Day 135 - SNOBO (13/11/2016)

Over breakfast this morning, the hostel owners convinced us to slackpack 23 miles. So for my 7th day, I'm a southbounding NOBO (SNOBO).

It was a lucky choice: mid-afternoon I stumbled on amazing trail magic. A dad who was slackpacking his daughter was making pancakes, eggs, bagels, & fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice. Not only that, her hike was almost over so he had several bins of dehydrated foods and supplies they were giving away. I scored some gatorade, beef jerky, and lots of dried veggies. Meals are going to get a lot more interesting.

I'd set out to do the hike as fast as I could, so I was well ahead of the other 4 (Flatlander, Blueberry Crisp, Lancelot, and Danger Mouse). I didn't quite make it out before dark (in part because trail magic lengthened my lunch), but I was still pretty fast. The others came in 2 hours later (they were even more delayed by magic than I was).

The plan is for a sleep in tomorrow, and Blueberry Crisp is campaigning to sleep at the highest shelter on the trail a day later. The trouble is it would mean low miles for two days just after a couple of shorter days into and out of Damascus. We'll see what happens.

Start: Walnut Mountain Road

End: Boots Off 

Distance: 23.3 miles

ETA: Nov 30 - Dec 2

Day 134 - Boots Off (12/11/2016)

My tent had a bit of frost on it this morning. Tonight's forecast was for -2 Celsius, so it didn't take much for Blueberry Crisp and Flatlander to convince me that another hostel night was in order. Boots Off is a new hostel that people have been raving about so we decided to try it since it satisfied Flatlander's mileage requirements. 

It's a great hostel. The owners are terrific, the set up is very well planned with each bunk having its own curtains, light, and power outlet. A definite high-five to the hosts.

Danger Mouse and Lancelot are also here, and Cinderella and Waterboy had beat us here earlier. We watched Mad Max: Fury Road while eating McDonald's.

A good day with some good people.

Start: Double Spring Shelter 

End: Boots Off hostel

Distance: 23.5 miles

ETA: Nov 30 - Dec 3

Day 133 - Fire! Fire! Again (11/11/2016)

Back on the trail today after a rest and some blueberry waffles. All the talk of late has been about forest fires. Right now there are about 35-40 miles of the trail closed for forest fires, and they're recommending people avoid the Smoky Mountains. We'll be there in about a week, so we're watching to see what happens.

Start: Woodchuck Hostel 

End: Double Spring Shelter 

Distance: 18.7 miles 

ETA: Nov 30 - Dec 3

Day 132 - Damascus (10/11/2016)

We cheated today. There was a detour from the Appalachian Trail onto the Virginia Creeper Trail which is a nice flat, wide walking and cycling trail that runs straight into Damascus. When the detour ended and returned up the ridges, we decided to "not see the end of the detour." I don't regret it at all.

First up in Damascus: second breakfast at a diner. Then we did a tour of the three outfitters in town (I bought another layer of Merino wool, and some gloves, and got a free pair of hiking socks from a friendly shop owner). Then we checked in at our hostel (the three of us have a room to ourselves), and headed out for a food resupply.

When we got back, Blueberry Crisp made a spinach and cottage cheese lasagna that could have fed a village, and Flatlander made brownies. We polished off the entire lasagna (with lots of garlic bread), then most of the brownies. This was after eating a pint of grape tomatoes, a snickers bar, half a can of pringles, and a few other snacks. Watching hikers eat is disgusting, but I'm not hungry anymore. For now. I'll probably finish the pringles before bed.

Tomorrow, back on the trail after breakfast. For now, it'll be nice to sleep without my water filter (freezing a Sawyer filter can destroy it, so we keep them in our sleeping bags), and wake up warm.

Start: Saunders Shelter 

End: Woodchuck Hostel, Damascus, VA

Distance: 9.3 miles 

ETA: Nov 30 - Dec 3

Day 131 - Fire! Fire! (9/11/2016)

Today is the two-week anniversary of our little trio hiking together, which is strange for me. I was never the sort to be looking for trail companions. I've had fun hiking with people in several sections (Trout and Pancake especially), but I've always had my own pace and spent most of the trail walking solo. It's a happy coincidence that I've stumbled into a small group with a similar pace, and it's been good for me.

It's especially nice on cold days when it seems worth it to make a camp fire. This was just such a day. Another young Flip Flopper (Torch) was with us as we all sat around a warm fire having dinner. I still had some candles left from Flatlander's 100th celebration, so we drilled holes into Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Minis and had a little anniversary celebration.

Tomorrow we have around 8.5 miles to Damascus, which is basically the end of Virginia. The others have mail to collect and we all need a little gear before we start into Tennessee/North Carolina. It'll be nice to hostel for a night and wake up warm for a change.

But that's tomorrow night. Tonight it'll be another night buried deep in my mummy-style sleeping bag with all my clothes on.

Start: Thomas Knob Shelter 

End: Saunders Shelter

Distance: 18.8 miles

ETA: Nov 30 - Dec 2*

* we've been moving quickly with no neroes lately. I think this is overly optimistic. Dec 3 or 4 seems more likely.

Day 130 - Ponies!! (8/11/2016)

Other than the Shenandoah area, NOBOs tend to rave about the Grayson Highlands. Today was the day we'd finally enter them. It's also the day we leave them. I was expecting a few days, but it turns out the trail only does a few miles there.

It was fun to see wild ponies, but I don't think the late autumn is the best time to be here. I was underwhelmed.

Blueberry Crisp has been very excited to shelter‎ at Thomas Knob, because it's at over 5,000'. I'm less thrilled because a) it's sheltering, and b) it's cold at 5,000'. Blueberry Crisp is even more excited that it might snow tomorrow (rain and cold is forecast, but at this elevation...). Flatlander is less excited.

It was a nice day of walking, and we saw Cinderella and Waterboy several times which always makes me happy. And we got Flatlander to admit Dec 3 might be an OK finish date, so basically she's given up resisting. I think it's because she's afraid of the weather in the Smokey Mountains, and figures her best chance at survival is to stick with the Canadians.

Start: nonexistent campsite 

End: Thomas Knob 

Distance: 21.1 miles

ETA: Nov 30 - Dec 3

Day 129 - Maximalist Hiker Gear (7/11/2016)

Yesterday Flatlander suggested that we pack out fajita supplies during our resupply in Marion today. Blueberry had suggested that we could heat flat stones ‎in a fire and use them to cook. It just so happened that there were tonnes of them about, so we each selected a small one to pack out in case our campsite didn't offer good options.

That's right. After months obsessing about minimizing pack weight, I added a 1lb+ rock to my gear. Waterboy nearly exploded with disbelief when he heard. (I got to see him and Cinderella again!)

After Marion we set out for a campsite that turned out not to exist. I was tired and hangry, so we stealth's there anyway, but without a fire ring there was no fire, and so no need for the stones we'd hauled 19 miles. So we carried rocks for nothing.

Still, the fajitas turned out great. Flatlander is already plotting our special meal after the next resupply.

Start: peak of Glade Mountain

End: nonexistent campsite

Distance: 19.5 miles

ETA: Nov 30 - Dec 3