weary as water

every time i blink i have a tiny dream

Day 73: Lambert’s Meadow Shelter to Daleville

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Jeremiah & OWL decided to get up at 6:15 to be on the trail by 7…I decided to get up a little earlier to take my time. Got up around 5:50 and puttered around. I like waking up slowly. Ate a Little Debbie cherry pie – thanks to Wildcat back in Maryville for that tip. They have about 450 calories – perfect for breakfast when combined with my protein powder drink. 

Jeremiah & OWL took off – I stayed in the shelter & talked on the phone with AWE for a few minutes while she was on her way to work. (Normally I would NEVER EVER talk on the phone in a shelter…especially at 7am…but I was the only one there!)
The walk into Daleville was pretty easy – a little rainy, a little foggy, not many views. Saw some pre-teen kids out scrambling around on the rocks. They told me about a trail they’d found that shows you a great view of the whole valley – “for if you come back…good luck!”. Cute.
Listened to last week’s This American Life podcast – had a story about a guy who walked across the US on a whim. His last words in the story…keep walking…seemed significant. Not much to look at on the walk today so I had lots of time to think. I have to be careful – I can make lots of justifiable excuses for coming home that no one would argue with – probably not even myself. But I need to give myself a chance to rest before I really think about it much further.
Just before I got to Daleville, I came across a honeysuckle ‘forest’ with honeysuckle bushes in bloom on both sides of the trail. I LOVE honeysuckles and hadn’t seen any yet this year. I just stood there in the midst of one of my favorite smells…and took deep breaths. (Even had a few drops of honey). Then it started to rain, so I hurried the last half mile into town.
The hotel is about 100 yards from the trail – really convenient. OWL & I got separate rooms – I need some alone time to relax completely. Took a shower, started laundry, went across the street to Pizza Hut for lunch, came back to the room and soaked in an Epsom salt bath while watching episodes of the Office on my phone. I am so tired. Am definitely taking a zero tomorrow to rest.

 

 

Day 72: Four Pines Hostel to Lambert’s Meadow Shelter

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16.3 miles

Woke up to a rooster crowing – really! – and sunshine. OWL already had her stuff packed but she waited for me…almost patiently. Once again she wanted to get dropped off a few miles up (where the trail met the road) – I said – I don’t care what you do but I’m walking back on the trail where we left. So she walked with me.
Lots of fence stiles early, as we crossed several pastures. Not sure if I have explained these before, but fence stiles are set up to help backpackers cross barbed wire fences. They are essentially 2×4’s leaned across the fence and fastened together, with boards set up as steps of varying heights. You climb up the steps on one side, turn around on the top, and climb down the steps on the other side. Some people throw their hiking poles over, but I like to keep mine dangling on my wrists so I can use them to ease myself down the last ‘step’ to the ground.
I am still feeling weird – like I want to go home and am not sure if this is what I really want to be doing for the next three months of my life because it’s not really fun anymore – I guess this is the Virginia Blues. This phenomenon is so named because Virginia has 550+ miles of trail – more than any other state – and by the time hikers reach this area the novelty of being on the AT has worn off. Plus, the terrain is still difficult at times, except that you can’t really see any views from the ridgeline because the tree leaves create a ‘long green tunnel’.
Well, just because I’m able to give something a name doesn’t make it any easier to get through. My very favorite part of being out here is being in my tent and waking up to complete silence in the middle of the night. The next favorite is being in town and hanging out with other hikers. Then the wonderful views. But the actual *hiking* – well that is painful. I am so tired. My ankles and knees and feet hurt, all the time, even after 800mg of ibuprofen that I’m taking twice daily (which upsets my stomach). We have been pushing for miles and it feels so hectic and rushed, and I am always worried I won’t make it because I feel so tired. I am drinking lots of water – between 4-6L per day – but sweating more and have run out of water several times in the past week. 
So I guess what I’m saying is that I’m having some growing pains.
We went over McAfee Knob today. OWL sent me a text – said thunderstorms are coming in the afternoon so don’t take a lunch break until you get here! I stopped to get water at the shelter just before the climb up, but kept hiking otherwise. Beautiful view there. Wish I could have stayed longer but we needed to get to Lambert Meadow Shelter to make the next day into Daleville easier. I would have much preferred to stay at McAfee Knob until sunset, and camped at the shelter less than a mile from there, and had a longer day into Daleville.
We went over Tinker Cliffs later on in the day – more beauty. As Modest Mouse sings, so much beauty it could make you cry.
But even with the great views of today, I’m still feeling frustrated and exhausted. Guess I’ll take a zero in Daleville to recover. Maybe OWL will take a zero, maybe she won’t. We are both getting frustrated with our differences in hiking pace. I know sometimes (like today) I feel like I am hiking HER hike, instead of my own. But I know she feels the same way about me.
Staying in the shelter tonight with Jeremiah & OWL – would prefer to tent but it is going to rain, and a wet tent fly sucks.
 

