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Dear family and friends,
I'm back in Ann Arbor now. Flew in from Roanoke VA on Monday May 31, attended
my son Ben's high school graduation on June 1, will host two Computer Challenge
events on Saturday, Ben's graduation party on Sunday, flying back to the Trail
on Monday June 7.
The sudden shift from trail life back to regular life has produced an odd feeling
of schizophrenia. I feel like two different people with different goals, relationships,
possessions, surroundings, locations, even thoughts. Trail wisdom holds that
going home in the middle of a thru-hike is unwise. Home is too comfortable,
returning to the trail too difficult. But return I shall.
My first impression on arriving home was that everything is so beautiful! The
colors of the house, wood floors, furniture, rugs, lawn, and flowers, seemed
unusually bright. Things seemed surprisingly neat and rectangular, with wonderful
clean horizontal and vertical surfaces. Even the airport, not normally an aesthetic
haven, seemed a delightful environment engineered by humans for humans. Water
fountains! Rest rooms! Cafes! Air conditioning!
It's been great to see my family again. In fact the time on the trail seems
to have never occurred, things just continued where they were. I'm sure I'll
be homesick when I leave.
Here's what has happened on the trail over the last couple of weeks. Internet
access has not been available, hence the long interval since my last message.
Left Atkins VA at mile 535 on May 18. After a satisfying southern breakfast
at "The Barn" with Now or Never, consisting of 3 pancakes, 2 strips
of bacon, 2 sausage patties, fried potatoes, a biscuit, coffee, and OJ, we walked
through open fields and cow pastures crossing many stiles. Yellow irises and
purple Dames Rocket adorned a farmland stream. I intended to stop at Knot Maul
Shelter after 14 miles, but Now or Never wanted to push on to Chesnut Know Shelter
for 23 miles. He was frustrated by three short days and a zero day waiting for
the post office to open Monday in Atkins, and wanted to make miles. After dinner
at a stream with 4 delightful young people he and Speak Up zoomed on ahead leaving
me trudging behind. After 21 miles I reached a campsite and it started to rain.
I was feeling grumpy so I called it quits and set up my tent. The others continued
to the shelter.
We've had rain almost every day since entering Virginia on May 10, mostly afternoon
or evening thunderstorms. Before Virginia the weather was in a different cycle
with a cold front and rain every 5-7 days, clear in between. Still I feel like
the weather has been pretty good. We haven't had to start the day walking in
the rain yet, and it has only rained for a few hours each day.
The next day I walked by myself all day, in the rain for half the day. This
was my first touch of the "Virginia Blues", a feeling that many hikers
encounter in Virginia. After Mt. Rogers and the Grayson Highlands the trail
follows a monotonous series of ridges across southwestern and central Virginia.
The trees are fully leafed out leaving only very occasional views. After 500+
miles of walking a sense of "been there, done that" can set in. Walking
along for day after day people begin to ask themselves "why am I out here?".
One-fourth of the trail is in Virginia, about 536 miles, and it can feel like
you aren't getting anywhere. A number of people we knew dropped out, and word
of the defections traveled quickly up and down the trail. The most common reasons:
bored or injured.
Didn't catch up with Now or Never until that evening. Walked for the next 10
days with a wonderful group of people we had been bumping into for weeks. Minus
One is a woman in her mid-twenties from Michigan. She started the trail with
her dog Cookie, but Cookie had no interest in hiking the trail and had to be
sent home, so she is minus one. Her hiking partner is No Worries, a woman in
her mid twenties from Tasmania who works as a nurse in London. Speak Up is a
40 year old male teacher from Michigan. Lot's of Michiganders on the trail this
year. And my partner since day 4, Now or Never. All pretty serious hikers and
a challenge to keep up with.
My notes from 5/20 say "sore feet, sore body, low spirits". However
the aching right foot arch was corrected by then. After a careful break-in period
the new insoles, shoes, and socks performed better and better. Still after about
18 miles my feet get sore. I'm just not a big miles guy at heart. I like to
stop at viewpoints and get to camp by 6pm or so. My goal is 15-20 miles per
day.
Had lunch at a country store then swam in a great waterfall and pool on 5/21,
poorly named Dismal Falls. Washed my clothes and put them on wet, they dried
in a couple of hours and kept me cool in the meantime. Ah the joys of primitive
living! In the evening Now or Never and I walked along a long ridge with a gentle
breeze blowing in our faces. Many deciduous azeleas were blooming along the
ridge crest: pink, orange, yellow, white. The pink ones had an intense sweet
perfume, and we often caught the fragrance 100 ft or more before seeing the
plant. In one case only a single blossom was open, but still the fragrance was
detectable a long ways up the trail.
