weary as water

every time i blink i have a tiny dream

Day 69: War Spur Shelter to Sarver Hollow Shelter

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12.7 miles

Slept badly, again. Either this bag is NOT a 45 degree bag, or it is getting really cold at night. Last night I put on my puffy jacket, my rain pants, and used the hot water bottle trick. Even with my silk liner I was still cold. But I wasn’t as cold as the night before…there is hope.
Not sure if it is the lack of sleep but today was hard. Left camp about 8:30 – immediately had a creek crossing. Saw a note that said “successful crossing of a swollen creek: advance two spaces” – pretty funny. On the second creek crossing I totally slipped on a rock and fell face-first into the creek. Both feet were submerged, my face was just inches from the rushing water, my waist was bent over a pointed rock…NOT how I wanted to start my hike! Laid there for just a second to catch my breath and then pushed myself upright onto a big rock before stepping onto the bank. My left side is pretty banged up; my arm hurts when I use my trekking pole and my ribs hurt, but nothing is broken. And, as a special bonus, the pocket my phone was in didn’t even get wet! (Lots of people have otterboxes for their phone; I just have a regular case and put it in a ziploc bag when it’s raining. This is a fine plan except when you fall into a creek!)
There was one big climb early on, with lots of rocks. Met Tribe, a SOBO hiker, who was very encouraging…”just keep trudging, there’s trail magic ahead!”. Found a rubbermaid container with lots of empties and four COLD sodas. (One good thing about it being so cold the night before: the sodas were cold!). Took my pack off and sat down for a minute while I had a delicious orange soda. I’m feeling very defeated today – probably because of the creek crossing – or maybe I’m just really missing AWE again.
When I got to the top of the climb, I almost passed by the Kelly Knob view, but then thought…I have walked up this mountain, I’m going to see the view even if I have to walk a bit further off the trail! It was really gorgeous – I could see for miles – and I also had cell service! Called AWE and talked to her for the first time since Pearisburg. 
Got to the designated lunch spot just as OWL was getting ready to leave. “You need to learn how to walk faster!”, she said. Yeah…thanks.
While eating my lunch I made a list of everyone I can think of who is rooting for me. Then I listened to Toots & the Maytals while walking…sang loudly…felt better. Kept trudging. Saw a huge 300 year old tree (the Keffer Oak) – pretty neat – but also sad that there aren’t very many “old” trees along the AT. Another steep climb…then walking on the ridge…then half a mile of steep switchbacks down to the shelter. This shelter is probably the nicest one I’ve seen so far – I’m guessing it gets very little use because it is so far off the trail. But I am glad to be here for the night. I am tenting again – mostly for warmth but I am also enjoying having my own personal space in the tent…I sleep better in the tent for sure.
Here with owl, team onyx, stumbles, her bf, and a couple others tenting.
The water source for this shelter is by some old abandoned buildings – can’t find any information about them but one appears to be a cabin and all that remains of the other is two chimneys.
 

 

 

 

 

Day 68: Pine Swamp Shelter to War Spur Shelter

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12.5 miles

Well, it did get below freezing last night and I slept like crap. II was a little better once I put on my puffy jacket, but I still had the whole body shivers a few times during the night. OWL & I both slept in late and left camp about 10:30. 
Harder day today than yesterday, even though yesterday was a higher mileage day. Lots of rocks on the trail today; the unevenness makes for very slow walking, and their hardness hurts my feet. We also saw snow flurries – TWICE – so I am second guessing the decision to send home my warm bag. The seams on my new liner socks hurt my pinky toes (even turned inside out). But – I made it to the shelter fine. Phoenix is here again tonight – said she was planning to go to the next shelter but it is at a higher elevation (ie, colder) so she decided to stay here for the night. And Etch-A-Sketch showed up at the shelter with her dad (who lives nearby) and her dog, SamWise, with homemade chocolate chip cookies! They went very well with my beef stroganoff (which was part of a care package put together by some awesome coworkers). They sent me lots of goodies which AWE is sending a bit at a time – I’m very thankful for their thoughts and support!
It is supposed to be cold again tonight, so I am tenting in hopes that it will keep me a little warmer.

 

 

