grits and cinnamon buns. If I go to sleep now will morning come sooner?

The sun rose, shining directly into our shelter. This was a great wakeup after a good nights sleep. After a bountiful breakfast, Mr. Fantastic and I set out to complete our 10 mile hike to the next shelter for lunch. Even though the terrain was making it easy for us, we were both feeling quite tired and beat up. The lack of any water source for those 10 miles certainly didn't help. Thankfully there was a spring near the shelter, so we decided to take a long lunch break today. This of course included a brief midday nap. Considering that this was the first time we succeeded in doing our 10 miles by 12pm, I think we earned it. I set my feet back onto the trail at around 2pm. With 8.5 miles remaining to our campsite I expected to arrive before 6pm, but was planning to take it slow. Also, after only hiking 1 more mile I reached the 600 mile point of our trip. This 100 miles went so much faster than our first 100 miles that it's funny. Despite my morning lethargy, I quickly found myself making great time. The real reason for my second wind was my music pumping through the new 4 dollar headphones I picked up to replace my ailing expensive ones. Electronics aren't made to survive this kind of treatment. With this proper motivator I breezed into camp at 5:30pm, crossing a gorgeous suspension bridge on the way. The site is amazing, hidden off a small side trail, under a canopy of green, next to a burbling river. I quickly set up my tent, hung a bear bag line, and soaked my steaming feet while beginning a long dinner. I started to think that Mr. Fantastic had passed me, despite my trekking poles pointing the way, until he pulled in 2 hours later. He had found some good phone signal up on one of the mountains and took advantage of that. I apparently missed it. We sat and ate, talked nonsense, and enjoyed the river dividing tonight's backyard. It's a great place to camp, and leading into a great couple of days. Just 12 miles tomorrow will take us to the hostel. It's a short distance day on easy terrain that ends with good food and comfort. Doesn't get much better than that, but when you've got a zero planned for the next day you really start to see the possibilities for recuperation. A much needed thought after so many days of single-minded hiking.

Between a very confused bird crowing all night, and a thrumming headache, I got very little sleep. The siren call of Subway still got me on the trail by 8am, but I was quite tired and achey. Mr. Fantastic and I dominated once we got going though. We hiked past the people who had started out before we had gotten up, and continued on, not willing to break for lunch until we saw the neon lights of Subway. When we finished our 11.8 mile hike to the highway, we were treated to the best hitch hiking experience we've had thus far. We walked off the trail, toward the road, and as a car was passing Mr. Fantastic threw up a quick thumb. The white Mustang convertible came to a screeching halt across a gravel driveway right next to us. It happened so fast that we questioned if he was stopping to pick us up, to park, or to kill us. He was a nice guy who had thru-hiked 15 years ago and had moved to Bland from Manhattan immediately after. He drove us directly to the Subway, and even went in himself to get some grub. We moved into a table by the window and set up camp. Gear was strewn about, electronics were plugged in, and food was piled high. We spent entirely too much, and just enough time there. I ate a foot long cheesesteak with 2 Mr. Pibbs and 2 cookies, a personal pepperoni pizza, and chocolate milkshake. Eat fresh indeed. All this while enjoying their free wifi, and small talk with some curious locals. Speaking of wifi, I finally got to check my Paypal, and want to thank Val, Bill, Walter, Lia, Amy, and Monica. Your generous donations go a long way toward protecting the endangered Appalachian Wyatt, a rare and majestic creature on the verge of extinction. To the best of my knowledge there is only one left out here. After eating far too much, and sitting comatose far too long, we finally made way for the Dollar General across the street. A quick 2 day resupply later, we were outside sorting through our rations. At this point we had what then became our best hitch hiking experience yet, beating out this mornings .5 second record. As Mr. Fantastic went to the trash bin to dispose of his excess packaging (no point in carrying extra weight in and out) a Bland local asked him, point blank, if we needed a ride anywhere. This was so far out of the ordinary on its own, but made even more unusual by the fact that it was a lone woman with her son. We scrambled to get our gear together and leapt into the back of her pick-up, where we rode back to the exact spot we had been picked up hours earlier. With dairy swelling our bellies, the remaining 2.5 miles of steep hiking was made rather arduous. Having made it, we rejoined Palm Tree and some other hikers we've seen the last few days. Everyone seems to be just as tired as we are today, it seems that sleep didn't come easy for anyone last night. It's only a 2 day hike to our planned hostel break. I've reached a point where my aroma is even starting to bother me, so laundry and a shower sound like the greatest day ever. It's an early evening for everyone here, unlike last nights dinner in the dark, and that suits me just fine. Here's to a good nights sleep before another long day.

It was hard to get up and going today. As the sun peeked through the trees I willed it to go away and turtled my head into my mummy bag. That only worked for so long. I had a nice pop tart breakfast (2 packages = around 900 calories) and stepped back onto the trail at 9am. Mr. Fantastic was just getting his breakfast together, so I didn't expect to see him until either lunch or dinner. To my surprise I quickly passed everyone who had set out before me, and slowly made my way up the mountain in our path. There was a solid shelter with a door (tres fancy) at the top of the mountain, and at 9 miles I was more than ready to break for lunch. Suds greeted me when I arrived, about to continue on his hike. It was good to finally meet him, as we had heard each others names many times. Bumblebee joined me as I was tidying up, and I decided it was a good day for a nap. A half hour later, when I exited the shelter, I found that my socks had dried in the sun and my muscles had relaxed in my sleep. Just 10 miles left before Jenkins shelter. The rest of the hike looked easy on the map, but 10 miles is 10 miles. Palm Tree, a guy from Hawaii who had been camping at the same shelters lately, caught up with me and we passed the time talking books. He's a big science fiction fan, and we found plenty of common ground, mostly centering around Douglas Adams. After my late start and mid-day nap I knew I'd be finishing late today, but my weary body didn't want to help me move along any faster. We finally arrived at 7:30pm, and have rarely been so happy to be done for the day. No one else from our shelter last night has arrived yet, though there are a few section hikers tented around the grounds. I'm all set for the night, except for the mac and cheese I plan to eat before bed. That I'm saving until the rest of our current group arrives. Tomorrow I plan to get up early and hike the 12 miles to town. Real lunch is always a great motivator. After resupplying, eating, and charging, we only have another 2 miles to hike to the following shelter. After all of these high mileage days it'll be very nice to just have a 14 miler. It's funny to think that way since it was only a week ago that 14 miles was considered an average day for us.

It rained all night, but I still got up and moving at 7am. I regretted my decision to sleep in my tent, as rain has a way of bringing me down out here. I started out for a 4.5 mile hike to the road, but even with full rain gear on my socks got wet. The trail dropped me off directly at a Shell gas station, so I used their outlet and my weak Edge network signal. Shenanigans caught up with me at around the same time as Nick and Mr. Fantastic, so we all walked over to The Barn to get fed. We were told upon sitting that it was 20 minutes until lunch if we wanted to wait, so we all ordered breakfast, ate, and then ordered lunch. The food was good and very cheap, plus the waitress offered up the bathroom for anyone to wash up in. Very hiker friendly. During breakfast/lunch I was deciding if I wanted to get a room and get clean and dry, or stick to the plan and hike another 14 miles to the next shelter.We didn't have time to hitch into Atkins, so we resupplied at the Shell station. Thankfully it only has to last 2 days to get to Bland, VA. Where we can eat at the Bland Restaurant, and resupply at the Bland grocery. After finishing up in the gas station the sun had started to come out, so I decided to stick to the plan. The following 14 miles were dry, but much harder than we had anticipated. Mr. Fantastic and I passed the time talking philosophy, and eventually we made it to Knot Maul shelter. When still 3 miles away I was coming to a big climb I was dreading, but another dose of Jesus magic found me one PB&J and Mountain Dew richer. It gave me the energy I needed to easily finish that last push. Thankfully there was still room at the shelter, because I'm not taking any more chances with the rain today. A lot of people have showed up to stay here, which is nice since there are bear warning posted. Strength in numbers is always a positive at a shelter. As is a fire to dry my soggy shoes by. Supposedly it's going to get sunny for a few days, long enough to get us to a planned zero at a hostel on Sunday. Here's hoping.

I enjoyed my breakfast in my sleeping bag this morning, since it was still rather chilly out. As Meta, Stonechair, Dick Flap, Wendigo, and Mr. Fantastic all put their breakfasts together I watched, munching away, from the warmth of my cocoon. Throughout the night I had heard the scraping sounds of mice coming from somewhere in the shelter. Thoughts came, unbidden, of mice running amuck in my pack as I tried to sleep. By the morning light we learned that it was Dick Flap's pack that had been burrowed into. As he opened it up for breakfast a mouse scurried out, and he found the hole that had been eaten through the hard plastic frame sheet and trash bag within. That's the real reason hikers hang their food and packs out here, not bears, but it doesn't always do the trick. After a very familial feeling breakfast, I set off. It wasn't very long before I came across some more Jesus magic left by a local church, and enjoyed an orange soda. I was just finishing up when Meta, Stonechair, and Dick Flap caught up, so we chatted for a couple minutes before I continued on. I climbed up about a mile of trail before I heard a massive rustling ahead of me, and looked up in time to see a black bear taking off away from me like a bat outta hell. It was at this point that I decided to be cautious for a while and whistle to scare away any prospective startled bears. This turned out to be a good idea, as just another half mile up I scared away another bigger black bear with my tinny rendition of Don't Stop Believing. They may be big, but they're more frightened of people than the deer are out here. Of course seeing them run away is good, but seeing how fast they run away makes you realize how quickly they could catch a person. I also stumbled across a couple of snakes, but that's becoming so commonplace that I don't usually mention it. A few more miles brought me to one of the most popular shelters on the trail. It has a built-in hot shower, and is right next to a visitors center where you can order pizza delivered. While that all sounded fantastic, it wasn't piquing my interest right then, so after a brief lunch and banter with Shenanigans I continued on. Of course I did stop at the visitors center to grab a Dr. Pepper first. I didn't see anyone else for the rest of the days hike. I walked across some easy terrain and took a long break overlooking a spectacular vista. After sitting there for maybe 45 minutes I started down the last 1.5 miles to the shelter. Tonight I'm tenting it. I need a few nights to not think about mice so I can get a good nights sleep. We're only 4 miles from the road to town, so it'll be an early lunch tomorrow. We don't really know what we'll find in Atkins other than a 1lb burger place. I may finish tomorrow with clean clothes and a shower, or maybe just a full belly and resupply. I'm really hoping the local grocery store isn't in the local gas station, but hope in one hand and all that. Regardless of what Atkins holds for us, though, we're making good miles lately and plan to continue doing so. Though I am hoping for wifi somewhere in town.. I need to watch the GoT finale after all!

The shelter was empty last night but for the two of us. I don't remember the last time we stayed in a shelter that wasn't full, so it was a wild departure from the norm. It was a nice easy 10 miles to the road. It was also uneventful, save for a run in with a fawn. I came across mother and baby on the trail. The mother took off, while the baby slowly laid down in the trail and let me get right next to it. What a great way to start the day!At the road Mr. Fantastic saw a sign declaring the restaurant and grocery store in Troutdale as closed. Apparently it was the same shop, and couldn't survive the off season. We still hitched, but into Sugar Grove instead. There we found the center of town and commerce to be a gas station with a food store. We immediately got some fast food and sat out front to gorge. We had time to kill here because we had a plan to bring a little trail magic up to our co-hikers. Yesterday Mr. Fantastic had bumped into Meta, who told him that Dick Flap, Stonechair, and he would be doing a 20 miler today and ending up at the same shelter as us. They were skipping this town, so we decided to bring up some hot dogs, chips, and beer to celebrate 500 miles and hiking together again. We relaxed there for about 3 hours before hitching back with a guy on his way to work. Our packs weighed a good deal more from the beer and food weight, so our last 4 miles were a little more tiring than normal. Thankfully it was more easy terrain. When we made it to the shelter we found that Stonechair and Meta were already there, so we set about getting everything ready for the fire. Dick Flap rolled in a bit later, and others followed including Miles and Wendigo among others. It was a good night, and it's looking like some good high mile days ahead. So long as this trend continues we will really burn some miles in Virginia, and that will certainly help our time table. Everyone seems eager to start moving faster, so it's good to be on the same page.

Today was a milestone of a day that began with shivering. We were both slow to get up due to the cold, but today we were scheduled to cross the 500 mile point on our journey, so the trail beckoned. Knit cap and long underwear donned, I set off at 8:30am toward my first break at a shelter 6.6 miles away. This first stretch was cloudy and cold, and by the time I made it I was starving for lunch. I chatted with a couple of weekenders as they munched on potato chips, regaling them with stories of trail life. Mr. Fantastic caught up just as I was finishing my lunch, and after a moment to let my food digest, I continued on. It drizzled for a few minutes before the sun finally came out, and it was perfect timing. This second stretch took me over Mt. Rogers and through the Grayson Highlands, the most spectacular bit of hiking to date. The terrain was absolutely stunning to behold, trekking through groves of flowering trees, squeezing between rocks in shallow caves, and coming out on a bald that wouldn't quit. It was the wild ponies that kept the trees from growing by grazing all along the mountaintop. I had read that they were around in Virginia, but didn't realize how impossible they are to miss. Climbing up out of the trees and clouds to a sunny sprawling mountaintop covered with flowers and ponies is a pretty crazy experience. I found myself laughing hysterically from time to time just from the sheer beauty of the place. After descending away from all that joy, I crossed the 500 mile point (no marker or fanfare) and found my way to the next shelter for another break. This time I just took a power nap, and kept pushing on. My last section of trail for the day was beautiful as well, but couldn't quite match the grandeur of the Grayson Highlands. The last couple of miles truly beat on my feet and I was very happy to hobble down to the final shelter for the day. It was a staggeringly beautiful day, quite literally as it's hard to watch your feet and the views. That also made it a very slow paced, difficult, and painful day. Regardless of all the challenge this has been my favorite hike of the trip to date. But honestly, how do you beat wild ponies on a mountaintop? If you said with a baseball bat, your head goes to the same twisted places as mine.

I was awoken at 6am by someone breaking down their camp. I stayed in my tent because I figured it was the section hiking couple, and I'd rather avoid another conversation with them. I heard them leave at 6:30am, and got up to realize it was Mr. Fantastic that had packed up. By far his earliest start to date. We are attempting to start a trend of 10 by 12 as was recommended to Mr. Fantastic. That means from now on we get our first 10 miles done by 12pm, then we decide where we'll make camp. I set forth by 7:30am, and got out of camp just before the couple got up. Shortly before i stopped for lunch I came across Ulysses who asked me if I was hiking South. When I said no he got really dejected, as he had apparently just walked a mile in the wrong direction. I then made it to the shelter for lunch at 11am, and caught up with Mr. Fantastic. It was only 7.4 miles, so I was a little behind, but I was going to eat with a seat. We decided to aim for our longest day yet at 19.6. The second section of the hike brought the AT together with the Virginia Creeper Trail. This meant I had someone on a bicycle passing by me on average once every 3 seconds. Mind you this was for a good mile of trail. I said a lot of hello's on this section, and was happy to get off of it when I did. Although the trail did cross this pretty epic bridge, and that was different. I caught up with Mr. Fantastic at the next shelter, where we both had second lunch with Ulysses. He was reading Breakfast of Champions on a Kindle while we read the shelter log (always good for a laugh). This time I set out first, as we still had 5.6 miles to go before our planned campsite. My knees, hips, and feet were already feeling pretty sore, but limbered up once I got started. This last stretch was an amazing conclusion to our farthest day yet. We had a great climb up the side of a mountain, out of a valley, up to the bald peak with a spectacular view. Walking through flowering azalea fields and over little flowing waterfalls. I even got to walk by some more cows, right through their grazing land in fact. We're now camped up on the peak of that final hike, but in the woods to cut down on the wind. It's going to be a very cold night, strangely enough, so every little bit helps. We have another big day planned tomorrow before a short hike into town on Monday. It's been a while since I've felt this achey, which I think just means I'm back to pushing my limits. That's a good thing, because we need to keep getting stronger before we get to New Hampshire. While the terrain gets a little easier we can safely up our miles, because afterwards we'll be rigorously tested with a rocky road.

