I dedicate this blog post to all my work-friends at The Park City Diner (Garden City Park, NY). First off, this job gave me the opportunity to save up enough money to finance this trip and I am immensly thankful for that. Additionally, my fellow staff and regular customers were witness to my pre-trail planning and jitters. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me, and thank you to everyone who doubted me. You have both given me a reason to be determined to succeed.
Day 62: May 30th: Leaving the Nest!
So the day to leave Damascus finally arrived! I only wanted to do about 12 miles, so I wasn't in a rush to leave town (neither was anyone else - leaving town is always extremely difficult it seems). I did some final town chores, packed up my gear, and checked out of 'The Place' for good. Peacock and I casually strolled out of town, stopping by the ice cream shop, In The Country, before hitting the trail.
I had noticed a rash on my leg a few days prior which I later determined to most likely by poison ivy. I've never been previously exposed to poison ivy, and I will take every precaution to ensure that it doesn't happen again anytime soon (because it totally sucks).
Peacock and I decided not to blue-blaze the VA Creeper (which would cause us to 'skip' a few AT miles), but we stopped by and splashed around in the river for about an hour. The hike wasn't too strenuous, and the morning went quickly - we watched as Peacocks apple rolled down a steep hill, I ate an entire cucumber because I didn't want to carry it anymore (have you ever just bitten into a whole cucumber, without cutting it up? It's weird.), and we met a handful of new hikers.
Peacock admiring the river.
I enjoyed having Peacocks company, but our hiking partnership formed a bit too quickly - seeing as the two of us are very independent - both as hikers and people in general, we decided to catch up with his friends that night, which meant hiking a longer day than intended. We eventually ran into them where the AT and the Creeper Trail meet again where we took a short snack break and crossed the Luther Hassinger Memorial Bridge (where we threw pennies and made wishes).
I hung back so that I could hike alone and listen to music until it got dark - at which time, I was happy Peacock waited for me so that I didn't have to night-hike alone.
Rant: I really do not enjoy arriving at camp late at night. I dread setting up my tent wearing my headlamp, I hate not having time/energy to make hot dinner and walking to the water source in the dark is just a pain. (Though, I must admit, I found a little newt home/hole near the water source that night and the company of a newt was splendid).
Bridges are the most fun.
I hung back so that I could hike alone and listen to music until it got dark - at which time, I was happy Peacock waited for me so that I didn't have to night-hike alone.
Rant: I really do not enjoy arriving at camp late at night. I dread setting up my tent wearing my headlamp, I hate not having time/energy to make hot dinner and walking to the water source in the dark is just a pain. (Though, I must admit, I found a little newt home/hole near the water source that night and the company of a newt was splendid).
Shelter: Lost Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Miles from Springer: 483.2
Miles to Katahdin: 1702.1
Day 63: May 31st: Torrential Rain & Double Rainbows.
I woke up early and made my way over to Peacocks tarp to wake him up - we hung around for a bit before he decided to head out for the day. I stayed behind to eat hot breakfast, do some chores and talk to Shaggy - I ended up being the last person out of camp that day.
The first half of the day was absolutely gorgeous - non-threatening clouds spotted the sky and I loved being out on my own again.
I love all the signs along the trail.
The trail has a lot of stairs...
I love the sky out here!
Look at that view!
I'll throw in a selfie for good measure!
Communication between hikers can be difficult, considering our phones are always in airplane mode - but there is nothing more exciting than finding a note written to you in the woods! It almost makes up for the inconvenience.
"Miss May: I'm camped at Deep Gap. P."
I walked for about half a mile before I needed to stop and massage my feet (just so you're all aware - hiking hurts). While doing so, I realized someone was throwing mini pinecones/acorns at me! I looked around and saw Peacock exploring off-trail. As we started to talk, the wind began to pick up and before we knew it, we were caught in a torrential downpour. The trail turned into a swift, flowing river, and my clothes were completely drenched. We trudged along until we found the road, at which time, the rain slowed and we discovered Lady Unicorn, Rhino and Rain-Man hiding under an information awning (they had been lucky enough to avoid the entire storm!)