Day 64, 65, 66: A Zero, A Nero, and Another Zero in Pearisburg

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It was really amazing to see AWE for the first time in two months. I have missed her so much. 
But still, there was work to do. I needed to work out my shoe issues (the Salomon’s have continued to bruise underneath my ankles, and they don’t have hardly any grip on the sole), so we went to the outfitter in Blacksburg. The outfitter in Johnson City told OWL that all Salomon shoes have a 30 day no questions asked return policy…unfortunately we found out that is only true if you purchase the shoes online through salomon.com. Bummer. The local outfitter was nice, but they didn’t have any non-waterproof boots or trail runners. So we decided to go to the nearest REI, a 2.5 hr drive to Charlotte, NC.
It was weird to ride in a car for a long period of time, covering a third of the distance we have travelled so far in a matter of hours. The shoe guy at REI was pretty nice and lI think OWL & I both tried on every pair of non-waterproof mid-boots and trail runners in the store! Finally I settled on a pair of mid length (above the ankle) Keen boots that felt pretty good. OWL bought a new pair of the Salomon trail runners she was originally using. I also got a pair of thin “travel” pants – I don’t want to wear shorts during the summer (ticks!) but my current pants are thick (read: heavy) and are literally falling off because I have lost so much weight. (AWE also brought a pair of ‘too small’ thin rollup pants I had at home, but they also fell off me). Not sure how the thin pants will hold up over rock scrambles, but not too worried about it either. I have needle and floss and bandana…I can make it work.
After spending far too much time in REI, we went to Mellow Mushroom to eat dinner. What a nice treat! Then drove back to Blacksburg for the night.
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The next day, we hiked the 5 miles from Trent’s Grocery to Lickskillet Hollow (the section we missed during our slackpack from Woods Hole). It was so much fun to hike with Emily! Even in the rain! OWL & AT dropped us off at Trent’s Grocery, and AWE and I started hiking SOBO. Then OWL & AT then drove to Lickskillet, parked the car, and hiked NOBO. When we met, they handed us the keys. (How smart are we?) OWL & I both had on our full packs (to test out our new shoes), and AWE & AT had daypacks loaded with fruit & snacks for other hikers. But we didn’t see  a single hiker on the trail! I have been trying to figure out how AWE uses an acorn for a whistle – finally got her to show me exactly. And although I didn’t find any wintergreen berries, I did get her to try pine tips (tastes like Christmas!). The new boots feel fine – I’m wondering if maybe I should have got a half size larger – but too late for that now. As AWE’s father says, “it will either work or it won’t, guaranteed!”
We also went by the post office, where I had a care package waiting from Post! (Post is the SUPER NICE section hiker I met in the Smokies, hiking with her father). It was so nice to get her goodies, a letter, and a photo of her & her father on top of Rocky Top! Thanks, Post! I really appreciate it!
  
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The last day of our mini vacation was bittersweet. It was still amazing to be in the same place with AWE, but I still had to do all the “regular” in-town hiking things – sort through the food box, go to the post office to mail the bounce box, update the blog – as well as sort through the things AWE brought from home. (We did manage to eat at a delicious Indian buffet for lunch – my taste buds were dancing!)
It was a tough decision trying to figure out what to send home, and what to keep. A lot of thru hikers send home their winter gear in Pearisburg (or even before), but I am nervous about sending *all* of it home because it is still early May, and it can still get cold (especially at the higher elevations). 
So, I swapped out my 15 degree bag for a 45 degree bag (the stuff size difference between those two bags is amazing – my pack is not stuffed to the gills now). Other things I got from home: two synthetic tshirts; one a ‘smartcool’ fabric and the other a zippered synthetic. a pair of compression socks, a pair of (smaller) compression shorts, and a lighter sleeping pad. I sent home my extra long sleeve fleece, my worn out sock liners, my wool tshirt, and some extra socks. I am keeping my patagonia capilene baselayer and smartwool longjohns for sleeping, as well as my hat, gloves, & balaclava. I’m keeping my puffy jacket too, because it doubles as my pillow at night. My pack isn’t much lighter because I’m still keeping the cold weather clothing, but fitting everything into my pack is much easier now that my gargantuan 15 degree bag isn’t taking up half the space in my pack.
I’m a little nervous about tomorrow – we have a 19+ mile day planned (with new boots and 5 days resupply!) – but all I have to do is walk.
 

Day 60: Jenkins Shelter to Helveys Mill Shelter

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14 miles

Pretty easy day; a big climb at first and then an easy (almost flat) 5 miles. The terrain is getting easier. (This does not mean I am getting any faster; just that I’m not as exhausted when I reach my destination).

GREAT SUCCESS with a hitch into Bland. We were walking down the gravel road to get to the highway going into Bland, and a white pickup was going pretty slow down the road (the same direction we were headed). OWL said, should I ask them for a ride? I said SURE, and so she threw out her thumb. Much to both our surprise, the truck stopped – it was an older guy with his wife – and he said he’d give us a ride down the mountain. As we were climbing into the back I asked if he was going into Bland…he said no…I said no problem, we are thankful for the ride down the mountain! At the bottom of the mountain he said – we have time, I’ll take you into Bland….where do you want to go? I said DAIRY QUEEN and he started laughing. (I’m guessing his wife talked him into taking us).

DQ was an amazing thing, and as a special bonus, it was in a gas station so I could get a few candy bars also! I had:a cheeseburger, fries, chili cheese dog, soda, and a georgia mud blizzard. I could have eaten more – but we had miles to go before the shelter so I held back a bit. I just THOUGHT I had HikerHunger before! Charged electronics and called my folks. I tried to talk OWL into staying in town (at the Big Walker Hotel) but she was not enthused. So decided to try to hitch back to the trail.

We had a terrible time getting a hitch. Finally, after OWL said “this is the last one” and I tried my infamous “we’ll get in the back!” hand signals, a guy (Seth T) in a maroon truck pulled over. My hero! I am always so excited to get a hitch. It just makes things so much easier.

We walked the final 2 miles to the shelter. Saw KFox and Gumby tenting, and Mr. GiggleFits and his girlfriend Paisley in the shelter. They are the most hilarious shelter mates I’ve had so far! (Once I found out his name was Mr. GiggleFitsI have to admit I had high expectations). There was synchronized boy stretching (even though Gumby is the most inflexible Gumby ever), and shared whiskey. As an improvement from yesterday, today’s privy had two walls. (The one yesterday had zero walls; just a toilet seat on an elevated platform).