I camped in my tent last night, which helped me to wake up with the sun today. After a quick breakfast and another begrudging hike down the side trail for water I started my 10 mile hike back to town. I left at 7:30am, before most of the camp had a chance to wake up, and found myself in Damascus proper by 11am. Before today's hike I had been questioning the title of Tennessee Turnpike, but it truly lived up to its name for this last section. It was nice to stroll into a town and know my way around. I walked the reverse path that we had paraded down, and came back to good old Quincy's Pizza. The Mr. Pibb woke me up, the chicken fingers and fries filled me with energy, and the electrical outlets charged my devices. It was back to civilization and all the glory that entails. As I ate I noticed Tapeworm bouncing past the store window and jumped to get his attention. You know you've left the norm of society behind when you find yourself leaning out of a restaurant screaming "Tapeworm!". He joined me while I ate and we caught up. He planned to hike on further than us today, but we expect to end up at the same shelter by tomorrow. His ankle seems a bit better and he got a new pack that helped him drop 4lbs and fit him better, so he was feeling pretty good. He left to attempt and start his hike, and shortly after the place started filling with hikers coming down off the mountain. My table filled and I had a slice of pizza with Mr. Fantastic and Optimus before we wandered over to the gear shop. Mr. Fantastic received a shipment of homemade chocolate chip cookies and shared with the gentleman who had held the package and me. They were delicious. I got a new spoon with a longer handle. The tines on my spork scratched at the sides of my pot and the handle was short enough that I sometimes singed knuckle hair while stirring my dinner. So 8 dollars later I have a new titanium spoon with a long handle. Win. While there we bumped into Stonechair and learned that Dick Flap, Shenanigans, and Meta were also in town. Next thing I knew I turned around and found Waldo. In some ways it almost felt like a Trail Days redux. Everyone I've seen lately was there as well: Tree Trunks, Duditz, Fozzie, Friar, Compass, Nimbus, Merry, Sweet & Sour, and Nature Guard. Eventually I met Mr. Fantastic in the library where he surfed the net and I continued charging while downloading the rest of my audiobooks. It's nice to enjoy a little relaxed internet catch up. The weather turned hideous outside for a short period, with sideways rain whipping through the streets. The wind is made much more visceral when you have a mountain with trees on it in the distance to show it to you. The whole cliff face danced with violent energy, so we pulled our packs inside and enjoyed the shelter. We closed the library down at 5pm, as the elderly librarian finally shooed us out. We had to finally do our resupply, but I demanded a brownie and ice cream first. We sat down at a table with Stonechair, Dick Flap, Meta, Shenanigans, and Waldo. It was a delicious reunion of the hot fudge brownie with ice cream variety.They were all staying at the $5 hostel in town, but we wanted to hike on a little further, so we finished up and got our resupply done. I wanted to finish some charging at Mojoe's, but unfortunately they were closed, so I cinched up my boots, and we set out onto the trail. It took longer to get back into the woods than it did to climb up to the campsite, but it was good to be camping instead of renting. We were joined up here by Nature Guard with a couple section hiking, and heard some pretty interesting theories from the husband. It was a great day back in Damascus and feels like our paths may all be crossing again. But you never really know how the timing will play out for everyone, what injuries or illnesses could arise, or for that matter who may decide to start pumping out more miles. It's a like great cross country race where you hope everyone wins, and they can.

I opened my eyes this morning to find pain free ankles and the night time arrival of Merry and Sweet & Sour. Both welcome things to find with the arrival of the sun. Shortly into my hike I passed a pair of section hikers who were "Hikin' for Jesus!". They told me about some trail magic by the road, and I thanked them for the tip and their efforts. Once I came upon the magic bear box the church had chained to a tree, I was reunited with everyone from camp last night. We all enjoyed the cold sodas and sugary snacks, maybe a little too much. Thank you Jesus!Mr. Fantastic and I continued on, making our way to a rolling open field. It was different and a nice view, but after 10 minutes we were thankful to be back in the shade of the green tunnel. We made it to the designated lunch shelter in no time at all, and again reunited with everyone from camp and Jesus magic. Lunch was quick for me, and I set back out to finish off the day. An hour before I estimated I stumbled across a shelter on the side of the road. My map says we were headed for a 5 person shelter, but looking into this one I saw space for no more than 3. I walked around the woods looking for a path to water, and finding none I decided to sit down and wait for people to catch up. I sat there for 40 minutes before Chicken and Rooster came by. They informed me that this was no longer used, and the shelter we were all looking for was another 1.5 miles up the trail. I thanked them and trekked on. Along the last push for the day I came across two pretty girls who offered me an orange. Sometimes trail magic is delivered, but rarely by cute girls. I took one for my dessert and thanked the SOBO section hikers as they continued spreading the magic. Arriving at the correct shelter had me meeting up with Nimbus again, who had set out at 6:30am. The water source was the standard aggressive hike downhill a side trail, but I'm always grateful for water! Dinner was delicious, but we're all ready for pizza in town tomorrow. 10 miles down will bring us full circle back to Damascus, and finally properly into Virginia. Georgia and North Carolina are done, tomorrow we finish with Tennessee! Then a mere 550 miles in Virginia. I'll wake up early, eat a quick breakfast, and run to my pizza lunch. There I'll charge my devices, and then resupply at the Dollar General I've already been in 4 times. Then we'll head back over to Mojoe's for a snack and some wifi, before grabbing some Subway to take back onto the trail. We don't know where we'll be camping tomorrow, but we want to push right through town. As wonderful as it's been, I've spent enough time in Damascus for one thru-hike.

We awoke to bright blue skies this morning. By we I mean everyone in the shelter, as we strangely all awoke as one. I was the first to set out, just a little after 9am, and had an even 14 miles in my future. Unfortunately the only thing that hadn't dried at all were my shoes and socks. I kept my dry socks dry and got my feet wet and ready for a rough day. The first half of the hike was visually a treat, crossing over a dam in a mountain valley, up to ridge lining alongside said valley and others nearby. It was pretty exquisite. Water was just before the planned lunch shelter, and a terrible .3 mile steep descent down a side trail. Steep enough that I almost had to use my hands. Unfortunately water is rather necessary. At the shelter I joined Tree Trunks and Rose with Duditz and a couple SOBO section hikers. The view from behind the shelter was amazing enough that everyone took turns sitting alone atop a giant rock looking down on the valley. Lunch was massive and rewarding, but lead into the second half of my hike which was slow going. The terrain was pretty relaxed, but the skin on my ankles was not. I'm always just outpacing the skin irritation on my ankles by mere days, but it's finally catching up. So I hiked a somewhat slow, but incredibly relaxing second half while listening to more of the Stephen King audiobook. At the shelter I met Nimbus, an older gent who grew up in Medford, NJ. It's a small trail. I met two other people from the Marlton area and Lavender is from Philly, so I do mean small. I let my shoes bake in the sun and ate dinner as tonight's posse arrived, one by one. Everyone looked happy and relaxed after such a nice hike today. Shenanigans continued on to the next shelter, while Lavender and Chief Kickin' Butt didn't make it to this one. The rest of us made camp. Everyone is hanging bear bags well tonight, because we've heard from SOBOs that there are a lot of bear sightings in this area. If my heels heal by morning I can enjoy some dry socks in dry shoes. It's 16 miles tomorrow, so healthy feet will be a necessity. In the meantime, I'll rejoin Mr. Fantastic and Tree Trunks. They made a deal at lunch that for every time Tree Trunks curses he has to buy Mr. Fantastic an SE (Snickers Equivilant). He's up to 3 thus far, and it's been quite amusing to watch.

It's nice to wake up indoors once and a while. I saw that Purple Rain had cooked herself a breakfast in the communal kitchen. It was unanimous, once all eyes were open, that breakfast had to be made in bulk. After a quick trip across the street for supplies, plates were covered with chocolate chip pancakes, biscuits, eggs with onions and peppers, and corned beef hash. It was epic, and we all ate to bursting. We moved slowly after breakfast, lounging in front of the tube and organizing gear. Eventually we made it back to the market to get a full resupply going. We needed 3 days worth of food and fuel to get us up the Tennessee Turnpike to Damascus. It was a quick resupply and then back to the hostel to pack everything up. Mr. Fantastic and I didn't set out until around 4pm. Our laziest start to date. Today we had to tackle Pond Flats, a 6 mile PUD (pointless up down) that we were warned to be wary of. It was described as very tough, with no view and no water. They were right about the view, but it wasn't a bad hike, and we had more water than we would have liked. The thunderstorm moved in right around the time we started climbing, but we got out rain gear on in good time. We chatted and hiked; talking about DC food plans, movies, and actors. After going over Pond Flats we cross a street to Watauga Lake and see Pinky hitching his way out. Who knows where he was off to. The end of Memorial Day and arrival of thunderstorms had chased away all the lakeside enthusiasts. A sign on a tree claimed that the shelter was a mere mile away. We passed a plethora of tents pitched at various campsites strewn all about the lake. People who had set up their tents in the sunshine of the day, only to be driven inside them when the rains came. Just when we had started to believe that we missed the shelter, Tender Fungus informed us from his hammock that we were only 30 feet away. James (the newly named but not oft spoken Shenanigans) and Chief Kickin' Wing were there to greet us as we ducked under the cover of the shelter. It took a while to get situated while hiding from the rain, but eventually food was eaten and bedrolls were spread. Optimus joined us in the shelter and Lavender set up her tent. That wouldn't be the worst plan for someone with an arachnophobia, since we do have a couple of big wolf spiders lurking on the walls. To be honest though I'd rather have a wolf spider on my face than set my tent up in this rain. We hear that it may rain all week.. Just par for the course on the good 'ole Appalachian Trail this year. Regardless of the weather, 2 long days will bring us to Virginia and out of the meandering NC/TN border. This is the point Mr. Fantastic has been excited for, because he feels it's a milestone to be entering the state with the most miles of trail. I personally felt that it'd be a milestone when it's complete. I think on this we're both right.

I awoke from a dream in which I was using the bathroom, realizing with relief that I hadn't let my bladder go in my waking life. After birthing out of my tent, as it always feels, I shuffled away to make water. I didn't leave until 9:30am, but was still only the second to leave for the day (behind Tree Trunks). It was mostly descents today leading to Laurel Falls, and the closer I got, the more I realized we were still among the Memorial Day crowd. I came to a road crossing with a parking lot and found myself surrounded by 40 people. Most of the people were black, which is only worth mentioning because we pretty much don't see anyone who isn't white, or occasionally Asian. So we smelly hikers quickly became the minority in this area. Another mile brought me to Laurel Falls, and it became apparent that there would be no escaping the day-hikers today. As I started a severely steep rocky descent to the Falls I passed a family who shouldn't have been attempting such an extreme hike. The mother was a tenth of the way down and begging her family to stop for the sake of her knees. I chatted with them for a bit before passing them, and had time to eat lunch and go for a swim before they made it to the bottom. I waffled between wanting to scold them of the danger, as they had little kids, and commend them on their efforts. I split the different and did neither, but did recommend trekking poles to the mother (she honestly complained to me that they hadn't installed handrails). Laurel Falls was absolutely beautiful, and the best place to eat lunch so far on the trail. Tree Trunks and Rose were swimming when I got there, and we chatted it up while the tourists came and went. When the rest of our crew arrived they went swimming as well, and after a good long break we took off in search of lunch. The rest of the hike into town was also stunningly beautiful, if not a little too crowded. Our band of merry hikers headed to town consisted of Optimus, Lavender, Purple Rain (no longer feeling ill), Pinky, Mr. Fantastic, and myself. We got to the road, and made a beeline for Subway for first dinner. We took a long time there, enjoying the A/C and free refills. Purple Rain had already gone on to the hostel, and Pinky was working on a plan to hitch to Watauga Lake for "the big party" that he knew he was meant for. Heading back the way we came we made our way to the Castle Hostel. Upon arriving we met up with Purple Rain, Wendigo, and Meta! While still about a day behind Meta, he got here from a different road, and was taking it easy as he had felt a little ill. It's interesting this far into the hike that when you go to a hostel there's a good chance you'll know every other hiker there. Mr. Fantastic went across the street with Lavender and Optimus to the biker bar that housed the laundry facility. I charged my devices while watching Romancing the Stone on VHS with Meta, Wendigo, and Purple Rain. Of course I also watched the latest Game of Thrones. A lot of changes from the book, but I was very happy to finally see the Battle of Blackwater Bay! Everyone came back from the bar, sans laundered clothes which were still drying, and I returned to it with Mr. Fantastic to eat some dinner and retrieve them. The food was tasty with big portions, and dirt cheap. Dollar draught beers makes everyone's night a happy one!With the chores out of the way, we still plan to take it easy tomorrow. This oppressive heat makes everything much more challenging, and everyone is feeling it. We only have 7.8 miles planned for tomorrow, which will leave us at Watauga Lake to cool off and have a great place to camp. After that it's just a straight shot to Damascus down what is known as the Tennessee Turnpike, a very flat section of trail. I'm personally hoping it lives up to it's name.

The unfortunate side effect of camping by water in the woods is the condensation. I expected it, but my tent was quite soaked through by morning dew. We had a short 12.4 day planned, taking us to Moreland Shelter. Everyone was feeling lethargic today except for me. It was a welcome change to feel strong after a few weak days. I'd prefer everyone feel good at the same time, but that never seems to be the case. Shortly after eating and setting out, the 4 of us bumped into Dick Flap/Too Far and Stonechair as they headed South. Apparently the note left in a shelter we read previously was left by either Meta or Tapeworm to mess with us/him. It definitely worked. After Dick Flap and Stonechair felt better they had started hiking South back toward Erwin, and then plan to hitch back to Damascus. We should reach Damascus at about the same time, so that could be entertaining. We all shared stories about what to see and what to avoid to the North and to the South. It was very valuable for all of us to be able to relate such detailed info to each group. Meta is between 1-2 days ahead of us, and Tapeworm is off the trail having his ankle looked at. Hopefully all is well with him soon. Moving on I took the lead and lost my retinue by the time we reached the first shelter. It was a fun walk for me, winding past waterfalls, and I decided to take my lunch 7.4 miles in at Upper Laurel Fork. It gave a great location for soaking ones feet and drying out some clothes. I'm listening to 11-22-63 by Stephen King with my hike and lunch today. If you're a fan of his Derry stories (It in particular, since this features some of the same characters), time travel, or JFK then I highly recommend it. My heel is getting rubbed a little raw lately, I think from salty socks. The girls were talking about their fear of spiders last night, and this morning I was thinking about my fear of wet, crunchy socks. I think my fear is greater. I made it to the shelter at 3pm, which is a time I love. I set out my solar charger and wet clothes to soak up some rays, and started into a second lunch. Tree Trunks and his dog Rose arrived right after me, and then the rest of my group, along with Pinky and the Four Old Broads (section hikers). Memorial Day weekend brings a lot of people out to the trail, some are unfortunately of the wrong element and leave trash around. Leave no trace is a pretty simple mantra for the forest. Thankfully all the section hikers here tonight are very cool. Mr. Fantastic and I both overate to our hearts contents this evening, and at least for me it was much overdo. Tomorrow is an insanely easy and fun day, to all of our mock chagrin. We hike 7 miles to Laurel Falls, the supposedly fantastic swimming hole with rope swing. After taking a long lunch there, we have 2.5 miles into Hampton. No hitching required. We plan to get a room, nice but cheap, and be able to launder and shower. We're all very excited, as is out wont, and it should be a day to remember. Any meal in town is memorable, to be honest.