I was in a pretty foul mood, but soon, I stumbled upon an unexpected surprise - a field of ponies! I went over to say hi, and the ponies immediately started licking my arms and legs (hikers tend to be very sweaty - and thus, salty and delicious). Seriously, these ponies were aggressively friendly.
Rain-man and pony staring contest
Rhino and a friendly pony!
A pony licking my leg.
Peacock taking a photo of me with his disposable camera.
And so we eventually hiked on, through some cow pastures and trees until we made it to the ridgeline - at which time, it started to pour again (and hail)! Though hail is not unusual, it's always a nuisance because it hurts to get pelted with little ice-pellets!
We made it to the shelter to find it already full (despite having a capacity of 16), so I wandered off into the woods to find a campsite. Setting up my tent in the rain is not pleasant, and I had to deal with a few puddles before I could unroll my sleeping bag and get warm.
Hiking above the clouds!
When the rain started to clear, I went back to the shelter to find that there was a double rainbow! Sorry for the lack of photos, but I tend to try and keep my phone as dry as possible...
Shelter: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.2
Miles from Springer: 495.4
Miles to Katahdin: 1689.9
That morning, I decided to back-track a bit so that I could summit VA's highest peak, Mt. Rogers (5,739 ft). I didn't really have much interest, but I figured if I ever want to become one of those people who try to summit the highest peak in every state, I would regret not doing this one. The hike was easy, and the summit had no view. In fact, the blue blazes just stopped in the middle of a pine forest. I took a few photos, scoped out the area, and went back to take down my tent.
Luckily the weather had cleared up, because this was one of the most anticipated days of the entire trail - the Grayson Highlands. This section of the trail is by-far my favorite so far. The landscape is stunning, the views are awe-inspiring, and come on, there are wild ponies.
All about them blue-blazes
The hike was only about .5 uphill
My chubby cheeks made it to the highest peak in VA!
Blue-blazes don't normally look like this!
I blue-blazed to the top of that!
Peacock on a rock!
View from said rock.
Peacock and rock from afar.
Sometimes, you just get into an unexpected staring contest with some cows.
Rhododendrons in bloom!
And then finally! It was time to enter the State Park!
Butt-scratching post.
Ahhhh! Baby!
We basically became BFFs.
Afterwards, I walked half a mile to the parking lot because there were bathrooms and garbage cans! Yay! (Any convenience is a luxury out here - I am thrilled with the slightest extra amenity.) I spent about 2 hours drying out my gear and making lunch before I noticed storm clouds were heading my way.
A mighty fine lunch-spot!
This is where I met Sam-I-Am and his pup, Iris.
I reached 500 miles that day!
(I couldn't find the '500' written in rocks, but this was carved into the privy!)
I would like to thank all the Eagle Scouts that build awesome privies for us hikers.
For some reason, this shelter had TWO privies!
So, it was only about 2pm, and I had I only gone 5 miles, but I decided I didn't trust the weather to hold out. Instead of heading out with other hikers, I chose to set up my sleeping bag in the shelter and read a book all afternoon. I got to know some new friends, and enjoyed being lazy for once!
Shelter: Wise Shelter
Miles today: 5.1
Miles from Springer: 500.5
Miles to Katahdin: 1684.8
Due to my unproductive afternoon the previous day, I made sure I was one of the first hikers out of camp.
I need more mini waterfalls in my life back home.
I enjoy this too much.
I am always thankful when the blazes tell you which way is North.
Sometimes, people hike the wrong way.
You'd think that would be ridiculous, but the woods are sometimes repetitive and you get worried occasionally (like when leaving camp in the morning).
View from "The Scales Livestock Corral"
Due to poor planning, I ran out of all of my snacks - I only had dinners left! So I decided to stop by the first shelter and cook some brunch.
Old Orchard Shelter. It was decent.
A birds nest in the privy!
I continued along to the next shelter where I found two guys sitting at the trail crossing - they said there was a 100% chance of rain in the next hour. I blue-blazed to Hurricane Mt. Shelter where I found Lady Unicorn, Rain-Man and Rhino, amongst others, where I relayed the weather news and we all decided to take naps and wait out the rain! (I wish I had taken a picture of this shelter because it was gorgeous).
