weary as water

every time i blink i have a tiny dream

Day 74: Zero in Daleville

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It is amazing what a bath, delicious non-hiker food, and sleeping on a mattress with extra pillows does to restore a bit of sanity. Combine that with not having to worry about running out of water, or food, or storms, or bugs, and this zero is pretty much a slice of heaven.

I heard about the car crashing into the Trail Days parade in Damascus – so scary. I hope that everyone who was injured is ok. I am thankful that the people we have been hiking with recently are all ok. I’m also glad that we didn’t go to Trail Days this year – what a bummer.
I am feeling better. OWL & I decided to change the plan slightly, to slow down a little (yet again) and try to get to Front Royal by June 5, instead of Harper’s Ferry. That will send us home for break after completing the portion of the AT that runs through Shenandoah National Park, which is supposed to be easier (graded) terrain, with beautiful views and good access to campgrounds with burgers and milkshakes.
My body is so tired. Without my pack (and my sticks), I hobble instead of walk. My right knee is still sticking & popping, but it’s not exactly *painful* like I can’t bear weight on it, it’s just stiff and sore. My toes tingle all the time, even at night. I have been getting shin splints frequently. But – this sounds weird – in some ways I feel stronger than I have in years.
My game plan is this: I am going to make it to Front Royal, and go home for two weeks to relax and recover as planned. If my body ‘bounces back’ and seems to recover after some time off, AND if I miss hiking the AT, I’ll come back and finish. If either one of those things turns out not to be true, I’ll stop this adventure for now.
That sounds fair, right?
Tomorrow we’re doing a big day out of Daleville on fresh legs. Tuesday the high is supposed to be in the high 80s, so we’re planning a short 10 mile day to a campsite near a swimming hole. Then we’ll go from there. 

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 62: ZERO day at Woods Hole Hostel

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Woke up at 5:30am (to get an early start on our 20 mile slackpack) and it was pouring down rain. OWL snuck downstairs to look at the weather radar and it looked awful. So we decided to stay an extra day in lieu of being cold and miserable today. Spent the day drinking tea and reading and laying in bed. It was glorious.

Shutterbug is here, and M80/Trooper/Willow showed up today, too!

Day 51: fat tire blazing on the Virginia creeper trail

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My toe did not want me to walk on it today, so we talked about taking another zero. Owl said she had heard a couple people we had been hiking with talk about hiking the Virginia creeper trail (a rails to trails conversion) up to where it intersects with the AT, because it is really pretty. After we both agreed that sounded like a pretty good idea, it was a very small leap to make the decision to rent bikes and bike down the trail into Damascus. Then tomorrow we will get a shuttle to where it intersects the AT, and hike on from there.

I had a fantastic time biking down the mountain. The trail goes downhill almost the entire way, so it was a very easy ride. The weather was perfect (low 60s and sunny), and we laughed and played like kids all the way down.

Once we got back into town, we rode out to the “welcome to Damascus” sign, where Hammer, Mallet, and friends were hanging out. Mallet threw a frisbee to Owl on her bike, and she *almost* caught it!

I had the most awesome helmet hair ever.

We ate lunch at the blue blaze cafe (gain!), then went back to the room to get the bounce box and box o stuff for home ready, then to the post office. Stopped at the outfitter so Owl could check for more mail – she had 5 more cards yesterday and one more today – then back to blue blaze for happy hour.

Saw m80 and trooper at the outfitter; m80 had the hiker virus so they are taking an extra zero tomorrow. Poor guy!

My toe still hurts but I am hoping by tomorrow the swelling will go down and it won’t hurt to walk. Aw yeah, I’m a dreamer!