I was awoken at 5:30am by the sounds of 3 dogs running around and barking whilst their beleaguered owner thrust his lazy hand in the air mumbling "Come on now". There was enough predawn light to see, but not enough to get me out of my sleeping bag. I pushed that off until 6am. The sunrise was pretty stellar, as expected, and I was feeling a good deal healthier. I was off by 7am and made it all the way to the road by 11am, which was 9.5 miles. The terrain was varied and wore me ragged. I walked across long dew covered balds, scrambled over massive rocks, and tripped through knotted root steps. It was a trial of a hike, and made me glad that I didn't attempt it last night. Once at the road I asked if anyone had seen Mr. Fantastic come by. Tender Fungus was there, and pointed me in the direction of Roan Mountain (the town) which was 7 miles. A quick hitch, phone call, and walk later found me sitting at the corner booth in Bob's Dairyland with Mr. Fantastic, Optimus, and Lavender. Also sitting in the next booth were Essay and Pinky. The food was good and cheap, and I got my french fries fix. We walked to the local grocery store, and Dollar General to do our resupply. I took advantage of the good cellular service to make a couple phone calls and update the blog and whatnot. It's good to soak up a little connection in those rare moments when it's presented. Oh and thank you to Val for the food donation! I shall eat accordingly. We split into 2 groups to hitch, since 4 is too many. However, when Mr. Fantastic and Optimus flagged a ride from a family with a pickup, they pulled into the lot and picked Lavender and me up as well. Made our afternoon a lot easier!Being dropped off directly a the trail is always a joy, and this was no exception. The only complaint I could level at being back on trail is the intensity of the sun on days when I'm trying to get over dehydration. We had just 6 more miles to put in to bring us to a campsite by Elk River. On the way we encountered plenty of horse hoof prints and scat. I think if I'm not allowed to defecate on the trail, horses shouldn't be allowed to either. Just one man's opinion. Moving on, we found a side trail for a great waterfall. A few weekenders were enjoying it's pools, but we decided to continue on and set up camp before going back. Of course once we found the campgrounds we realized that it's directly on Elk River, and that was just fine for cleaning off. Mr. Fantastic and Lavender both enjoyed a cleansing bath, but Optimus and I abstained (the water was ice cold, and we're planning to stay at a hostel in 2 days and can clean up then). Optimus built a fire, and we all dug into our fresh food stores. Once our wood started getting low I set off to find some more for stoking. I went on a long walk that reminded me of how great it is to be doing this. With the river flowing to my right, mountains looming on my left, I'm walking across a swatch of path about 10in wide carved through shoulder-deep grasses. While never truly that far from civilization, sometimes you can feel like you're in another time. I scavenged some half-charred wood from the next fire pit North, and enjoyed a slow stroll back. It was a brutally tiring day, but a very successful feeling one. I caught up with one of the two groups ahead of me, got new food supplies, ate a great BBQ pork sandwich, blogged about horse poop, and dried my socks over a fire next to a river at the foot of a mountain. While physically hard, emotionally it's been pure success.

It's been a pretty tough day, but it's hard for me to complain too much with so many sick people around. Of course I happened to be one of those people last night. I woke up 3 times to get sick, thankfully not in my tent. Please, oh please, never in my tent. By morning my stomach had mostly settled, but I got no sleep and was now severely dehydrated. I went back to sleep after a small breakfast and some water. I woke at 11am and everyone had left camp except for Waldo, who had also gotten sick last night as well. Before I could pack up Merry and Sweet & Sour walked by, Merry also just starting to feel ill. I set out at noon with little hope of catching up to Mr. Fantastic. I fumbled my way down the mountain, which was actually quite an easy hike, only to miss my turn and waste time and energy. I added about 1.5 miles to my hike, and wasted 45 minutes. Backtracking up the mountain I finally found the correct path. I decided to aim for the first shelter, 5.4 miles from my last shelter, and see how I felt. I stopped at the empty shelter for a long rest, and brief snack. My stomach still didn't want too much food, but I kept hydrating. After staying long enough to feel bored and a little bit energetic, I set out again. I just planned for 2 more miles to the next shelter, as it was already 4:30pm. Once I made it to the side trail, going the wrong way twice, I added another mile to my wasted energy. I had heard good things about this shelter, and had even seen pictures of it online before I came out here. It's a repurposed barn that can hold 20 people. Add onto that the absolutely spectacular view from the bunk (can't wait for sunrise!), and a lady who brought some trail magic, and you have the makings for a great evening. My neighbors on the sleeping platform are a father and daughter with 3 dogs. On the next platform over is Merry and Sweet & Sour, Merry feeling worse. Upstairs is a cavalcade of elderly war story telling gentlemen, as well as Waldo, who is also feeling slowly better. Our trail magic for the evening was a cooler with Pepsi and beer, as well as a trash bag to dump our extra trash weight. Little things become big things out here. I'm 6 miles shy of Mr. Fantastic, if he hiked to where we discussed. Tomorrow was supposed to be a quick hike into town to resupply and out. I'm not quite sure what tomorrow will hold now. I'm hoping to feel 100 percent early in the morning, and set off right after sunrise in an attempt to catch up. Plans have a way of evaporating out here though, so we'll see what happens.

Everyone seemed to sleep really well last night, myself included. Of course nothing dried, so we were all very slow to start. The idea of pulling on cold, saturated socks, and then stuffing your feet in soggy boots doesn't exactly evoke any sense of urgency. Not to mention the damp shirt and pants, but thankfully those dry quickly when worn. The sun came out almost immediately after I set out, which was very exciting. I passed Lavender as she worshipped the sun for a while (her words), but I told her I was "Too wet to stop", and we decided that should be an AT motto. After 3 miles I came to a road and met Dale America, an '02 thru-hiker. Mr. Fantastic caught up with me there and Dale offered us food. Nothing for me, a rice side for Mr. F. Another 6 miles brought us to a shelter, and lunch. Bender was there, and we met Essay and Tender Fungus. They told us that Meta, Tapeworm, Dick Flap, and Stonechair had stayed there last night, so we're slowly catching up. We took a long lunch to lay out some of our wet clothes to dry. Mr. Fantastic also watched part 2 of Dr. Horrible.. just one to go. The first part of the hike had been easy at this point. At times we were pretty much jogging up the trail. The second part destroyed me though. A 7.4 hike up Roan Mountain, which is the last peak above 6000 feet for a long time. By the time I hobbled up to the peak it was getting late. There was a bathroom and water fountain by the parking lot about a mile from the shelter, so we took advantage of that. The shelter up here is very nice, but I had to set up my tent or the water would start to mildew inside of it. This is by far the highest point we've camped at, and it should be quite cold. We're back in evergreen territory up here, so it smells like Christmas again. Today thoroughly kicked my ass, quads, calfs, and feet. Just when you think you're an old hat at this sort of thing they throw a mountain in your path! It's amusing that this has been our second longest hike, our longest being over Clingman's Dome. Clingman's is the highest point on the trail, and Roan is the second highest we've reached (maybe even second highest on the trail), so we really need to start planning our longer hikes on days that aren't the most difficult. I've been moving slowly around camp tonight, but managed to force down some cold dinner and get everything organized and hung. Tomorrow is the downhill, and I'm sure my knees will be taught a valuable lesson (don't hike over a mountain). At least it's supposed to be sunny for a few days, and my shoes can finally dry out tomorrow morning. Not much else to report on other than my final state of exhaustion, and my fear of blisters from wet socks. Tomorrow I'll take better care of myself, and tonight I will sleep like the dead (as I must have looked on my last lumbering steps up this mountain).

It's a good thing that I write these at the end of the day, and not during the hike. There are some days, take today for instance, where the tone would be much darker. The day began with a drizzle. I didn't start hiking until 9am, as I'm always slow to pack up a wet tent. I made it up to Beauty Bald and the skies opened up. Having nothing to sit on and nowhere to lean I didn't attempt to put my rain pants on. 10 minutes later I regretted it, and an hour later my shoes were soaked. Not much you can do at that point but stop avoiding puddles, and embrace the rain. The rain was heavy enough today to stop me from having lunch, soak me to the bone, turn the trail to a mucky stream, and keep me moving. I'd sing to keep my mood up, and crisscrossed paths with James, Reidiculous, Lavender, Optimus, Wendigo, Bender, and Mr. Fantastic throughout the day. I was happy to make it to shelter, and quickly took up space to sleep on. I have no more patience for the rain. For a long while it was just Waldo, Lavender, Optimus, Wendigo, Mr. Fantastic, and myself taking up residence in the shelter. That worked out well since it's a small shelter. We all ate, played a game of Assassin, and started getting comfy as fast as possible. It's hard to think about doing anything other than curling up when it's raining so hard outside the shelter. Reidiculous and Chief Kickin' Wing joined our little party a few hours later, and Pearl proceeded to roll around in the dirt and shake the mud off over everyone. Tensions ran a little high at the shelter once people started vying to squeeze in with us. We had made room for a 7th, but there were 12 people once Golem joined us. He seemed pretty beat up, and very unhappy. He was going to sleep on the picnic table, but room was squeezed for him. The rain makes everyone a little miserable out here. I'm just happy to have dry clothes and a dry place to sleep. Some people are pretty grumbly, but tomorrow may bring sunshine so why worry about it now. We have to do a little over 16 miles tomorrow but get to camp out on top of Roan mountain. It should be cold and windy, but hopefully dry!

I set out after Tapeworm and Meta today for the 7 mile hike into Erwin. The walk gave some nice views and a chance to feel strong. I got to pet a mole wandering my feet, and saw deer, a salamander, and woodpecker today (I typically only hear them). James passed me pretty early on, and shortly after Mr. Fantastic caught up and joined me for the rest of the trek. We passed James as he ate his lunch overlooking a nice view (as pictured). Walking down to the street drops you off right at the hostel, but nothing else. There we met back up with Meta and Tapeworm, but also Reidiculous, Lavender, and of course Pearl the dog. Mr. Fantastic and I were the only people that needed to get into town, so set off for the 4 mile hike with thumbs raised. After about 2 miles a pickup pulls over with Golem in the passenger seat. Laughing we jumped in the back. He dropped us all off at the IGA, which wasn't our actual destination, so we set off toward town. We got picked up pretty quickly and chatted with a local who was on his way to the Y for a basketball game with co-workers. We asked him where to eat, and he went out of his way to drop us off at the Hawg and Dawg. Lunch was great! I got BBQ pulled pork nachos and turtle cake with ice cream. Made my day! As I was eating I decided to download the Paypal app, as my aunt Linda and uncle Bob had donated to our cause (walking and eating). I was surprised to find that I had multiple donations made, so I want to say a hearty and grateful thank you to Bill, Theresa, Linda, Bob, and Vince! I will eat as much as I possibly can to say thanks!After lunch we walked to the laundromat, threw on our rain gear, and finally properly washed our clothes. It had been 10 days. Mr. Fantastic went over to the post office, while I dealt with laundry and caught up in Game of Thrones. Also made my day!Resupply was next, and Food Lion was the key. We bought 4 days worth of food, and both seemingly overdid it. My pack is overstuffed at the moment, but I'll quickly eat away that problem. A kid in the employ of the hostel came to pick us up, and was an amusing conversationalist. He talked about how he's a hiker, kayaker, caver, climber, etc., but that hiking is his most dangerous sport. He then told us about how section hikers just don't understand him when he does things like shout at a tree. Unfortunately I could relate. He dropped us directly at the trailhead, and we dove head first into the forest. Our heavier pack weights don't seem to affect us nearly as much anymore, and I for one am grateful for that upgrade. We had 4.5 more miles to hike and it was a glorious walk. We wound back and forth across a water falling creek, and passed James and Reidiculous who were on their way back to town for the beer and pizza challenge. To play you have to hike back to town from the shelter, get 3 pizzas and a case of beer, and bring them back. We came up to a packed shelter, the most crowded since we were in the Smokies. Meta and Tapeworm hiked further on, but we had with us James, Optimus, Waldo (they found him!), Reidiculous, Lavender, Golem, Chief Kickin' Wing, and some people I hadn't met. One of the new people was the guy that my mom and Vince gave a ride to. He said to say "Thank you so much!". It's fun how that sort of thing happens out here. It was looking like rain so I quickly set up my tent and organized my gear. After that I pulled out my bear bag and went to town. It wasn't until I had thoroughly stuffed myself that James and Reidiculous rejoined us with goodies. They carried the pizza in a solar blanket, and beer in a pack. It was pretty amazing, especially with so many people gathered. I counted 20 people in total! We sat around a massive fire, stuffed bellies, sipping on some cheap beer. It was a great way to end a busy day. This was the first time we've walked right through a town, and it felt right. We're on our way over Roan Mountain shortly, and after that is when they say to get rid of your winter gear. I'll be happy to lose a couple more pounds! Tomorrow is a lot of climbing and I feel ready for it, especially knowing that things are about to start leveling out.