Everyones gear is slowly starting to break...
Though we agreed to leave at 4pm, the group of us decided to just spend the evening at this shelter instead. We were comfy and dry, and wanted to stay that way.
Later that night, Gourmet Greg and his brother Waldo showed up with a ukulele! I normally don't like when people play instruments in shelters, but I was so excited to see a ukulele - he even let me play for a bit! I've been considering carrying a little uke since then.
The shelter got crowded late that night, and we maxed out its capacity. The four of us went to bed with the agreement that we would start hiking before 6am in order to push 19 miles to Marion, Va.
This privy had a nest as well!
Shelter: Hurricane Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 10.9
Miles from Springer: 511.4
Miles to Katahdin: 1673.9
Well, we tried to be as quiet as possible, but deflating sleeping pads and shoving sleeping bags into compression sacks tends to be a bit noisy. At least we waned everyone that we would be waking up at 5am.
We got out around 5:45, and the trail was still too dark to navigate without a headlamp. My favorite time to hike is between 6am and 7am because the temperature is comfortable and the lighting is beautiful.
I forged ahead of the pack and made it to the lunch spot - Trimpi Shelter - an hour before the group. I happily made food and read the log-book.
10/10: would privy again.
10/10: would cross again.
The terrain was pretty easy, so the 19 miles went quickly, but my feet were still killing me by the end of the day.
"Yay! I have friends to take pictures with now!"
We had intended to stay at Partnership Shelter, which has a shower and a local pizza place will deliver food, but upon arrival, I convinced the group to hitch into Marion and get a hotel room instead.
The shower was freezing - which further convinced us to go into town.
Put the man in the kilt in the front -
you're more likely to get picked up!
(I completely made that up.)
It took a few minutes to find a ride, but eventually a man let us ride to town in the bed of his truck (apparently it's legal if you're 16+).
Despite the fact that riding in a truck-bed is fun, its extremely cold and windy. Also, I kept shouting "how is this legal?!"
We read in the log-book that the Travel Inn had bed-bugs, so we opted for the ever-luxurious Econolodge instead. Lady Unicorn made us all leave our phones in the room while we went out for Mexican dinner at La Puerta (which was delicious!)
Showered. Cleaned gear. Enjoyed the WIFI. Bed.
Showered. Cleaned gear. Enjoyed the WIFI. Bed.
Shelter: The Econolodge in Marion, VA
Miles today: 19.8
Miles from Springer: 531.2
Miles to Katahdin: 1654.1Day 67: June 4th: Yummy Yummy.
I'll be honest, it's really not too difficult to convince hiker friends to take a zero day. Our bodies are begging us for a break - I've notived that they are so busy trying to heal muscles and joints that bruises and scrapes last for weeks.
Town days go by so quickly, it's almost laughable. Between spending time in the laundromat, resupplying at Walmart, running into other hikers and maintaining gear, there seems to be no time to simply relax.
But don't worry - there's always time for Taco Bell!
Lady Unicorn and I spent a while coming up with a hiking schedule that would allow me to arrive in Harpers Ferry by July 6th. My Best Friend is coming to visit for the week, and I felt that Harper's Ferry would be the most convenient location to meet up (due to the Amtrak station). Also, rumor has it that if a thru-hiker makes it to Harpers Ferry by July 4th, they have a good chance of making it to Katahdin before Baxter State Park closes.
While walking to Walmart for the third time, we ran into Wrangler, PMac, and Bistro. We agreed to meet up with them all later at Yummy Yummy, the local Japanese place, which was pretty delicious.
"Welcome to Marion, VA!"
That night, Rain-man got drunk with Bistro and them, while Lady Unicorn and I were channel surfing in the room. We found a movie with Aubrey Plaza, (turned out to be The To Do List) which captured our attention for the rest of the evening.
I love all the street art!
"Join the Revolution. Shop Local. Shop Marion."
Shelter: The Econolodge in Marion, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Miles from Springer: 531.1
Miles to Katahdin: 1654.1
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