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Leaving the fabulous Relax Inn in Atkins VA and ready to head north to start my 2nd week on the trail.
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Day 9
Time: Fri, 12 Apr 2019 05:40:54 -0400
Location: Knot Maul Branch Shelter NoBo mile 560.3
Gorgeous day and happy Adam's birthday. GW stayed a little longer at the fabulous Relax Inn to ice his leg one more time.
Met older section hiker named Lonestar who was leaving the Relax Inn with me. He took a picture of me in front of the motel sign. We walked a little together. He's hiking from Damascus to Harper's Ferry.
Gorgeous day and happy Adam's birthday. GW stayed a little longer at the fabulous Relax Inn to ice his leg one more time.
Met older section hiker named Lonestar who was leaving the Relax Inn with me. He took a picture of me in front of the motel sign. We walked a little together. He's hiking from Damascus to Harper's Ferry.
I stopped by The Barn restaurant for a nice breakfast and some trucker talk.
Left Atkins about 8:30. Hiked 15 miles alone and really enjoyed it. Some really nice views. The trees are close to exploding with leaves. Soon we will be in the green tunnel. Starting a thru hike earlier gives much better views.
Feel better after having some fun hiker interactions the past few days and I know there are other hikers around me that I see and meet up with.
Stopped by Bear Garden Hostel near the end of the day. Talked with the really nice hostess. She said Cherokee called the area Bear Garden and gathered together to hunt bear there. Had a couple microwave pizzas, a Dr Pepper, and a root beer.
Got to Knot Maul Branch Shelter about 5 pm. GW was there and said his leg feels healed. A tramily of 5: Apple, Black Beard, Brick, Committee, and Welcome were also there. They had done 25 miles from Partnership shelter. 2 sisters: Puff and Shine stopped for dinner and continued on. GW said he had last seen the sisters in Gatlinburg.
6 people in the shelter was tight, but it was nice conversation. They were all back on the trail before dawn. Lots of red headlamp lights moving around.
Love you 😘 Miss you ❤️
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Day 10
Time Fri, 12 Apr 2019 17:42:32 -0400
Location: Chestnut Knob Shelter NoBo mile 569.7
The tramily left the shelter before dawn. They all left at different times. It seems like everyone prefers to hike alone and meet up at the end of the day. GW left a little later and we said our goodbyes. He'll be doing big miles now so I probably won't see him again. He has a grant to study climate change. He asks people on the trail and in towns how they're experiencing climate changes in their lives. He blogs about it at spudhikes.wordpress.com.
Hiked about 10 miles today. Thought I might go further, but the climbs were tough and a little warm today. Fabulous views and a really neat stone shelter here atop Chestnut Knob.
FlickerTail, Juju and his dad, and Lonestar are here with me tonight.
Love you 😘 Miss you ❤️
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Day 11
Time: 13 Apr 2019 19:48:48 -0400
Location: Jenkins Shelter NoBo Mile 580.4
Beautiful sunrise at the Chestnut Knob Shelter overlooking the town of Burke Garden in the valley below. Could hear the turkeys and the cows in the valley.
Stayed with Lonestar in the shelter. FlickerTail, Mozzie Mike (you tuber) and his son Juju set up tents overlooking the valley.
Passed a couple of lady section hikers. They talked about how they spent the night in Burke Garden and had a fabulous breakfast with blueberry pancakes and homemade bread and jam. I jokingly told them to stop and that I couldn't take it.
I decided to call the Burke Garden General Store and arrange a pickup at the road crossing headed into town. The Amish owner got a customer to drive up with him to get me. He couldn't take the horse and buggy because, it turned out, the horse was tired from taking the ladies I had met back to the trail earlier. Everyone loves to talk to us hikers. The customer wouldn't accept any money.
It was such a cute store. I had a cheeseburger on homemade bread with homemade cheese, sassafras cola, cinnamon rolls and coffee. They were so nice. They're youngest son's name is David. He kind of lingered around me. He was cute.
The owner called a local guy who came with his teenage daughter and took me back up the mountain on a 4 wheeler.
What a fun day! Since I'm trying keep my miles low to start, I've had time to take a couple side trips like I did today and I've really enjoyed it.
The thru hikers that started in Georgia and are catching me now are so concerned with doing big miles and don't take the time to stop and smell the roses. Many thru hikers regret it when they're finished.
Lots of people in and around the shelter tonight. Probably approaching 20 or so. GW said they were coming.
Storms expected tomorrow.
Love you 😘 Miss you ❤️
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Day 12
Time: Sun, 14 Apr 2019 19:51:24 -0400
Location: Helvey's Mill Shelter NoBo Mile 593.9 of Appalachian Trail
Full house in and around the Jenkins shelter last night. Probably over 20 people. Most I've seen so far. GW said early on at one of the campsites there were about 50 people.
The weather was nice and everyone was hanging around talking in groups. Usually there's a picnic table that people gather around and prepare their food. Some people just kept to themselves or their small group.