It was nice to wake up without all that condensation inside my tent. It helped me to get up pretty early and start out for a 14.6 miler. The first half of my day was physically rough. My knees were sore, my lungs weak, my neck hurt, and I was sleepy. I pushed to continue to a water source before taking a break though. On the way there was a great open bald to gawk from. I look forward to camping on some balds when the timing works, more likely in the North. At the water I refilled and ate to my hearts content. I finished listening to The Windup Girl, which was pretty spectacular, and started back with The Singularity is Near. After resting up and eating up I threw my pack upon my back. That's fun to say in my head. The second half of my hike found me greatly rejuvenated. The brief respite had solved my knee and neck pain, and the food solved my energy problems. I dreamed futurist dreams while walking the green tunnel, feeling my hiker legs returning from Trail Days. All that partying and time in Damascus has us all feeling like we need to start to limit our time spent in towns. We need to forego zeros (barring any incidents) for a while, and get ready to increase our mileage. I finished at 3pm today with plenty of gas left in the tank. Everyone else arrived at the shelter feeling similarly strong and energetic. We were joined by some new faces, as well as Golem, an elderly British gentleman (a wandering Brit, as he would say) whom we had sheltered with in the Smokies. We heard thunder most of the evening, though never saw any rain. The shelter is full of bees, there's no privy or bear bag wires, and the water source is far and just a trickle. Not an ideal shelter, but it doesn't seem to get anyone down. Tapeworm started a fire by our tents, and Golem started one by the shelter, in an attempt to smoke out the insects. After dinner everyone got everything ready for rain, hung bear bags, collected water, and then played stretching frisbee. Tapeworm plans to bring this frisbee all the way to Maine, and it certainly makes for a good end of day game. Everyone stands around and stretches, while we throw the frisbee around, and seems pretty perfect for the trail. Meta also showed James and me the lighter game, which involves throwing a lighter among each other, but throwing and catching on the back of your hand, not with your fingers. It's entertaining enough for trail giggles. Around 7pm we all started to fade though, and it was unanimous that 7 is the new 9. Seeing as how I'm drowsily writing this from my tent, it's hard to argue. Tomorrow will be 7 miles into Erwin. Mr. Fantastic and I plan to throw some laundry in, do our food and fuel resupply, and keep on moving. I may take a sink bath, which still makes me laugh to think about. Warm water is nice though, as the streams on the trail are all quite cold. After that we'll do as many miles as we can with the remainder of the daylight. Now that the parties are behind us, and the terrain should be mellowing out some, we can really start to burn some leather. I can currently hear a lot going on around camp. On the far end I can hear someone breaking up dead branches for a fire whilst listening to a radio. Next to me Meta is chatting with someone about the joys of a new piece he got for his hammock that means no more knots and much quicker setup/breakdown. Behind me at the shelter Mr. Fantastic, Optimus, Golem, and a couple others discuss how they all scoffed at people who counted ounces, but that now that they've been out here for a while they look at everything and wonder what they can get rid of. What's worth carrying, and what's just a waste of energy and space. All of these sounds are about as common as it gets for being out here. The conversations are so frequently the same, but always interesting and entertaining. If you can't share intimate thought processes about trail life with the people you meet out here, then it just isn't going to happen. Now let's just hope the storm passes next to us, and not over us.

I was very happy that this morning would by my last waking up in this field, as I wake with dense droplets of condensation covering the inside of my tent. Unfortunately during the night both Too Far and Stonechair got sick. It seems like they got the stomach virus that is going around in Erwin. When we get to Erwin in a couple of days everyone plans on stocking up and hiking right through. No need to spend too much time in a town that hikers are getting sick in. Mr. Fantastic and I walked over to Mojoe's for an everything bagel and some free wifi. We met up with Milkman, who we hadn't seen since the NOC, and Aspen Glow who have been hiking together. I picked up the next few maps at the gear store as well as an inflatable pillow to help quell my allergy problem at night. After that, a quick trip to the Dollar General (thank you Mom and Vince for the trail funds!), and then back to tent city. The place was already mostly cleared out when I returned. I passed Meta, Optimus, and James on their way to the shuttle, and I set about the task of breaking my 3 night campsite down. Mr. Fantastic and Stonechair were doing the same, though Stonechair stayed behind in Damascus along with Too Far and Reidiculous. We're not sure when we'll meet up with them again. Trail Days gives, and Trail Days taketh away. Because there were 7 of us (Meta, Tapeworm/Landfill, Optimus, James, Sleeping Bear, Mr. Fantastic, and myself) needing to get further South the church shuttle driver brought us right back to Sam's Gap. 5 rides North, 1 shuttle South. Sleeping Bear was further back, so continued South while the rest of us moved forward. It was 4pm by the time we got back to the trail, so it was a short day at only 4 miles to a campsite. The first time we haven't stayed at a shelter since all the way back at Bly Gap just past the Georgia border. It feels great to be back on the trail! The sun was too hot without all the shade of the trees, and breezes on the ridge lines. We all set about our tent/hammock setup routines, and collected around the cold hearth to feast. Dinner was enjoyed by all, as was the company. A couple of other hikers joined us at camp, and Mr. Fantastic, Tapeworm/Landfill, and myself worried away the last of the light with a little light frisbee. It's good to be back in our natural habitat, quiet but for the sounds of birds, frogs, and insects; dark except for the starlight. Though I think many of us do relate in our feelings of loss over the tipping of the ratios back to their normal trail state. It was nice for a while to have more than 2 girls around within a days hike. Now it's back to men, and a few ballsy girls.

The hunt for breakfast began around 8:15 today. Our little entourage (Too Far, Detour, Optimus, Stonechair, Meta, Tapeworm/Landfill, Mr. Fantastic, and myself) decided on Dairy King, and enjoyed a long wait for filling food. CVS joined us with his entourage and puppy. Always a welcome return to the group!We then visited the vendors, which was a fun little collection of people. Plenty of people carrying water guns. There were raffles, sales, free schwag, a talent show, auction, carnival food.. it was a great place to wander. Like a small town fair flooded with people, but no rides. Mr. Fantastic got a new tent. Dirt cheap, incredibly spacious, insanely light (1lb 3oz). The brand is Appy Tents, or abbreviated, AT. That alone will shave 2.5lbs from his pack weight. We wandered back to tent city, passing some people filling water balloons, and I changed into shorts and put my shoes on so as not to burn my feet. By this time we were already running a little late for the parade. We met up with the rest of this years hikers at the Mojoe coffee shop, grabbed some cold water, and enjoyed the mass of like-minded people mingling. We were also joined again by Reid, whose name has changed (and rightly so) to Reidiculous. We were following a fire truck down the main drag of Damascus, filling the street en masse. The true purpose of all the water fight paraphernalia became apparent, as the first few houses we pass start lobbing water balloons. The further we walk into town, the more the water fight escalates into a water war. Hikers in our group are carrying coolers on wheels full of water for resupply. I saw an old man sniping from his second story window, only to have a high pressure blast of water knock him back and cause him to slam his window shut. I saw a line of 15 people on top of our frequented pizza joint, with a seemingly endless supply of water balloons, raining down hilarity and a chance to cool off. Children with water guns hiding behind their parents. Water balloons, under-filled, careening off of people's heads without popping, a resonating wet slap and a gasp from everyone in eyeshot. It was pretty epic, and a hell of a lot of fun. The parade was definitely the highlight of the day, but when night came CVS brought the feast. First Triscuits and homemade salsa, then caramel Brie with bread, a cold salad with a grain I forget the name of, corn on the cob, and hot buffalo chicken sandwiches. It was amazing to say the least. Between all that wonderful, the Benadryl, and a couple of beers I needed a nap. It's kinda awesome to just have that option always available. When I woke up we wandered over to see the bluegrass band playing. They had a pretty amazing sound, and recruited a hula-hooping-hiker into dancing for their last couple songs. By the time we got back it was dark, and everyone was in a food coma. Another relatively early night for our group. No complaints from me. Our ride leaves at 1pm tomorrow for Erwin. Before that I have to restock my food a bit, and maybe siphon some wifi from the coffee shop. After that we still need to hitch back to Dan's gap, and hike to the next shelter. Trail Days has been a ton of fun, but I think we're all about ready to be back on the trail. I know I'm looking forward to it.

I awoke to a soaking wet world. Since I had so much damp gear crammed into my tent it turned my quarters into a musty steam room. I carefully extricated myself from my the condensation, and made my way to the port-a-potty. Like living in the lap of luxury!Mr. Fantastic and I went to the fire station to enjoy a nice, albeit small, breakfast. After that it was off to the Mojoe coffee house to enjoy some A/C and wifi. I took full advantage of this fact by watching the latest Game of Thrones. Joyous. Plus I downloaded two audiobooks: The Singularity is Near (because I wasn't willing to carry the book, but still want to finish it), and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (at the behest of Mr. Fantastic). Then we grabbed some pizza. It was very good yet again, and definitely helped fill the void. After pizza, we wandered over to the gear shop to look around. Mr. Fantastic decided to try out a super lightweight sleeping pad. He's trying to cut down on some pack weight. The big three items that make up your gear are your backpack, your tent, and your sleeping situation. His pack is 2lbs heavier than mine, his tent 1lb, and his sleeping situation about 1.5lbs. It doesn't sound like much, but when you carry it up mountains everyday you really start to count ounces. He could go even lighter than me on all three, starting with this sleeping pad which is around 10 ounces lighter. The rest of the day was a blur. It was insanely bright and hot out. I got a noticeable foot tan going just from walking around in flip flops today. It's strange to be out of the forest in that regard, no tree cover. It was insanely social. I started back to the tent city (about a half mile away from the main drag of town), and kept having to stop to talk to people I knew. It's very fun to come into a town that you've never been to, but feel like you know everyone you pass. Even when I passed people I hadn't met we shared niceties, making the whole experience distinctly social and friendly. Of course there was a full gamut ranging from a car driving by in the middle of the night bellowing the statement "Get the F out of Damascus you dirty hippies!", to a woman handing me a bag of Fritos and a Coke saying "I hope you have a great hike!". To be fair, that was the only negative experience I've had at Damascus. I saw so many people that I haven't seen for weeks, or have heard of but never met. We found Beast Mode, who actually arrived at Damascus in time and didn't need to hitch. I met Cyborg, whom our group talks about all the time as the guy they started with but could never keep up with. I guess every group has one or two of those. We didn't find everyone though, as no one knows where Waldo went. I discovered that my tent had dried, as well as everything inside of it. The heat was so oppressive that I didn't even need to air anything out. Unfortunately I also discovered my solar charger acting up, but bought a new one (with a donation from my dad, thank you again!). Trail Days means big gear repair and sales, so I was able to get a much more functional charger (waterproof, double battery storage, 3x charging speed, lighter, low light charging, designed for my backpack), and gave my glitchy one to Stonechair. He's let me use his phone on occasion because he has signal, so it seemed appropriate. Hopefully it'll last him at least a couple of usages before it breaks down completely. Once finished walking all around town I went back to tent city again, and more specifically to the newly christened Fort Hammjob (the tri-hammock, tented tarps construction I referred to yesterday). We hung out and drank before heading to a close by tent for free chili. While not as meaty as I prefer (ALL MEAT CHILI!), it was free and delicious. We relaxed in the circle of tents set out as a display while downing the chili, and then relaxed into a short food coma. Beast Mode and Lars also joined Mr. Fantastic, Tapeworm (whose name may be changing to Landfill, but for the same reason of how much he eats), and myself. Back at Fort Hammjob we continued to drink and laugh, being joined by a few new faces to me: Brown Banana, Big Daddy Tickle, and a few others. As the sky started to turn dark the headlamps all came out. It never looked more like a tent city, with bright bulbs carving highways between the myriad of tents. Now as it gets closer to midnight the drumming has taken hold deeper in the woods. There's a beautiful spot people tented at by two fast rolling creeks, and the fires and music were always going to end up there. Even at the far end of the field it's all you can hear, making for a massive wooded party environment. It's all pretty crazy, but I'll join in more tomorrow. CVS should be here in a couple of hours, so we just plan to see him tomorrow as well. That'll be our big party day. Tonight is just a warm-up.

Mr. Fantastic and I were the last to leave camp today, but as there was really no rush it made for a relaxing morning. We ate breakfast, broke camp, and hiked a quick 2.5 miles to the highway. While it was an easy day in terms of foot travel, we had another 90-some miles to cover. Keeping our packs on to maintain the look, we polished up our thumbs. It was a total of 5.5 hours to get into Damascus, riding in 5 different vehicles. Phew.It took 40 minutes to get our first lift, which always slowly leads into a kind of disheartening insanity mixed with self-effacing humor. Our first angel was a man wearing a geocaching hat and shirt. He was on the hunt, and took us about a third of the way in jubilant conversation. He dropped us off by a Subway, which we slovenly took advantage of; both of us ordering a foot-long sandwich with chips only 3 hours after massive breakfasts. Back to the highway to stand, thumbs cocked, for another 40 minutes and we caught a lift from a seemingly down on his luck guy. He carried us a few more exits down the highway. The third car pulled over in just a few minutes, and the driver quickly threw his own pack into his trunk. A fellow hiker! He had just hiked over Roan Mountain (about 40 miles ahead of us), and we talked about the rainy weather and beautiful vistas. The next car, containing a guy and girl in their early twenties, picked us up almost as fast as it took to put up our thumbs. They were on their way to Philly to pick up a friend. The girl had always wanted to pick up a hitchhiker, but hadn't wanted to do it when alone. We talked about what's worth seeing in Philly, and enjoyed an energetic conversation before they dropped us off at a Dairy Queen.. so inside we went. Too much lactose and Fox News later, we got back to our business. We were only 11 miles away now so when we said we were going to Damascus we didn't get a funny look, but a knowing one. Our final angel picked us up, as well as one other thru-hiker who had come up from Gatlinburg. He knew where we were headed, and was a previous thru-hiker himself. He was from Pennsylvania and completed his hike in 2004, where he met his wife and moved to Damascus. He told us about the town, that we should expect 30,000 people, and dropped us off directly at the tent city (more of a town at the moment). We paid $5 bucks for our plots and walked past the gear vendors/repairers to set up our tents in the oppressive midday sun. Changing into shorts and flip flops we walked toward town, taking in the sights. There we bumped into Tapeworm, Dick Flap/Too Far, Optimus, Meta, and Stonechair just in time for some pizza. It was interesting to be in a restaurant almost entirely full of filthy backpackers. All jovial with big smiles, big odors, and big appetites. After some great pizza, Optimus, Mr. Fantastic, and myself went hunting for power outlets at the church. Most of the events were being held around the church, and food was starting to get set out. We poked around downstairs until directed to a darkened room containing outlets and, more exciting still, a ping pong table. Plugged in, Mr. Fantastic and I played a little pong, but he was far too good for the likes of me. The sound of a ping pong balls bouncing seems to work like the smell of popcorn at a movie theater, as every hiker that came by poked their heads in to see who was playing their favorite game. The room quickly filled, and we went upstairs to find free hot dogs! More meat later we started heading back to tent city. Unfortunately it had rained a bit, but to expect anything less would be insanity at this point. As they say: no pain, no rain, no Maine. On the way we picked up some free knit hats. This church group had apparently knit 450 hats for hikers, with the knitters ranging in age from 70-86 (so I'm told). It was an excellent stop!Back at the tents we find nothing wet or damaged, and move to join the circle of covered hammocks that Tapeworm, Too Far, and Meta had drunkenly built together. They strapped their tarps between 3 trees, using two taped together trekking poles to suspend the top and keep the rain out. It was pretty epic, so we joined them there, passing around wine, strawberry moonshine, sweet tea whiskey, and rum & Coke. Stonechair came over joined by Detour, another thru-hiker. That's when the real rains came. It became a sudden thunderstorm, the tarps quickly being tested and found lacking. People scrambled, more poles were erected, and we got pretty damp. Well worth the laugh though. Once the rain let up a little I quick stepped over to my own tent to enjoy a dry sleeping bag, and a late night snack. Tomorrow begins the true festivities, and CVS will be joining us again with a bonanza of food. He's a chef, and we're pretty excited. More free meals, music, and fun tomorrow, with yet another day of partying after that. Good food and people by the truckload make for an exciting excursion, and thankfully there should be more sun tomorrow to dry us out. Even better is that I don't have to pack up my wet tent in the morning!