Continued to Woods Hole hostel, a total of 22 miles walking, dragging my butt
in about 8 pm. The first 8 people to arrive can purchase a home cooked southern
breakfast for $3.50 from owner Tillie Wood. I fully expected we would be too
late, but Now or Never and I were numbers 7 and 8. Jubilation!
Woods Hole hostel is a 1800s log cabin home with hiker hostel in the same style
nearby. Mr. Wood was Assist. Secretary of the Interior under Jimmy Carter and
started his career studying reintroduced elk while living in this cabin in the
1940s. He died in 1987, but Tillie Wood still opens the place each April and
May to hikers. Her home-style southern breakfast of eggs, grits, biscuits, bacon,
coffee, and juice is served at a table in the house and is considered by some
the best breakfast on the trail.
Walked into Pearisburg the next day, May 22. As I arrived at the hostel run
by the Holy Family Catholic Church all the other hikers were leaving. When I
asked where they were going the answer was "dinner". Naturally I dropped
my pack and ran after them. We all piled into a van and to my surprise were
driven to a private home, the home of Ray and Stephanie Smith. The Smiths, a
neighbor family, and their combined 8 kids whipped up a fantastic meal for 15
hikers including barbequed steaks and chicken, southern barbeque (pulled pork),
lettuce salad, fruit salad, whole wheat pizza, hot fudge brownie sundaes, strawberry
cream dessert, juices, coffee, and tea. They also gave us unlimited access to
their telephone for calls home, Internet access (I didn't get to that), and
use of their washer and dryer. Apparently they've been doing this every Saturday
for the past 5 weeks. Why? They happened to pick up a hiker hitch-hiking earlier
this year, brought her home for dinner, and things just developed from there.
The Smiths are a religious family and this offering of generosity and community
is an _expression of their faith, as well as their enjoyment in meeting new
people. Eight weeks in the South has given me a very different understanding
of what southern religion is all about.
The Holy Family hostel is on a hill overlooking the mountains on the outskirts
of town. A pretty location. Now or Never and I did a zero day there on 5/23,
which was just as well with 2 major thunderstorms that day.
Back on the trail on 5/24, walked 19.6 miles to a shelter. Sat down, took my
shoes off, and began rubbing my sore feet. Minus One took her shoes and socks
off and I saw she had an ace bandage on one ankle with blood seeping through
in one spot, the other ankle swollen, raw sores on the tops of both feet, and
blisters on both heels. She is a much faster hiker than me and never complains.
Resolved to stop feeling sorry for myself over sore feet and gave thanks for
the good condition my feet are in.
A couple named Breeze and Buzz arrived and gave Now or Never his pot and stove,
left at the hostel that morning. They carried the added weight all day as a
favor.
More mostly viewless ridge walking the next two days, then we entered a notable
section of trail west of Roanoke on 5/27. The rocks are pushed up here into
fantastic cliffs and spines. Climbed the Dragon's Tooth with Minus One and No
Worries, with sweeping views of ridges, forests, and farms. Had lunch at a country
store with many hikers. A Canadian couple decided to leave the trail while at
that store. The husband was bored and didn't want to continue, but the wife
had tears in her eyes. Continued to McAfee Knob, with splendid 270 degree views
of a mountain valley, farms, and Roanoke in the distance like a little Lego
city. We were lucky to have excellent weather. Next day woke up in the rain,
and rained on and off as I walked into Daleville. Those marking my progress
on maps can put 5/28 by Daleville, just north of Roanoke.
Got clean and fed in Daleville, then got a ride 28 miles up the trail from the
local outfitter. I needed to stay close to Roanoke for my flight home on 5/31,
so I walked south for 2 days back to Daleville. This gave me a chance to see
all the people I've been hiking with recently, or in some cases since the first
week, and say goodbye. It's unlikely I'll see them again as they are continuing
while I take a week off. This is perhaps the biggest disadvantage of leaving
the trail. During these two days the trail crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway many
times, with a splendid view of the valleys at each crossing.
We'll that's a long story but you can take what you like and leave the rest.
Thanks for your messages of interest and support. I plan to arrive in Waynesboro
VA, the southern gateway of Shenandoah Nat'l Park, on June 13 and send an update
on June 14. Until then,
Best wishes,
Raven