There were several section hikers including the 2 ladies from South Texas who talked with about eating in Burke Gardens. They are so slow and it looks like a struggle but they seem to really love the trail.
2 young brothers who had passed me earlier were there also. They're 21 and 18 be and from Ohio. One goes to Penn and the other is thinking Cornell. They're really sweet and fast. They started March 15. Most people passing me started in late February or early March.
A young guy named Nemo was a lot of fun. He had a big bag of chopped bacon.
A 60sh British sweet but fiesty lady named Devon Maid arrived late. She's cute and adores the 2 brothers who had stayed at the Quarter Way Inn with her a couple days earlier. There was a big pasture that rose up dramatically so that it was difficult to tell where the trail was. Devon Maid said she "looked like bloody Maria Von Trapp out there wandering around that pasture."
Hiker Midnight is 9pm and everyone seems to be by winding down around 8sh.
The 2 boys were up at 5am. I'm usually waking about 4:30am just like at home. Most people were on the trail by by 7am.
A nice young section hiker arrived and talked with us for a while. He passed me on the way down to Bland VA later in the morning.
Rained most of the day. Ate lunch at a picnic table next to Brushy Mountain Outpost near Bland VA. I could have had some nice real hot food there, but they're closed on Sundays.
While I was eating it really started to pour and the wind was blowing hard. I stayed dry under the awning over the picnic table. I waited out the world worst of it for an hour or so.
Number of people stayed at the Big Walker Motel in Bland and later compared the number of Blizzards they ate at the Dairy Queen nearby.
It was quite the scavenger hunt trying to follow the trail along the roads as they crossed over the interstate before finally dipping back into the woods.
It was a decent climb to the Helvey's Mill shelter for the night. 13.5 miles for the day. Devon Maid was there. She's really hobbling. She said her ankle started bothering after walking on all the rocks out of Grayson Highlands. She's thinking about getting off trail for a few days.
Rondak was also there. He had gotten off last year near Marion and had just gotten back on there a few days earlier. His name is short for Adirondacks where he spent a lot of time hiking.
Rondak's been all over and has many many stories. He worked on Salmon boats in Alaska and spent a lot of time working in the carribean. Interesting Hemingway sort of life. Knows a lot of people and has "a guy" for everything. Currently working construction with his family in Sarasota. Worked on quite a few things for rich and famous.
Big storms overnight with high winds.
Love you 😘 Miss you ❤️
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Day 13
Time: Tue, 16 Apr 2019 05:54:33 -0400
Location: Lickskillet Hostel NoBo mile 604.1
Very cold overnight last night at the Helvey's Mill shelter. Woke up to snow flurries and near freezing temperatures.
Devon Maid was up and out early. Rondak said he had talked to her quite a bit before I got to the shelter and that she worked in the Royal Air Force and was a smart lady.
Rondak and I chatted some more as we tried to stay warm. When you're moving the cold is ok. It's the transition times where you're most exposed.
Saw Mozzie Mike and his son Juju taking a break. Ran into Lonestar making some coffee at the Jenny Knob shelter. He's a retired military dentist. He's been hiking all over the world and is part of a big hiking club.
It was a nice brisk day. Great for hiking but not for sitting around so I decided to push on past the Jenny Knob shelter to Trent's Grocery. It was about 17 miles. My biggest day so far.
Gandolf passed me as we reached the road walk to Trent's. Mozzie Mike and Juju were there finishing their meal.
Gandolf is part of the tramily at the Jenkins shelter a couple nights ago. He we was waiting for the rest of the tramily and wasn't interested in talking much. I hear some tramilies can be cliqueish like that, but it's not the norm.
The rest of the tramily eventually showed and I chatted with Doc and Nemo while I broke my resupply down into my ziplock bags. More oatmeal and coffee, spam, and ramen. I had a cheeseburger, fries, and a strawberry shake.
It was really getting cold and I was glad to be inside Trent's. I called home, which is always nice. I thought more people would be camping outside Trent's like I was planning to. I was just about to head outside and set up camp when Rondak came in and said he was at the Lickskillet Hostel nearby and that I should stay there. I grabbed my backpack and jumped in the hostel shuttle with Rondak. Another section hiker overheard us and came with us.
The Lickskillet Hostel is in an old small church that's been gutted and renovated as a hostel. It's really cool. Ferry Floss was there warming by the propane heater. I had met her a couple nights earlier at the Jenkins shelter. She's from Australia, was a stewardess for Emirates airlines before going on to work privately for high end clients. She had a lot of stories. She recently married a guy from Waynesboro and was section hiking parts of the trail nearby.
The section hiker was a teacher from Ohio on spring break. Real nice guy.
Rondak had plenty of more stories of course. We talked about Philly cheese steaks and I told him how we loved Jim's. He said he had been eating at Jim's since he was a kid. I showed him my blog post from our trip there and we drooled over the pictures of Jim's cheese steaks. All in all a really nice serindipitous experience.