It rained again last night, but the haze was clearing by morning. Mr. Fantastic woke up before me for once, but I still left before him. I like to eat, pack up, and get moving. Plus I don't cook breakfast and he does. Per usual I decided to break for lunch at the first shelter I passed, which was about 6 miles along. Meta was there with the older section hikers, and Optimus soon joined us. Ever since I realized that I only need enough food to last me until tomorrow I've been shoveling food down my gullet pretty much nonstop. I have about 4 meals a day and one dessert, each consisting of almost 1000 calories. It's keeping me energized and feeling great!Today was a day full of animal life. Of particular note were the two cows and calf I saw. It may be generally mundane, but very odd to see on the trail. Lots of frogs, snails, birds, caterpillars, butterflies, bees, squirrels, chipmunks, flies (assholes), beetles, and one snake. I happily hiked my 14.7 miles today, and rolled into camp around 4pm. It was a pretty easy day, and I enjoyed a particularly long second lunch by a waterfall. Once at camp I pitched my tent so it could dry in the afternoon sun. I also set out my solar charger, and hung all of my wet clothes and sleeping bag. That's a good day in my book. Everyone arrived shortly after, and dinner was quite enjoyable. As was dessert, with my favorite part being a tortilla covered in peanut butter with a line of mini Reese's cups lining the center, and then wrapped. To think, I may have never known how good peanut butter is on a tortilla if I hadn't decided to do this hike. Mr. Fantastic watched the first part of Dr. Horrible, which I downloaded on the way out of Hot Springs. I was sitting at the table when I hear him laughing heartily from his tent. James is brushing his teeth and walks over with a confused look on his face as to the sound. I get a wry smile on my face as I explain that Mr. Fantastic is watching my namesake. It's tough to introduce people to any video out here, but it'll slowly happen. Tomorrow we have a joke of a nearo, at just 2.5 miles. That'll dump us at the highway we'll be hitching to Trail Days from. Hopefully it'll be as easy to find a ride as everyone says. Apparently there should be well over 10k people attending, many bringing food for us sorry hikers. We'll all be a bit soft after so much time off the trail, but how could you resist an AT festival when thru-hiking the AT?

Thunderstorms last night destroyed any semblance of sleep I may have gotten, and waking up with a wet tent slowed down my morning. After I set out though, everything was smooth sailing. I decided to hike to the first shelter, at 8.5 miles, and then eat lunch. I met up with some older gentlemen section hikers that we've been keeping pace with, as well as Punchline. Lunch was brief though, and then I set back out. I don't walk extremely fast, but I also don't stop moving, so I make good time. The second half of today's hike was supposed to go uphill rather steeply, and then be flat for 4 miles to the shelter. Mr. Fantastic and I even laughed at how easy the end of the hike was going to be this morning. How wrong we were!After making it up to the ridge line, it twisted and turned, went up and down, climbed rocks that looked impassable. It was beautiful and fun, but quite the challenge. Today was the first day I was forced to drop my hiking poles and climb using my hands. The two photos I posted are from the same spot on the ridge line, looking left and right. I made it to the shelter at 3:30pm, making good time (7 hours to hike 15.5 miles). Once there I immediately pitched my tent, grabbed my bear bag, and went to the table to be social with the 2 other hikers eating. We hadn't met before but they had apparently already heard of Mr. Fantastic and myself, which I found amusing. Word of mouth is an interesting thing out here. People shuffled into camp one and two at a time, all saying the same thing: "I thought I had passed the shelter already!". Everyone's distance gauge was off thanks to how slow we all moved along the precarious ridge line. It's a lot of fun to see people coming in who just finished the same hike you did; seeing them in that state of exuberant exhaustion that you just relaxed and ate your way out of. Everything is still pretty wet and soggy, no clothing dried today. But the rainless fog grants us the songs of the tree frogs, which always help me to sleep. Tomorrow is 14.7 miles, then a short day Thursday. We had planned to aim for Erwin to hitch to Damascus, but it seems like a pipe dream. Instead we're going to stick with Dick Flap, Stonechair, Meta, Optimus, Tapeworm, and Purple Rain. That entire crew plans to hitch from a highway we'll cross on Thursday. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are the big party days, so we don't want to miss those. It's a lot of zeros packed close together, yet our pace is getting better all the time, so I don't see it being a problem. I'm ready to see all the people we haven't seen in a while, and I'm ready for some sun shiny days. In theory tomorrow will be one of those. Here's to dry socks and a full solar charger!

Yet another amazing breakfast today. Cornmeal pancakes with a homemade strawberry sauce, spearmint tea (also homegrown), and granola. We settled up and left around 10am, picking up the gear that we had left at the front door for the past 2 days. Walking to the sidewalk we were back on the trail, as it cuts straight through the town. The AT symbol is printed every few feet of cement, and acts as a constant reminder to all who live here that this is a trail town. Stopping by the gear shop, we resupplied our fuel, and soaked up a brief moment of wifi before leaving it behind. The trail took us off the road a few blocks up, and quickly back into the mountains. It was a brutal first climb, as they so frequently are out of a gap. The day quickly turned rainy, and we got our rain gear on, but it never got too bad. It just makes for a hazy, moist evening. I enjoyed a simple snack food dinner tonight, no cooking for this guy. It always feels good to be back at camp, wherever that may be. It moves every night, but still somehow manages to feel like home, as if you bring it with you. We also had our first bout of trail magic (not including just friendly people), as there were 4 PBRs decorating the shelter picnic table. Of course we were then told that they were found scattered around the camp along with empties, which took away some of the good will. Regardless of the intentions we're looking at it as trail magic. Punchline made it to this shelter (he was the new guest of our Inn last night), but the rest of our crew is a couple of miles back. At least that's our assumption. Tomorrow we plan for another 15 miles (today was just 11) as we're pushing to arrive at Erwin ASAP and hitch a ride to Trail Days from there. First step to making that more doable is lightening my pack weight, so I'll be sure to keep eating in massive quantities. If the scale at the Inn is to be believed, as opposed to the one at Standing Bear, I actually haven't lost any weight yet. That would be pretty exciting, so for now I'll choose to believe that scale. Tomorrow is going to bring some thunderstorms and sore feet, but thankfully my sniffles seem to have ended. One step at a time and I'll get there.

Last nights farewell at the bar was a blast. We all had a little bit too much fun, if anything. Mr. Fantastic and I both woke up still a little sneezy, and a little foggy. The decision was unanimous, and we took another day in Hot Springs. Everyone else stayed behind except for Early Bird, who stayed true to his name. The breakfast bell rang at 8:30, and everyone was lined up to get to the table. Breakfast consisted of muffins, grits, eggs with fruit and seasoning, cantaloupe, and granola cereal. It was all made from scratch and amazing. Between breakfast and lunch we all wandered the house, enjoying the poems, paintings, news clippings, and books covering every square inch of the place. A few rounds of chess were played, and I put on Into the Wild. When in Rome and all. Lunch was a quick walk across the street to the diner where I had some of the best pizza I've ever eaten. If you're ever in Hot Springs, stop at the diner and get the hot wing pizza.. it's still making me salivate. Lunch led into a quick trip to the gear shop, and the Dollar General to fill my empty food stores. We need about 5 days of food to get us to Erwin, which we're hoping to reach by Friday night so we can more easily hitch to Damascus for Trail Days. That'll require 14 miles for 5 days. A challenge that we should be up to by now, but you never know what sort of terrain we have in store. We continued to relax with some Robin Williams stand-up, and then some Crouching Tiger until the dinner bell rang. Another amazing meal beginning with a thick vegetable soup, then an amazing salad (all grown in his garden with a homemade dressing), a main course of vegetables in curry and coconut milk over rice, and pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. I don't think I've ever eaten so much in one day. Everyone here is walking around with a food baby, about to fall over into a delicious-induced coma. Elmer (our host) thru-hiked in 1972, and shortly after purchased and began running this place. His hike changed his life, and he's loved doing this ever since. Meta decided he might even come work here after he's done hiking, and Optimus decided she's going to open a hiker hostel in her hometown which is a trail town. I think this is the first time that everyone hasn't been dying to get back on the trail, as it's been wonderful here, but Trail Days beckons. If anyone wants to join in a really strange town-wide celebration of hiking and the outdoors, you should come meet us in Damascus, VA next weekend. It should be a very odd good time. Tomorrow brings more walking, and hopefully the rain will have let up. It's weird to be out of contact on Mothers day. While this will be posted a little late I hope all the moms reading this had a great day, my mom in particular (you know who you are). It's about time to enjoy the wonders of cotton sheets again, then back to the noisy nylon mummy bag tomorrow. I just enjoyed a long chat with Meta about the power of positivity, aliens, future plans, and past careers. It's been a nice mellow day, and I'll be interested to see how healed my feet and immune system feel on the morrow.

Another cold morning today, but this time we were all prepared for it. I got started a little later than planned, but 7:45 is early enough. Cooking a hot breakfast slowed me down, but as I was basically out of options for food I did my best. A strawberry Carnation breakfast and some apple cinnamon oatmeal peppered with raisins and cranberries. Not bad, but not enough. A filling breakfast really does make all the difference out here on the trail, and my first few miles today were mired in hunger pangs and shuffling feet. It's amusing that my exhaustion no longer affects my lungs or my muscles, but just overall energy. I stopped and had my lunch at about the 10 mile marker, and it definitely helped. More GORP and my last other item of food, a Lipton pasta side. My first hot lunch on the trail. The last three miles found me a bit more energized, but still lagging. We may be spreading a little cold around our hiking troupe, as Mr. Fantastic and Purple Rain were sneezy and tired as well. Plus when you pass around a bottle of booze you get what you deserve. I walked into Hot Springs at around 2:30 and made a beeline for the diner. Mr. Fantastic was out front stretching, and we joined James (still no trail name) on the deck. We also ended up sitting next to Lavender and Reid, who we thought had given up but had just hitched around the Smokies. Reid has a trail name finally: Mustafa Ibraham. They both regaled us with a crazy story about how Mustafa and his dog Rose fell off the back of a pickup truck while going about 20mph. Rose apparently leaned against the gate and it fell open, causing her hind legs to fall out. As she desperately clawed to get back up, Mustafa dove to grab her and they both tumbled off. He now has a concussion, so they've just been relaxing in town for a few days until his bearing are straight. Rose is doing fine. We crossed the street headed toward the Sunnybank Inn hostel after devouring our respective meals, and were shocked to see how awesome it is. It's just a big house full of hikers, with some very cool owners, and a book collection to make any bibliophile jealous. There's a second story deck, a music room, a gorgeous kitchen, movie collection in the living room, and I have my own room. All for 10 bucks, with food included! It is unfortunately vegetarian, but I think I'll manage. Also staying here tonight are James, Dick Flap, Stonechair, Tapeworm, Meta, Optimus, Purple Rain, Early Bird, and a couple others I've yet to meet. As exhausted as I am, there are plans tonight. A few of us are going to walk a block to the bar and have a drink with Lost & Found and What Not, since Hot Springs marks the end of their section hike. They're buying us a round, so that obviously has to happen. Unfortunately this town has no signal for AT&T, but charging my electronics, taking a shower, doing laundry, eating real food (that I didn't cook), and socializing with the other hikers outweighs contact with the real world. Here's looking forward to a bountiful resupply tonight or tomorrow, and then back on the trail. Someone has to stop the grass from growing.

It was a cold morning again. Mr. Fantastic was particularly unhappy about the temperature. I started out early, as cold mornings always push me to warm up. It was a relatively nice climb all the way up to another bald today (Max Patch). It warned up quickly, and it was a nice, quiet, uneventful hike. I met Tapeworm up on the bald, and saw a few others who had driven up to see the vista. It seemed like a popular spot, which we understood, as we both agreed it was a better view than Clingman's Dome. We could even see the bald that we had eaten lunch on yesterday. Everyone else eventually made their way up there to see the sights and stuff their faces. We chatted with a few day hikers, and some people who had just parked 100 yards away and walked up. It's always a bit of culture shock to see normal people on the trail. I think we all get a bit snotty about them being there. Ownership is a funny thing. The second half of the hike was a bit more tiring, but that's always the way of it. I did at least finish Reamde, and it was pure adrenaline. We bumped into Meandering Snail, who I've passed twice before back in Georgia. He's an odd older overweight guy who hikes between 2 to 3 miles a day with ankle weights on. He also talked about how he's the king of the forest, and a very serious Buddhist and vegetarian. I was calling him out as a cheater in my head, until he admitted to it. He had to get a ride around the Smokies because he couldn't hike the distance between shelters. I got to the shelter first today, and picked out a choice level locale for my tent. We all overate today, because we arrive at Hot Springs tomorrow after another 13 mile day. No need to carry food or have a growling stomach. Tapeworm, Dick Flap, and Stonechair want to rent out a cabin in town with us, since it'll only cost us $15pp. Pretty tempting. It's going to be another cold night, so everyone's climbing into their tents early. We also want to get out early to make it into town as soon as possible. I'd like to leave by 7am, eat a first lunch around 11am, and get to town before 2pm. Once in town I'd enjoy a much more serious second lunch. Then dinner, drinks, and Dr. Horrible. No one else in our group has seen it, so it makes my trail name a little odd. This will soon be rectified.

I slept to the sound of running water, as the stream was corralled beneath the cabin. A biker came late and took a third bed, then left in the morning before sunrise. Walking over to the kitchen I got to see everyone enjoying the use of a stove for breakfast foods. I raided the hostel store as well for my own. We set our shoes out to dry in the sun, which was shining brightly today! Laundry was a fun task for all, as we got to use a washboard, but a real dryer. It did a great job and we all left with the distinct aroma of clean. We waited until 12:30 to leave, giving our shoes ample time to dry, and had another pizza for lunch. The Standing Bear Farm was the best hostel I've seen so far and made for an oasis on the trail. It took so long to dry out that we decided for an easy 8 mile day. The hike started all uphill, but after the refueling I got it felt easy. After climbing for 6 miles I arrived at the top of a man-made bald, catching up with Tapeworm, Stonechair, and Dick Flap (whose name seems to be changing to Too Far). It had a fantastic view, and was the first we've really seen the trail open up quite like this. It got us all excited for the balds of the northern parts of the trail. Purple Rain quickly joined us, along with a couple of section hikers who were also at Standing Bear, and then Mr. Fantastic. Lastly a guy came up who had gone the wrong way out of Standing Bear. He doesn't have a trail name yet. We all enjoyed the bald and ate from our fresh stockpiles, then left in a big hiker-train as it started to get late (except for Tapeworm who had gotten a head start). When we got into camp we rejoined a pair of section hikers, Lost & Found and What Not, as well as a couple and a father and son. I set my tent up, and it feels good to be back in it. I prefer the quiet privacy of my tent to the sport of social snoring in the shelters. The night brought a lot of laughs and interesting conversation. A long series of quotes from Dumb & Dumber and Forrest Gump, as well as a pretty deep video game conversation with the couple from North Carolina. Coming up we've got two 13 mile days to bring us to Hot Springs. Everyone has been getting excited for this place, as it's supposed to be really nice. We will see soon enough.

