A 25 Mile Day

Now that the snow is long gone, the trees are filled with leaves, and there are still no girls on the trail, we can lay down some serious miles.  But 25?  I’d have thought that hiking close to a marathon ridiculous at the start of the trail, and I still kind of do, but the shelter spacing and threat of thunderstorms forced us into it.

Many people have asked me if I am still enjoying the trail – luckily I did not have access to a computer at the end of that 25 mile day!  I was downright miserable (don’t worry Mom!  It was only one bad day amidst an awesome week).

I don’t know if you’re familiar with the ache of feet after a lot of walking – well that eventually goes away and your feet become something akin to unconscious.  You know you’ll pay for it in the morning, but you just can’t really feel what’s going on down there.

It got to the point where I was deliriously singing a song about the shelter and why it wasn’t right in front of me on the trail.  The song had no rhythm, nor melody, and consisted mostly of me shouting “shelter” at the forest.  Undoubtedly my lowest point on the trail so far.

But the next day was glorious.  A 14 mile day is close to day off for us – we didn’t start hiking until 10:45, took a gratuitous 2 hour lunch, then another 30 minute break by Cripple Creek singing the Band’s song of the same name, and finally waited at a road crossing while Bart-less and Gandalf road-walked to find some beer.  We rolled in at 7pm all smiles to a beautiful shelter nestled in a valley by a creek.

So as horrible as the bad days get, the good ones are guaranteed to rebound you.  Backyard Boogie said to me “don’t ever quit the trail on a bad day.”

A wise man indeed.

A List of Thru-Hiker Names

Here’s a short list of everyone I have met so far:

Muffin Mittens, Butch, Sundance, Tugger, Red Ranger, Campchair, Compass, Bartless, Beans, Cakon, Hoots, Spaz McGee, Roadrunner, Grandma, Fat Old Dad, Trail Bug, Cedar Tree, Cowboy, Olaf/Hermann, Lucky, Rooster, Almost There, Chief Whitebrow, Frisbee

I’ll let y’all make up the back-stories to these names ’cause I got to go!

The Lefties

Beans, Bart-less, Gandalf, and I have been hiking together since Damascus.  The dog Shadowfax might be left-handed too, but we don’t really know how to confirm it.  Either way, our roving band of hikers has adopted the name of The Lefties.

We’ve been getting weirder and weirder the more time we spend in the woods.  To the point where we are adopting false identities when talking to day hikers and tourists.  The identities come from regional stereotypes: Boston, Pittsburgh, Texas, and the Ocean.  We’ve got names of Chadwick McKennedy, Bobby Gritkowski, Colt Burns, and Blackbeard.  Chadwick is heir to McKennedy’s Clam Chowdah, Bobby G. works in a blue-collar grit mill, Colt Burns is a ranch hand from Del Rio, and Blackbeard is the famous pirate.  It’s probably only funny to us, but we’ve been signing the trail registers as these folks for the last 4 weeks.  Usually I am wicked tired and looking for a bubblah and some chowdah, but occasionally talk of the blizzard of ’72.

It isn’t all hiking for us.  We occasionally do things like knock down half fallen trees, dance to Van Morrison at 6am on the trail, and hike a half mile down the road and pack out a large 10 topping pizza onto the trail.  It’s been really fun hiking with them as a result.

The Lefties won’t last much longer.  Bart-less will be getting off in Harper’s Ferry to return to real life and med school.  And with all the people in New England I know who want to hike a section with me, it will be hard to meet the desires of everyone in the group in terms of miles and where they want to stay.  But as we’ve seen with the weather, a good thing must come to an end.  After 22 days of no rain, we’ve got 5 days straight rain ahead of us.

So it goes.

The Trip So Far, Pt. 2

With all the bad weather we had the first week, I’d almost say we’ve earned any sunshine.  But my oh my! I’ve not had to wear my rain gear in 22 days!  It has been warm, green, snowless, and there have been outstanding views.  I’ve really been enjoying myself since leaving the Great Smoky Mountains.  Here are some pictures of the 2nd part of my trip!

Scenic is an understatement.

After so much snow and dead leaves, I take pictures of any green fields I see.

Definitely worth it.

I’ve had my camera for 5 years and just learned about this setting.

They lick salt from your legs.

Ramps are like wild garlic. They’re delicious!

I went swimming and the water was maybe 38 degrees. Still it felt fantastic!

Awesome Map of My Progress

4/21/10 Update: I’ve made the link more clickable.  I was in a rush in a coffee shop in Damascus, VA when I posted this.  Taking a zero in Daleville, VA to update my blog, clean my stuff, etc…

I am carrying a SPOT Tracker satellite messenger with me while I hike.  My sister has been compiling the GPS coordinates from my OK messages into a really cool map.  Unfortunately, none of the messages I sent in the Smokies worked – possibly from not wanting to be outside in the freezing cloud and sending them from in the shelter.  But the link is below so check it out!

Awesome Map of My Progress

I’m in Damascus, VA and will be in Virginia for another 540 miles!