Love you 😘 Miss you ❤️
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Day 14
Time: Wed, 17 Apr 2019 00:01:15 -0400
Location: Woods Hole Hostel NoBo Mile 626.0 of Appalachian Trail
Had a fun night last night at the Lickskillet Hostel in the old renovated church with Rondak, Ferry Floss (Australian for cotton candy), and the teacher from Ohio.
Only heat in the hostel was a propane heater. We had to shut it off overnight so we would have some fuel in the morning. It was so cold. We could see our breath when we woke up. But it was better than sleeping outside.
We were up before dawn. Mongo the caretaker lives in a trailer next to the hostel. He brought his sweet dog and the morning coffee.
Mongo dropped me off at Trent's Grocery and then drove Ferry Floss and the teacher north about 15 miles where they planned to slackpack back to Trent's. We saw Devon Maid walking on the road from Trent's. Turns out she stayed overnight at Trent's in a room they rent out.
I hung out at Trent's and ate breakfast and then talked with some of the old guys that gather there each morning. They were sure the last couple cold nights had doomed the fruit trees that were blooming. One guy talked about all the hiking he had done in Germany when he was in the Army. Good people. I think they think us city folk talk too fast. They talk very deliberately.
Two teenage looking brothers from Maine passed me. I saw several members of the tramily packing up camp near Dismall Falls, which was a neat place.
Saw Ferry Floss and then the teacher as they made their way south. We warned each other about the conditions to expect. They could expect a relatively flat but wet track through Rhododendrons along Dismal Creek. I could expect big climbs over scraggly rocks.
Everyone always says downhills hurt worse, but it seems like section hikers usually choose to go the direction with the least elevation gain.
A spunky silver fox older lady dressed elegantly in pastel green and orange asked where I.was from as she headed south. She said she was 78 and from Boling Springs PA. I said I had gotten a shuttle in Marion from Jim Sparks and his wife and they talked about a lady section hiker from Boling Springs they regularly shuttle. She said "that's me".
She drives 6-7 hours each way. Often returning home the same day. She elegantly talked about her travels all over the world and was playfully precosious. She woke up one morning and decided she wanted to see the Audy Murphy memorial where his plane crashed so she hopped in the car and made the long drive. A couple at the sight asked how old she was.and what made her make a trip like that. She turned on her granny voice and said, "Well I was in my rocking chair knitting..."
She said a shuttle driver acted concerned one time and asked if she had a dog. She said, 'No but I have a goldfish." After taking a drink from the container she was carrying, he asked, 'Is your goldfish in there." She. replied, "Yes, but I always make sure to leave just enough water for my fish."
She said her trail name is Salt Lick because she sweats so much and prefers hiking in the winter. What a delightful soul.
I stopped by Wapiti Shelter for lunch and met Dead Pool a middle aged guy from Ocean City MD. When he told me his trail name he held up his hands to frame his face. He really does look like a slight Ryan Renolds. He said there's a guy a little ways back that looks like Woody Harrelson and goes by Hamitch.
Dead Pool started last year with 2 friends. They got separated in Tennessee and they all quit somewhere in Virginia. He spent a lot of time preparing mentally for this year's attempt. We talked about the mental struggle. He was trying to catch the tramily because hiking alone was too lonely.
It was a tough 15 miles to Woods Hole Hostel. Lots of sharp rocks the last couple days. Some tough climbs up washed out gullies and creek beds, but also some nice views of the valley below.
I got to Woods Hole Hostel a little after 6, which gave me some time to get settled in the bunk house and clean up before the communal dinner at 7. It's a neat place and you hear a lot of good things about it from other hikers. The hiker log shows that Xisco, Papa John, and FlickerTail were here recently. Ferry Floss is coming tomorrow.
There's a young guy and his lab on the lower level and I have the loft to myself.
Love you 😘 Miss you ❤️
Google Maps link to my location: http://maps.google.com/maps?z=
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Day 15
Time: Wed, 17 Apr 2019 20:47:29 -0400
Location: Woods Hole Hostel NoBo Mile 626.0 of Appalachian Trail
Planned zero day today at the Woods Hole Hostel. French toast and eggs for breakfast. Everyone but me checked out. It was a good group of people.
The owner, Nevelle, took the day off and went to Blacksburg to make pottery. I soaked my feet in the cold creek and then in a hot tub of Epsom salt. I drank be coffee and petted the dogs. I talked to Steps as he roasted the coffee beans. Golden, the caretaker, and the cute neighbor girl, Rye, and her mom watered plants and worked around the property. It was a beautiful day.
5 hikers showed up in the early evening: Captain, Holiday, Big Toe, Giggles, and 49er. They all knew each other and were a lot of fun. Since Nevelle was off there was no dinner, but Golden and Rye made us some nice big smoothies.
Looks like we're headed to Pearisburg tomorrow, Thursday, for resupply and lunch at the Mexican restaurant. Big storms expected on Friday.
Love you 😘 Miss you ❤️
Google Maps link to my location: http://maps.google.com/maps?z=
Sent from the Guthook's AT Guide app
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