Today was the rainiest day we've had yet. My shoes were still soaked, as were one of my two pairs of socks, so my dry socks went into my wet shoes. My feet were clammy within 3 minutes of setting out. The trail became a dangerous deluge, the large trail rocks turning to stepping stones in a rushing stream. Today I failed in my goal to finish the trail having not fallen once. Of course I almost fall about 10 times a day, but this time I finally landed. My clothes soaked through, my shoes filled with water as I sloshed through 6 inch deep water, and my guidebook became inexorably waterlogged. I finally caught up with Mr. Famtastic at the road marking the 8 mile point we had planned. We both said that we wanted to stay at the Standing Bear hostel, but as we quickly discovered it wasn't for another 3 miles. He stopped to eat a Cliff bar, but I refused to even open my pack in this heavy rain and trudged on. By the time we only had a mile to go the rain had let up for once. We passed by Master Splinter, reunited with his dog Bruce now that the Smokies were behind us, on our way to the hostel. We paid the 20 bucks to stay in the little cabin. It's an amazing place; a little hiker oasis tucked away off the trail and highways. I got a warm shower, and purchased some provisions. We even cooked up a frozen pizza for dinner. I finally got to weigh myself, and at 26 days in I've dropped 8 lbs. That's about what I expected in the beginning, as getting into shape changed my shape a bit. Now I just have to maintain the weight I have for the next few months, or become a skinny wreck. As CVS joked, Christian Bale prepared for his role in the Machinist by hiking the AT. Our time at the hostel here has been comfortable and great, definitely worth the stop. We were even rejoined by Tapeworm, Dick Flap, and Stonechair. Meta and Optimus are still behind us by a shelter, but will probably catch up tomorrow. Just a few more days until we reach Hot Springs for a proper resupply. Now that we finally have dry feet again, and the ethereal promise of dry weather, maybe the hikes can keep as upbeat as Mr. Fantastic's mood.

I stayed in my sleeping bag late today. There wasn't enough room for everyone to eat with a seat at the same time. Once people started clearing out I got up and made my rounds. It was very overcast, but the rain had stopped for the moment. Today turned out to be an easy hike, though that is the way things are trending. 13 miles today, with a shelter at the halfway point for lunch. Once in the lunch shelter it started raining pretty hard. Always a good feeling to be under a roof at the moment the skies open up. I took a ninety minute lunch break today and felt reinvigorated for the second half of my hike. I spent the rest of my hike with full rain gear on, and headphones under my hood playing Reamde by Neal Stephenson. I was reading it before I left and decided I couldn't wait until I get back, so got it on Audible. I find he's perfect to hike to. He's very dry and monotone in style, which is easy to listen to while paying attention to foot placement. Of course he's also insanely creative and amazing with action sequences, so it also keeps me listening. I got to the shelter at 5:30pm and met one thru-hiker, and 3 members of a family that were section hiking. I'm finding we bump into more section hikers in the Smokies, and to be honest I'm looking forward to getting back to the less populated areas of the trail. I've enjoyed all the section hikers I've met, but somehow they all snore! I can handle one loud snorer with ease, but the surround sound cacophony of vibrating uvulas in the shelters obliterates my sleep! Dinner was great tonight. One backpacker pizza (a tortilla wrap with pepperoni and mozzarella string cheese), then some Spanish rice with sweet and spicy tuna (four tortilla wraps), and a Cinnabon breakfast bar for dessert(!). Now I'm quite stuffed. Tomorrow we hike 8 miles down and out of the Smokies and then pass by a hostel with resupply. At that point we'll decide if it's worth staying there, or just stocking up and trekking on. We also need to get a new map. This is 3 maps finished, but a lot more to go. Everything beyond the next 8 miles is a mystery to us. There's something comforting about that out here.

I woke up and watched Game of Thrones while Mr. Fantastic and CVS snoozed. Great way to start the day! I had everything packed up, so I could just relax while they got up and gathered their packs. I enjoyed my leftover pizza for breakfast and walked over to the NOC. We needed to stock up on fuel before heading out, so I wanted to get that out of the way. CVS got a new room, and Mr. Fantastic joined me to go hitch back. The taxi was $15pp, so we stretched our thumbs. We realized today that having our packs on makes us look just pathetic enough to pickup. It took two lifts, as the first only took us a mile. The second was on the back of a pickup truck, which really makes you feel like a hiker. We got back to the trail around 1:30pm, and enjoyed a quick lunch. Then the rains came. By the end of my hike everything that I had dried over my zero was soaked through again (everything I was wearing at least). Oh well, such is the nature of living in the woods. The views were amazing today, long sweeping vistas and deep green pine forests. We walked on a razor sharp ridge line, with just a foot of grass growing on either side of the footpath before a sheer dropoff. Mountains looming from off in the distance in all directions. Amazing views, ugly weather. Thankfully the weather didn't detract from the views. It was only a 10.5 mile day, but it's good to take it a little easy the first day back on the hoof. I dried my tent out on our balcony at the motel, so I'm going to camp out in the shelter tonight to keep it dry. The shelter's full, but they always are. I may just shelter it for the rest of the Smokies, because it's very wet up here, and there's more rain tomorrow. We've left behind CVS, Dick Flap, Optimus, Stonechair, Meta, Tapeworm, and Philly. If they have a good hike tomorrow though, some of them may catch up. If not then, probably soon. We're hearing that there are shuttles from all the towns that go to Trail Days in Damascus, VA. That may happen if timing works well, because we certainly aren't going to make it there in time on foot. Well it's about time to squeeze into my little cubby in the shelter. Tomorrow should be another wet one, but at least I won't have a wet tent.

I woke up with the morning sun, as is my lot anymore. Mr. Fantastic was still sleeping, and I bided my time catching up with a couple shows on Hulu. By 9 we were both up and ready for food, so at the behest of the motel front desk agent we walked over to Bennett's for an AYCE buffet. Hikers really do seem to like their acronyms. On the walk back we decided to hit up the satellite NOC shop they have here in Gatlinburg. Mr. Fantastic didn't find much of value, but I picked up a new steripen. The one I had was problematic with its outdated solar panel, but this new one is smaller and can work off my good solar charger. Mr. Fantastic gave me some good news when I got back from the NOC, telling me that CVS would be here soon. We hadn't seen him since back in Franklin, and were concerned he wouldn't catch up because of his swollen ankle. His girlfriend came up to surprise him, and was giving him a ride from the NOC (the real one, not the satellite store) to Gatlinburg. They arrived around 2:30pm, and we got to meet her and her dog, both very friendly. I gave CVS my old steripen, which worked out perfectly since his was having battery issues. He also found a new pair of shoes, his size, in the hiker box. He's constantly swapping out his gear. I think he'll finish his hike without a single piece of gear that he started with. I also got rid of my camp towel, some redundant small supplies, knee brace, and tent liner (while it does stop some wetness getting through, it's a hassle to put up or down and makes my tent smell of mildew). The three of us then set out to pick up the trolley at the aquarium. Gatlinburg is a very interesting place, and the main drag reminds me of Atlantic City and Ocean City wrapped together. Just subtract the beach and add the Smokey Mountains. We left at 3, hoping to make a 4:15 showing of The Avengers. The trolley driver took us to the end of the line, where we had to get on another trolley going to the Welcome Center of another town called Pigeon Forge, and then one last trolley ride to the movie theater. By the time we arrived it was 5:15, so not only had we missed the show we aimed for, but the following show as well. We planned for an adjusted 7:25 viewing, and went into the Mellow Mushroom for some vittles and beer. The pizza was fantastic (red skin potato pizza!), and CVS bought us a round. After that it was movie time!All I can really say is thank you Joss Whedon for making a childhood fantasy actually come true. The Avengers was fantastic, and the first scene after the credits gave me chills! My all time favorite Marvel character to be in the next movie?! Too perfect! We came out of the theater to a torrential downpour outside. We had called a cab, but cancelled it halfway through the movie thanks to CVS finding us a ride. He met a local girl through Ben (the guy who hosted us in Franklin for the impromptu jam session), and she was kind enough to not only give us a ride back, but stop at a late night super market so we could do our food shopping. Only four days this time, not eight, so it was much easier shopping. She said she couldn't bear to let anyone ride the trolleys, because she knew what tormenting hell they could be. We got back to the hotel and CVS went back out with her to have a few drinks. He isn't hiking on with us tomorrow because he wants to meet up with the Israelis here for their last night before going to Atlanta. He will hopefully catch up with us up the trail, but for now he'll crash on Mr. Fantastic's ultralight cot. It was an awesome day, and I didn't even get to watch tonight's Game of Thrones. To be able to miss that and still call today a victory goes against my typical nature, so my nature must now be atypical. I guess that mental change is starting to come on.

I'm writing this from the Grande Prix Motel in Gatlinburg, TN, so we succeeded in making our 18 mile trek over Clingman's Dome. We officially crossed over the 200 mile mark, climbed the highest point on the AT, hiked a painfully long 18 miles, and hitchhiked into town to celebrate. Today involved a lot of walking. I started out at 7:30am, my tent still soaked with morning dew. I took one food break on my way to the Dome, which I made it to by 1pm at a total of 10.1 miles. I still felt good, and the views were spectacular. A full day of beautiful scenery. I was renamed, rather casually, as Dr. Horrible. I had been bringing it up a lot lately (Doctor Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog), so Mr. Fantastic named me as such because he though it went so well with his name. I was hard pressed to disagree. The high peaks we hit today were enough to kill off the other trees, leaving only a deep mass of pines. It made the entire day smell like Christmas, though I'm still waiting for my gift. The deep mass of trees was gorgeous though, with fallen moss covered trees everywhere. Oh and it rained on me this morning. A lot. So that moisture turned the trail to a Swamp of Sadness of the Neverending Story variety (you will be missed Artax!). Thick, viscous, sucking muck. Pushing through this deep forest with mud-sucking shoes was a very fun experience. Though 18 miles of it was a bit much. We got some water and chocolate at Clingman's Dome, and then pushed forward toward the road. Not before climbing up and seeing the amazing 360 degree view of course. It was just 7.9 miles to our destination, and we left at 2:30pm. It was long and arduous, and when we finally came out at a parking lot, exalted in our glee, we were informed that the road was another 1.7 miles further. We were feeling pained and dejected, but mostly just pained. Once we finally reached the end of our trek, we realized we could no longer get a shuttle pick-up, as it was 7pm. So out came the thumbs. It took a little while, but an amazingly kind gentleman pulled up behind us and offered us a ride. He shuffled all of his stuff into the trunk and we piled in with him and his parents. He drove us the 15 miles into town, and we chatted the whole time while watching the beautiful Smokies pass around us. Once at the hotel we cleaned up and grabbed some dinner. It was a very long, very exhausting, but very rewarding day. Now it's time to sleep! Tomorrow will involve food shopping, gear shopping, The Avengers, and Game of Thrones. Who doesn't love a good zero from time to time?

Today tricked all of us. We expected a simple day, even easier than yesterday, but we were in for a painful surprise. The rain managed to hold off until around 4am, but then it came in force. Bright white flashes of lightning illuminated my entire tent about every 3 minutes, while a mist of fine rain water would occasionally sneak through my single layer ceiling. It still isn't completely dry. I managed to stay in my tent until 8am, the latest I've slept in yet. I wasn't alone though, as we were all rather lax in our morning duties. After some cold oatmeal (surprisingly satisfying out here), I begrudgingly packed up my wet gear and set out. Mr. Fantastic and I hiked together today, and the first half of the hike was heavenly. The mountains weren't too steep, we got to see all sorts of different terrain, there was a cool mist in the air, and we had spectacular views. As for animal life, we started the day with a wild turkey, and ended it was a couple deer. Between the two sightings my feet turned to ground beef. After our lunch I went on ahead and quickly discovered some brutal, if not relatively brief, inclines and declines. As has been the case, my love for uphill climbs increases each day, while my blistering hatred for downhill rages brighter all the time. Today was no exception, even if the views on this particular brutal downhill were some of the best on the trip. We trudged into the shelter at 5pm, the second latest I've finished a hike out here. At the shelter we met the Ridgerunner Carl, and he told us that we just did the most difficult section of the Smokies.. who knew? We each set off to make our dinners, and I set up my tent to dry it out (not happening). The plan for tomorrow was going to be an easy 7 mile day so we could climb up to Clingman's Dome the following morning for sunrise, and end up in town. We've been revising this however. Our tentative plan is now to hike all the way to town tomorrow, an 18 mile day. I hope it happens, because I ate a lot of my provisions tonight once we decided on the plan. We're both pretty desperate for food, and I'm out of fuel for my stove. Sounds like the best time to push through, especially with a zero day to follow. Not too much excitement today, mostly just foot pain. Also not enough sunlight to charge my phone. With a mere 10 percent battery remaining I'm going to just make it into town with a dwindling charge. But town means so much! New food supply, shower and laundry, beer and restaurants, a roof and a movie theater. It's always good to feel like a human being again before you dive back into the woods. Wish me luck tomorrow, as I'll certainly need it.

I find that I gauge how difficult a days hike will be on the same scale that I did when we first started. This means, today for example, that I expect to get my ass kicked and leave camp early, and then finish my hike at 2pm. I left camp and walked along the road back to the dam, but this time continued across it. Immediately on the other side I saw the sign declaring me as arrived at the Great Smokey Mountains. I knew today included a 3000 foot climb over 12 miles, and admit to a mote of trepidation. That was unnecessary though, because today's hike felt like a breeze. I finished with sore feet, and everything else feeling fine. The first campsite was closed due to bears, and they were sitting there when I walked by. Barabus was coming back from trying to get water down at the site, and told me he saw the mother and her cub. We moved on quickly; better to be thirsty for a few miles than disemboweled I always say. Barabus and I had lunch (actually second lunch) at the shelter before he moved on to the next. This shelter was very nice, made of stone with a tarp front wall and fireplace. No one else arrived for 3 hours, so I set out my solar charger, pitched my tent, and listened to Sacre Bleu on Audible while laying in the grass. The Houston crew arrived first, followed by Dick Flap, Meta, Stonechair, Optimus, and Mr. Fantastic. Once dinners were started Philly and Tapeworm trundled into camp as well. Dick Flap showed off some of the great footage he got of a couple rattlers he found just off the trail. Day one in the smokies and shit just got real. There is a somewhat massive list of creatures that make there home here, and I hope to see many.. from a distance. This is the first shelter I've been to that doesn't have any form of privy. There's just a sign pointing to a private hill, a little wasteland of used toilet paper. Pack in pack out people! Thankfully there's a great water source, and bear bag cables. Tonight's activity was solving riddles that Mr. Fantastic posed. It began with a riddle left by Aspen Glow in the hiker log at the shelter, moved forward with a riddle from Optimus, and concluded with a series directed by Mr. Fantastic. I tried to abstain, as riddles frequently annoy me, but when it's a group activity it can be difficult. It was an entertaining and frustrating activity. We all plan to be in Gatlinburg on Sunday night, so I brought up The Avengers to gauge interest. Everyone jumped at the idea, so we should have a rather large group of smelly vagabonds ordering massive quantities of popcorn and clearing isles. Mr. Fantastic and I also plan to make sure that wherever we stay either has HBO or wifi to catch up in Game of Thrones. Brief excursions into society will always have a soft spot in my heart. We both look forward to taking a zero in town. A hot shower, clean laundry, and air conditioning sound damn good right about now. Hiking in the 85 degree sun between trees too dense for a breeze makes for a sweaty day. There's a thunderstorm rolling by off in the distance, so I think I'll try to fall asleep before it arrives. Here's to a soggy morning.