Day 71: Trout Creek to Four Pines Hostel (VA 624)

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8 miles

Took our time getting ready today. We have decided to go to a hostel tonight since it is supposed to storm this afternoon & tonight. 
Saw a bunch of pink ladyslipper orchards, which are pretty rare. 
We went over Dragon’s Tooth today! This is a really neat stone monolith that is 0.1 miles off the AT. There were lots of dayhikers out today. This area is really close to Virginia Tech, so lots of students are out and about since their finals are over. One girl was out with her boyfriend and noticed our packs – she asked me if we were going camping. I said we were staying at a hostel tonight, but we had been camping last night. She asked where we started hiking, and when I said “Georgia” she looked at me as if I were an ALIEN. I couldn’t resist – said “yeah, we’ve hiked almost 700 miles so far” – and then she REALLY looked at me like I had tentacles growing out of my face. It was really funny.
Saw our first rhododendron bloom today!
We stayed at the Four Pines Hostel which is really a 3 bay garage with cots & lawn chairs & couches for sleeping. Pretty chill place, Joe is a really cool guy, he runs the place with his two sons. It is “donation only” – has a shower, fridge, electricity, a radio. The best part (besides the shower/fridge/electricity/radio/being indoors/cell service) is that he shuttles to the grocery store and the HomePlace Restaurant – a ridiculous family style all you can eat place.
There was an hour long wait, and we hung out on the grass like the hiker trash we are. Once our table was ready, we went back and rolled up our sleeves. The waitress brought out fried chicken, pulled pork, mashed potatoes, green beans, pinto beans, biscuits, baked apples…it was amazing. The food kept coming until we were stuffed…and then we had peach cobbler with ice cream! The *only* bad thing was we had in our group one of the most obnoxious people I have ever met. He talked a lot but made very little sense, and whistled at the waitress to get her attention. The second time he did this I said something to him about it. The third time he whistled at her the whole table started griping at him about being rude. He said – “dude that’s what we do in Costa Rica, it’s not degrading it’s just a habit”…then “i fought for this country”…then “i hate this f***ing country”. But he stopped whistling at the waitress.
Greyhound is here tonight (super nice guy), so are Magnolio (SOBO), Derelict, DayPack (from AL!), Samba and his buddy (forgot his name), along with a couple other people whose names I unfortunately don’t remember.

 

 

 
 

 

 

Day 70: Sarver Hollow Shelter to Trout Creek

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14.8 miles

Very hard day today. I miss AWE a lot, and the terrain today is harder than it’s been in a while. Two big climbs, one late in the day, and some tough rock slicks that weren’t well-marked. I almost got lost twice: once I went downhill for a few yards before seeing sticks laid across the trail in the universal sign for “you’re hiking the wrong way”. The second time the trail disappeared – big drops all around me – until Stumbles came by and climbed up 5 feet to a rock ahead. New rule of hiking: when in doubt, climb up!
Went over the eastern continental divide. Neat.

The climb up Brush Mountain was steep and long. I was worried I was going to run out of water – it is getting hotter, and I sweat a LOT. (Even when it is 40 degrees outside, I am covered in sweat within minutes of hiking uphill). After 70 days (!) on the trail you’d think I’d be acclimated to hiking uphill…but I am not. (Or – I just sweat a lot). So I am drinking a ton of water and taking electrolyte tablets in hopes of staying hydrated. Today I drank 5.5 liters of water, and was still thirsty afterwards.
I met Greyhound on the climb down – he has a twisted ankle and was taking it a step at a time going down. Asked him where he was headed for the night and he said – headed to water first, then I’ll decide if I’m going the extra mile to the shelter. I thought – man it would be nice to camp by the creek – but knew that OWL wouldn’t stop there because she had set her destination as the shelter. Got down to the creek and saw a bunch of folks from last night. Thought – I hope OWL is still here but she is probably at the shelter. Then I looked over to the other side of the creek and saw her sitting there, with her tentpad laid out. I was so happy I cried – literally – and said “I am so glad to see you!”. She said – “well the shelter was 0.3 miles off the trail, and the water was 0.2 down steep switchbacks from there, so I was glad to save those steps and camp near the creek.”
I went to the creek and drank a bunch of water, took a bath, and rinsed out my clothes. Set up my tent, ate as much food as I could stand for dinner (AWE sends me grape leaves sometimes which are heavy but an AMAZING treat), and went to bed happy and tired and full.