The day started like any other, waking up with the sun. There was one key difference today, in that both my digital map and Mr. Fantastic's physical map ended 6 miles up the trail. We both awoke rather exhausted from our long hike yesterday, but of course pushed forward regardless. Of course it was only a couple of miles before Mr. Fantastic broke one of his hiking poles. That's a pretty upsetting moment; but again, he pushed forward regardless. After making our decent to the road we called for a shuttle into the Fontana Dam "town". It was an exciting drive on a road known as the Dragon's Tail where our driver explained that it's winding nature was a big draw. As a matter of fact there was currently a Mini Cooper convention going on in town, and things were popping. He said that it consisted of people from around the country driving their souped up Minis to town, braving the winding roads (with at least one accident each year), and getting them washed. In town we stocked up at the general store, procuring enough snack foods to last us a few more days (plus a new map), and I went to the one local restaurant and had lunch with Dick Flap, talking comics and movies. After that we decided to wait until the ice cream shop opened at 1pm, and use their outlets to charge up our phones while waiting. Totally worth it. We had a lot of downtime today. We're about to enter the Smokies and once there you can only camp at the shelters. That means we have to plan our hikes much more diligently, especially when a shelter is closed. So we could either do a 7 mile day and camp by the dam at the Fontana Hilton shelter (named so for its proximity to a bathroom and shower, and its 24 person capacity), or do a 17 mile day into the Smokies. We opted to take it easy for obvious reasons. When we arrived, we immediately pitched our tents to reserve good spots, and washed up before eating. Dinner was very enjoyable, chatting with Just Brian, Optimus (whose name I learned was actually Optimist, but none of us call her that now), and Rowan with his wife whose trail name we haven't learned. It was about 2 hours before sunset so Mr. Fantastic, Just Brian and I walked the third of a mile to the dam to watch. We talked Game of Thrones, Africa, and aviation while taking in the sprawling mountains and sinking sun. The sunset wasn't particularly spectacular so we started to head back and passed Optimus, Master Splinter with his dog Bruce (named after Bruce Campbell), Rowan and his wife, and a couple of guys I hadn't met yet. Optimus joined us, turning right around from the lackluster sunset. The shelter was packed when we got back. Let me see how many names I can rattle off here: Dick Flap, Stonechair, Meta, Megamind, Queen Bee (who is trying to change her name to Snake Charmer), Barabus, Tea is Ready, Philly, Super Mario, Word Bringer.. and many others. Word Bringer pulled out a guitar, which I'm still enjoying from inside my tent as I write this. The air is full with the serene croaks of tree frogs and the smell of honeysuckle. No pairing of smell and sound could drive me back to childhood any faster. Everyone is excited to be here, excited to meet everyone, excited to tell stories. Tomorrow brings a 12 mile hike with a 3000 foot climb, but tonight we live as kings (as Nat Geo would say). It'll be sad to say goodbye to all of the dogs for the next few days, but we do get some of the most exciting terrain and animal life on the trail. We think we've seen the last of Aspen Glow, he hikes many more miles a day than we do, but hope that CVS, Israel, and Reid catch up. We're a few days away from our second planned zero, and pretty excited for all that will entail. First though, we have to hike another 41 miles. Here we come!

One night in the shelter was enough for me. I didn't have any problems with mice, but all those people packed in made for poor sleeping conditions. I'll stick to my tent for the time being. I started out today around 7:15am, since the plan was for 15.2 miles today. It was rough at the offset, beginning with a climb up to Cheoah Bald for breakfast. Worth the hungry mile hike. I wanted to catch the sunrise, but was a little late (when you camp in Gaps, it's hard to tell when exactly morning begins. Mr. Fantastic and I continued on from there, talking about subjective vs objective regarding the meaning of good and bad. It kept us moving and we made it to a shelter for lunch around 1pm. We stayed a full hour, chatting with the big crew of people having lunch there. Mr. Fantastic made some hot water for tea for Optimus, himself, and me. It was excellent, and may be one of the contributing factors to how the rest of my day went. We had hiked 9.1 miles to get there for lunch, and had another 6.1 to go. I started out before Mr. Fantastic, and just took off. Everything just clicked for some reason. I pushed hard and found I had the capacity to do so. The last few miles included a harsh incline, a harsh decline, and a few rock scrambles; but I kept pace throughout, and even felt like I was almost jogging. I passed a lot of hikers on my way into camp, breezing past around 12 people. This energy boost saw me arriving at the shelter at 4pm, averaging my fastest pace of 3mph, while finishing my longest day-hike yet. That was a great feeling, especially paired with getting first shot at a campsite. After setting up camp and washing my clothes and self, I got my dinner out of my bear bag. Climbing up to the shelter with my cook set in hand, I saw that a few others had arrived. I had already seen Just Brian and Cyborg at the shelter when I arrived, as well as Baramus and Tea is Ready setting up tents. Up at shelter Dick Flap, Optimus, Meta, and Stonechair had all arrived. They had all been at the same shelter last night, so we're all keeping pace. Mr. Fantastic arrived as I was cooking my dinner. It was one of my best yet, combining Uncle Bens mixed grains with smoked flavored tuna. The best part was that the mixed grains had corn and beans in there as well. What a way to end a day that felt like pure success!Tomorrow we arrive at Fontana Dam, which presents us with a few options. We'll either go into the small town and stay at the hostile, or move right past it and stay at the shelter which has shower access at the dam. Beyond that we're in the Smokies, and just a few days to Clingmans Dome. Big things ahead.. literally.

Today was pretty tough. Just 8 solid miles of climbing today. I'm writing this from the top bunk of a 14 person shelter. I'm sitting one empty sleeping pad away from Megamind (named because he brought a rubix cube and a bunch of books). He just informed me that the first mouse has already been seen, so we all have to stash our stuff so they don't chew it up. The night begins with a squeak. This morning Mr. Fantastic and I ate our breakfasts back down at the NOC to watch the rapids. I also went into the gear shop and picked up some camp flip flops, and a new water bottle that my steripen will fit into. In the shop was a scale to weigh gear, and currently with a full pack (food and water) I'm at 30lbs. Mr. Fantastic is at 42, and he's not too happy about that number. He's going to try and shed a few pounds of gear. Once back on the trail it headed straight up. I no longer wheeze my way up mountains, and I no longer have waves of itchy sweat. I do however still exhaust the muscles in my legs and feet. Today was a marathon of exhausting my legs, but the plus of heading up is that you don't hurt your joints. I made it to the shelter around 2pm, preceded by Mr. Fantastic, Barabus, and Waldo. Soon followed by Tea is Ready, Dick Flap, Megamind, Queen Bee, Tapeworm, Hansil, etc. Suffice it to say I don't remember every single trail name. It got quite crowded up here, as the climb kicked everyone's ass. We all lounged, and boy was I glad for the flip flops. Letting my shoes dry, rinsing out my socks, and stretching my feet; not just for sitting in the tent anymore. The conversations have been wildly varied tonight with all of the similar but different personalities. That's normal, but more noticeable with this many people. At the moment there's a heated conversation about food going on, Today by Smashing Pumpkins playing on someone's solar radio, people furiously journaling, and deep map analysis going on. Just another night on the trail. Tomorrow is a little over 15 miles, and we're all aiming for the same shelter. After what we're all calling "The longest 7 miles on the trail", tomorrow should bring a refreshing amount of strength. The more we tear our bodies down, the more we rebuild ourselves as hikers. It's great to sit around a fire with a group of people who are all feeling that, and reveling in how badass we feel. Now I'll listen to some music and cinch my mummy bag tight in the hope that no mouse tries to join me. Wish me luck.

Today was only a little over 11 miles, but it was pretty rough. We descended 3300 feet over 4 miles. Had I needed to descend something like this in the first week I would have blown out my knees. Even with the practice we have, and the shape that we're now in, it got a touch painful by the end. Thankfully though, we were at least granted a fantastic vista of the clouds settling between the mountains. Waking up at 7am, packing away a soaking wet tent, and stuffing your face before walking up a few hundred feet does grant a few amazing perks. I saw this by around 9am, and it made my whole morning. Today was much lonelier hiking than yesterday. Other than Mr. Fantastic and Aspen Glow I only saw two day-hikers out on the trail with their dog. Aspen Glow was going to press on past where we planned to camp, when he realized it was an 8 mile hike up 3500 feet. He decided to camp here with us. It's a nice area, good water, and only an eighth of a mile from the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center). They convinced me to join them for some dinner at the restaurant, which was definitely worth the trip. The NOC is a little tiny spot in the middle of nothing that caters to hikers and white water kayaking. All that's there is a tiny general store, a gear shop (kayaking gear in this case), and a restaurant overlooking the rapids. Dinner was great. The food was perfectly prepared, the beer local and icy cold, and the bathrooms weren't composting toilets. All in all well worth the 0.8 mile hike there and back. I finished the Dark Tower audio book, and find it's a great way to keep my pace constant and my mind active. it was also a fun book, particularly if you've read the others. Though not necessary, I don't think. I believe next will be Rant by Chuck Palahniuk. We have a lot of big ascents and descents ahead, including Clingman's Dome which is the highest point on the trail. It's all good training for what's to come though. Getting beat up out here is always good, so long as you don't hurt yourself. Here's hoping for a dry morning!

I got started a little late today at 9am. Having a wet tent to put away always slows me down. The plan was for a 12 mile day, and it went off without a hitch. It did take me a while to realize why there were so many people out on the trail today, having no concept of what day it is out here. The weekends bring out all the casual and section hikers, as well as the crews of volunteers who help maintain the trail. Today I got to see a team of guys and a dog rebuilding an old log bridge (by splitting a new log down the center with railroad ties). I also bumped into a couple of old guys who were repainting the white blazes. They were entertaining, and very interested in all of the details of our thru-hike. Then there was a section hiker on his way to meet his wife, who was waiting for him in a white Cadillac. He took my picture and I took his, as he's collecting photos of thru-hikers and logging their names on his map so he can remember where and when he met people. It was a social day on the trail. We ended up at a shelter that was thankfully directly on the trail. No hiking a half mile to shelter and back thank you very much. We had dinner with Tapeworm and Master Splinter, who we had seen the day before, and in Franklin. Everyone is talking about the Smokies now. It's only about 5-7 days of hiking, but there are a lot of restrictions. You can only stay at shelters, no camping up in them there hills. I have heard that all of the shelters have fireplaces though, which would be a fun change of pace. The beautiful views are already becoming a little commonplace, but that still hasn't stopped us from climbing off the trail to see them. Today marks two weeks out here. I still don't feel completely in shape for this sort of thing, though I am lugging around a lot of food weight. Everyone says it takes 2 weeks to feel strong, and 1 month to be completely acclimated. So this should be the milestone of the body, next comes the mind.

After the festivities last night, Mr. Fantastic and I were dragging a little. Our stuff had mostly dried out though, which we were very thankful for. All my electronics were fully charged (iphone, gopro, solio charger), and I was able to download more audiobooks from Audible for good measure. I started off toward the closest gear shop which opens up at 10am. The guy there was very helpful. I picked up some backpacker meals, 5oz of denatured alcohol to top me off, a rubber bowl (because I'm sick of cleaning my cooking pot), and a steripen. It's what they had at the store, and it's case comes with a solar charger; which is very handy on the trail. Mr. Fantastic and I signed the hiker logbook there and continued down Main Street to a little malt shop to gorge ourselves on one last delicious meal before embarking. With fries, brownies and ice cream settling, we walked another couple blocks to Ingles to get our food shopping done. In case you don't know, Ingles is made in America. We had to stock up enough food to last about 8 days. The most we've packed thus far. It was quite a challenge, and a little nerve-racking. I still can't fit it all in my bear bag, so some things are strung up outside of the bag. We each opened and repackaged our food supplies to do away with excess garbage (carry in, carry out), while waiting for our shuttle to come pick us up. Once back on the trail we had an 8 mile hike ahead of us. The only challenge was that we didn't get back to the trail until around 1:45pm. Thankfully we're still getting stronger everyday, so we were able to pull into our shelter by 5:30pm with ease. We worried about rain, but made it before the clouds opened up. That happened while we were eating dinner with a few vaguely familiar faces. I cooked up some Santa Fe style rice and chicken. It was insanely filling. I do so love those expensive dehydrated backpacker meals! Tonight finds us with four dogs in camp (the most we've seen), and the first time some people had seen the moon since they got out here. Having taken quite a few midnight strolls into the bushes, I've seen the moon plenty of times after the haze clears from early evening. It's always good to be back out here, especially with absolutely no knee problems. I think I've finally solved that problem. Hopefully our friends can catch up with us, but we're hoping to start upping the pace. You have to keep moving if your food is going to last. Plus Trail Days, a big hiker celebration in Damascus, VA, is coming up and we'll have to push to make. It's a bit of a long shot, but if we can average 16 miles a day from now until May 19th we'll make it to the party. We only found out about this out here, and while we have no real need to go, it would be a great experience for the trip. Here's hoping we can meet the challenge.

So this is a late post for me. Today started with wind. We wanted to catch an 11 o'clock shuttle into Franklin that was 5.5 miles away. I set out early, always eager to not be rushed. Leaving at 7:30am, I was the second person to set forth for the day. It was overcast and scarily windy. I walked 3 miles before bumping into Aspen Glow, the one person who has left before me, as he was packing away his jacket. I kept walking, feeling good at how easy the trail was this morning. Then the hail came. Pea sized hail came raining down on me, along with sheets of rain, and bright pink lightning all around. I threw on my rain gear (sans pants, because I'm an idiot) and took off towards my destination. I arrived at the parking lot, hoping for a canopy of some kind but finding none. The hail had mostly stopped so I stood in the rain and waited, but not for long. It was only 9:30, so I had made it in time for the early bus. The guy told me there was a tornado watch, so I hopped on and he gave me a lift into town. I don't need to hear any more than that to get me off the side of the road. The van driver turned out to be the owner of the Budget Inn both here in Franklin and back at Hiawassee. He shuttles hikers at no charge and is a really interesting guy. He told us about a great AYCE buffet for only $10. He also told us that buffet stands for big ugly fat folks eating together, which we all enjoyed. I caved and booked a room at the Budget Inn. I was too soggy and cold to pass up a hot shower. Mr. Fantastic arrived around 12:30, and thankfully the rain had slowed dramatically. He didn't even see the hail. I went on a hunt for a McDonalds, because I craved calories. After throwing back a large quarter pounder meal, Tim and I met up with CVS, Israel, Reid, and Aspen Glow at the local steakhouse. I proceeded to then put away a plate of buffalo chicken wings, a house salad, and a 32oz yeungling. It was grand. Back at the room Mr. Fantastic took a nap while I listened to the new Dark Tower novel on Audible(!). Then it was time to go drinking. We went over to the only local bar, Mulligan's. We met the same crew, plus a new friend they had made named Ben who was a local. After some food, a few beers, some tequila, fun live music, and a couple of rowdy girls, we all jumped in Bens pickup and went back to his place to continue the festivities. He had 40 acres, a beautiful house, and enough instruments to inspire an impromptu jam session. After playing a lot of music, laughing a lot, and eating some french toast prepared by CVS, Ben gave us exhausted hikers a lift back to our respective pillows. It was a day of highs and lows, but mostly fun and comraderie. We plan on getting back on the trail tomorrow, and have a lot of food shopping to do. We're inching ever closer to the Smokies, and it's all becoming more and more like real life. We're not even two weeks in and this feels like what we do. I can't wait to see how natural this feels after a month!

I awoke tucked tightly in my sleeping bag, dreading how cold it was going to be. I was joyously surprised though, as today was absolutely beautiful out! Our 10 mile hike today was over very level, very beautiful terrain. It made for a wonderful day. Then at the very end came by far our steepest climb yet. It was exhausting, but came with the best view yet. A short hike down brought me to our planned campsite at only 2:30. Mr. Fantastic arrived shortly, followed by Aspen Gold. We all set up tents (still not willing to sleep with the mice) and ate just as a thunderstorm passed overhead. This brought to camp the Jews, Reid and his dog Rose (I thought he had thrown in the towel), Bret Michaels and Bitchy Bitch, Sleeping Bear, and CVS. It made for another fun evening as we all got excited for our day in Franklin tomorrow and some serious food. Hopefully I'll find some signal or wifi when there so I can post this backlog of updates. Plus I really want to download the new Dark Tower novel on Audible! Oh and I almost forgot to mention, Mr. Fantastic thinks there was a bear poking its nose around his tent last night. He says he kept his cool in his sleeping bag, but for his eyes wide open and searching wildly. If it came by my tent I slept soundly through it.

I woke to the beautiful sight of CVS stoking a morning fire. Salty Hiker was just waking as well, so we collected some firewood for CVS and began our breakfast rituals. I was the first to leave camp today, as it was terribly cold and windy. Moving warns you up better than anything. Today was a 12 mile day, but it went by quite painlessly. Tim caught up with me in the afternoon and we hiked down to our planned campsite. The rest of our crew didn't make it this far today, but we did get to camp with Nat Geo. Nat Geo consists of two hikers (Balloo and Pac Man) who are filming a 90 minute self-funded documentary. It was a nice day if not for the cold and occasional snow and hail. It's currently raining pretty hard and has warmed up a bit though, so tonight shouldn't be as painful as last night. Tomorrow should be 10 miles, and then we'll be hitting another town the next day to resupply. That is of course if we don't have any problems with bears, since this area of the trail is apparently a bear sanctuary. If seeing that posted on every tree around the trail doesn't put your mind at ease in your sleeping bag, then nothing will.

My parents dropped Tim and me back on the trail this morning after a brief trip to the gear shop. It was great getting clean and doing laundry, but we're both happy to be back on the trail. It took about an hour to get my trail legs back, but once I did we rolled along at a pretty good clip. We started walking around 9:30am and took a 30 minute lunch, but still did our planned 9 miles by 2pm. We stopped just after the sign for the GA/NC border, and we were ready to celebrate! One state down, just 13 left to go. It's a pretty exciting moment. The camp area was big and wide open, but unfortunately slanted across the entire expanse. Tim and I got to choose our areas first since we were the first to arrive. Two of our Israeli friends pulled over next (the third has left the trail). They started a fire, which was nice because it was absolutely freezing today. Tim and I had every piece of clothing we brought on to try and warm up, and the Israelis were painfully cold as they weren't prepared for this kind of weather. We had a crowded camp tonight and a lot of fun. CVS was out in force as always, plus Lavender and the newly named Xena were here as well. We met Axle and her two friends and dog; as well as Salty Hiker, a man in his 70s from Indiana. There were more as well, but you get the idea. While eating and chatting, huddled dangerously close to the fire, we all stretched and laughed. Lavender pulled out a tube of cinnamon rolls, explaining how she met a guy named Squirrel (because he couldn't spell it) who told her this trick. She offered them up to people, with the idea being to unroll them and then roll them along a stick. It comes out looking like a little corndog, and I can't wait to do this in the future!Cinnemon rolls were roasted, Christmas carols were sung (some in cat meows), and bear bags were hung with care. It's a very cold night and we're sleeping with winter hats on, but everyone is grateful to be out here.

We were given a ride into town (thanks to the Hiawassee Inn) in an incredibly beat up old van. I especially enjoyed the pile of crushed soda cans, ashtray overflowing with butts, bags of fast food, and metal baseball bat the driver kept at his side. The Inn was pretty dumpy, but we were all pretty pumped to have four walls. Beast Mode stayed with Tim and me, while CVS stayed with our Israeli friends. We relaxed, ate lots of food, and at night all got pretty drunk. On Sunday Beast Mode moved on, while Tim and I moved to the Holiday Inn Express to meet up with my mom and Vince. Food was stocked, gear was abandoned, and Game of Thrones was watched. Here's to HBOGo!It was a great time in civilization, but Tim and I were eager to get back on that dusty trail. With all this great food and our packs both a bit lighter the future keeps looking up. Of course when mountains are looming you kind of have to, but stronger knees and stronger backs should help us carry our weight. One last night in luxury, and then back to the solitude of our camaraderie.

It was appropriately hazy this 4/20 on the trail, which I'm finding I prefer. I don't mind throwing on a rain jacket to avoid all the bugs and the heat of the sun. I'm already hot and sweaty enough thank you very much. Today went swimmingly. My knees stopped hurting and I was able to walk without frustration. We only did the 9.5 miles today as planned, but there was still a lot of climbing and it was strenuous. I left early, and Tim stayed hoping that his socks might dry (they got rained on). About 5 miles in I bumped into CVS on the trail so we hiked together. The topic of conversation mostly revolved around movies and food. Food is an ever present topic though. After a bit Tim caught up and joined the conversation. We made good time, exhausted ourselves, and pulled into the shelter around 4pm. This is one of the nicer shelters we've seen and it even had a loft. By 6 the rest of our crew from the night before had pulled in, along with Olde English and many others. It's a hoppin' shelter tonight! Beast Zone maintained the fire that he built with Tetley, and after we all stuffed ourselves, we filed in around the flames. I've heard it called hiker television, and that seems apt. A few stragglers pulled in after sunset, quickly attempting to make camp. There really are a lot of interesting people out here, and it's good to have a day that was smiles from beginning to end. Tomorrow we hit town for an all you can eat steak joint, and then a plan for nothing other than partying; though a real shower will be almost as exciting. My first week is in the bag and I'm still happy to be here. Happier each day.

Breaking camp with everything wet is never fun. Especially in a secret grove of poison ivy (that seems to be thriving in Georgia). I started early today, around 7:30, and only took 2 breaks that were longer than 2 minutes until 6:30pm when I stopped.

It was brutal and the most exhaustive exercise I've had in my life. We finished at 13.5 miles today, but hardly by choice. I was ready to collapse at 11 miles, but the campsite shown on the map seemingly didn't exist.

The real stars of the day though were Blue Mtn and Rocky Mtn, because climbing across them kicked my ass.

So after going well beyond my comfort zone, walking the longest hike in my life over the harshest terrain, I arrive in camp and collapse.

Thankfully my night didn't end there. Mr. Fantastic, Beast Zone, Bear, CVS, and I all sat down to dinner along with 3 guys in the Israeli army (one of whom was quickly named Tetley for offering up some delicious piping hot tea). A few others made camp here, but didn't join us.

It was an amusing dinner, and we all talked food, tomorrows plans, and Hiawassee (being the first town we'll cross, and that it's coming up). We're all very excited by the prospect of a supermarket, and possibly taking a zero day there to wait out thunderstorms. We're all running very low on food, so we plan to walk a relatively light 9.5 miles tomorrow to a shelter. The next morning we'll walk a short 4 miles and get a ride into town. Beyond that, Xanadu.

While not everyone slept well in our smelly, snore-filled hostile, I found it rather cozy.

I sleep through snoring, but for some reason the sound of a twig breaking outside my tent always wakes me right up.

Breakfast was blueberry pancakes with biscuits and fruit, provided yet again by the venerable Pirate. If you're ever by the Walasi-Yi Inn at Neels Gap in Georgia you can see my mug on the wall with the trail name Tim gave me on the spot. As my first trail name (I'm not counting Have You Peed Today), he dubbed me Guts. This was a little because I've been trudging on through a lot of knee pain, but mostly because I've been burping nonstop. My stomach is used to a very small amount of food per day, and I've been forced to very quickly ramp that up. This, apparently, is one of the ways in which burps are born.

Moving on, I gave Tim his first trail name: Mr. Fantastic. This is due to the fact that if you're around him for more than 15 minutes you're prone to see him stretching.

As for the actual hiking today, we accidentally shot past out planned lunch spot/water source/camp. that was supposed to be a 5.5 mile hike in which I would decide if my knees were good enough to continue. Since we blew past it though, our next decent campsite put us at a total of 11.5 miles for the day.

I was initially leery of my ability to go that far with my knees. After continually altering the way my pack was adjusted, and the way I walked uphill as well as downhill, I managed to get through the rest of the trek with almost no knee pain.

Still, at the end of the 11.5 my feet were finally feeling it. No joint paint, but serious muscle exhaustion.

Thus, after quickly pitching my tent in the remaining drizzle, I enjoyed some pepperoni and cheese bought from Walasi-Yi, read some of my book, and am now ready to turn in. Here's hoping tomorrow will find my feet and right hip rejuvenated, and my left knee even further along on the mend. Tomorrow we're setting out around 7am with an ideal goal of 13.5 miles. I've been surprised by things so far, so maybe that will happen too. If so we're right on course!

On that note, I think I hear someone doing Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions 100 feet away at a larger camp. I think I'll go investigate real quick before I PTFO.

Well I've learned my place. Today we hiked to the summit of Blood Mountain, and it was our steepest climb yet. The ascent exhausted me, but I managed it with vigor.

The decent was a different story. My love affair with downhill hiking is officially over. By the last mile down the mountain my knees were full of hot iron.

Thankfully, the base of Blood is bliss. We walked into Neels Gap, which is actually where we had originally driven and asked for directions on our first day out. Neels gap is a gear resupply/hostile that used to be an inn when it was built in the 1930s.

Here is a fantasy after days of wilderness: 15 bucks for a bunk and an awesome common room with about 80 VHS tapes. We have so far watched Christmas Vacation, Gremlins, and currently Gladiator. It's also pouring rain outside at the moment, and they let us bring a dog in, so it's about the coziest room you could imagine. Put on top of that the fact that Pirate, the guy who runs the hostile, also makes dinner. We had ribs, rice, salad, and baked beans.

After a day of destroying my knees and exhausting my body it couldn't get much better.

As an epic addition, Pirate just gave everyone who's still awake (at 7:30pm) a beer and free reign to grab more. It's tough to feel more welcome than this. Welcome to the trail!

I don't have any signal here at Lance Creek, so this will be posted a day late. That will probably happen a lot.

After two 8 mile days that kicked my ass and left me feeling physically ill, I thought about taking a shorter day of just 4.5 miles to recoup. To my surprise I had the energy to push on and didn't feel sick, which is good for our timing. The next 7.5 miles have no camping zones thanks to the high population of black bears.

Oh, and it rained today; our first rain. Once it turned into a drizzle it was actually quite pleasant to hike in.

My knees are aching, my shoulders are sore, my hips are bruised.. but not as much as they were yesterday.

Now as long as I can keep this upward momentum for the next month, I should be prepared for the 4-5 that will follow.

Tim says he may guest post on here at some point, but on his behalf I can say he's enduring the physical elements of the trip much better than I am so far. He's doing well, and is currently mulling over ideas for his trail name. We frowned on self-naming at first, but after Re tried naming me "Have you peed today", we realized it may be wisest to name oneself.

Well, maybe not physically. My first day has been a long one. No surprise there.

On 3 hours sleep I woke up at 7:30 and got some breakfast in town. We didn't actually make it to the trailhead until around 1pm. Thank you AT Conservancy book for being vague and seemingly wrong; but after a butt-numbing ride and incorrect directions from all the locals, we arrived.

We hiked to the top of Springer Mountain and back to the advanced section of the trail that we parked at and had a quick lunch.

The trail is already doing a good job of kicking my ass, but at least we made 7 miles of progress on day 1 (8 if you include the backtracking).

Along the way we made a friend, Re, and his dog. They both hiked with us, and decided to make camp at the same spot.

After foregoing cooking, because I was just too trail-weary, I ate a small dinner, hung my bear bag, and set up my tent where I now reside.

Hopefully tomorrow will find me more rested (about to PTFO), and not as sore as I fear.

Also I had no signal the entire trail.. until we made camp. So here's counting on more lucky breaks like that.

Now that the sun has set I'm going to enjoy my first night of exhausted sleep. Until next time.

This is the last night before hitting the trail, and both Tim and I are bristling with anticipation. Yesterday was a good deal of driving and a quiet night at a hotel in North Carolina, today was a little less driving and a trip to an Irish pub to enjoy a final off-trail dinner in Georgia.

Not much else to report on just yet, Tim got a couple of items he was missing, and I replaced my gloves at a shop here with something a little bit nicer. We met another thru-hiker there who was prepping for his departure tomorrow as well. His name was Troy, no trail name yet either. He seemed like a nice guy, and the lady at the gear shop said that all the thru-hikers she talked to this year seemed very friendly. It all bodes very well.

Dinner involved eating in a cellar with a unisex bathroom and dollar bills with messages stapled all over the walls. So this had to join the ranks.

If that doesn't embody our perspective for this adventure I don't know what does.

Well tomorrow is day 1 of our great Appalachian adventure (thank you Chris McCandless for that phrasing) and we couldn't be more excited. Tim says he may make a few guest posts on the site as well, but we'll see what happens. Ok, Silence of the Lambs is on, so I know what I'm doing for the rest of my evening. I'll talk to you all from the trail!

It's almost April 12th! Tomorrow morning is it, time to hit the road and kick up some dirt. My parents are dropping Tim and me off at Springer Mountain in Georgia, where we will start our journey on Saturday.

My gear is packed...ish, and I'm in perfect hiking shape...ish. We'll see how everything goes, but I know for certain that these first few weeks are going to whoop my ass. My packs base weight (before food and water) is currently at 23lb, so I hope a few days on the trail finds me tossing random odds and ends that I don't need.

With just a few tasks left to do today I'll be ready to leave in the morning. I have to choose which food items I'll be bringing with me for these first 5 days, wash all of my hiking clothes (since I've been "training" in them), and do my taxes.. I know, I know. Other than that, it's just dinner, sleep, a long car ride, some more sleep, another long car ride, yet some more sleep, and then a short hike to the trailhead. Not too bad considering I've been salivating for this trip for years. I'm sure I'll have more to talk about once on the trail, and I'll attempt to be amusing but I make no promises. Until next time, here's me testing out my new camera (GoPro Hero2) in the backyard.

I'm still in the planning stage of my AT thru-hike, but I believe that stage really lasts until the day you leave.. and even then maybe for a few more weeks. The current plan is for Tim and me to leave sometime around April 15th for Springer Mountain in Georgia and do a northbound hike (as 90% of hikers are wont to do).

As far as gear is concerned I have most of the large items purchased and tested; tent, sleeping bag and mat, ground tarp, backpack (external frame), cooking system, water purification, hiking boots, solar charger, leatherman, first aid, etc. I'll share a full list of my gear and why I chose it in a later post. As of now I'm just waiting with bated breath.. April cannot come soon enough.