Spring has Sprung....?

Pearisburg to Daleville, Virginia


After drying out in Peasburg we were ready to get back on the trail.  We weren't sure how far we wanted to hike that day, so we figured we would let the day decide for us.  We finished off all the snacks we bought from the night before that we weren't willing to carry in our packs, made a last stop at the mexican restaurant on the way out of town, then got back in the woods.

Puddin' downing some mello yello before we left the hotel

We ended up hiking 12 miles to an area on the trail with a beautiful view.  I think we were still feeling it from the push into town the day before so we set up the tent and enjoyed the company and the views.  Sleeping Beauty was nice enough to pack out some hot dogs and buns from town so we showed the others how to spiral their weenies and we busted out the condiment packets after cooking the dogs over the fire.

A panoramic of the view from our campsite the first night

Nova was still behind us and Fatty had hiked on ahead of us so it was Puddin, myself, Sleeping Beauty and Spanky at the campsite.  We also ran back into Funnybone!



Yes, Spanky was actually showing his teeth in this picture, a very rare occasion.



The biggest black snake we have seen on the trail yet.  It was climbing the tree and enjoying the sun as much as we were.



Taking a moment to stop and smell the flowers



We  weren't the only campers enjoying the view that night.  

The sunset that night was amazing and brought out the inner child in me.  There was a good climbing tree nearby, so I pressed my 34 year old luck and climbed up it to get a better view.



The start of the sunset



My heightened view from the tree



Checking out the valley down below



It was amazing

The price of the amazing sunset was soon found out when people started noticing ticks on themselves.  Puddin had two and I found one.  Luckily they had not embedded themselves in our skin yet so we just got grossed out and flicked them off.

The next day was great weather, great flowers and great views.  There was only one big climb. We saw two more snakes and a deer and finished with 21 miles for the day.  It sprinkled on us just a bit towards the end of our hike, but we got to camp and got the tent set up a bit before it really started to come down.  We washed off in the river next to our campsite and did a bit of laundry then hid out in the tent while the clouds dumped their precipitation.



Beautiful flowers early in the day.



The silk worms were out and in full effect.



This is the largest oak tree on the southern part of the AT



Stopping to enjoy the view.  Not sure what expression I was making.  Apparently it hurts when the camera cuts off part of your face.  



Some more beautiful flowers.

The next day we hiked 16.4 miles to the Niday shelter.  Not a real eventful day.

On our next to last day before going into town we knew we would need to push. We planned on somewhere around 24 miles for the day with some amazing viewpoints along the way, but were also very aware of the difficult terrain that lay ahead of us for the day.  It wasn't going to be easy.



The Audie Murphy Memorial.  He was the most decorated soldier of WWII.  

One of the highlights for the day was a place called Dragon's Tooth.  It is some very large upturned rocks with amazing views from the top.  It is a very popular area and there were lots of locals there, but we had fun none the less.



Climbing up onto the rocks to see the views



Puddin showing off her rock climbing skills



Nice butt shot.  That was about as far as I was willing to go.  Puddin showed me up.  



Puddin ontop of Dragon's Tooth.  This picture does absolutely no justice of how high up she was.



Views of the valley below



This one was called fire pink or something like that.  

For some reason we got a hair up our butts and decided we were close enough to our personal best mileage wise that we might as well try to break it.  That would also put us on top of McAfee Knob for sunset if we were able to keep up our pace.  We finished the day with a beautiful view, great sunset and a new personal record of 27 miles for the day.



Puddin on top of McAfee Knob (the most photographed spot on the entire AT)



Cooking dinner on the Knob after a long day

We woke up the next day sore from our previous days mileage, but were driven by the thoughts of clean clothes, clean bodies, and town food.  Daleville here we come!!


A view from the ridge before we descended into Daleville



Enjoying more views

We made it down into town and are going to rest our weary feet and enjoy someone cooking our food for us.  It is currently myself, Puddin, and Spanky since Sleeping Beauty wasn't feeling good one of the days and had to take an extra day off in town to get feeling better.  We plan on picking him up in a couple of days when Merry gets us to bring us back to Damascus for the biggest hiker gathering on the east coast......  TRAIL DAYS!!!!!!!!!

 

-Paddy Cakes

No Rain, No Pain, No Maine!!!

As we headed out of Atkins clean and well fed we had more beautiful fields of bright green grass that moved like the ocean waves in the wind. We had great views with mountains in the background. We had some great creek crossings and came across some trail magic of pb&j sandwiches and dr. Peppers. We tented that night at a nice campsite where we had a fire and even enjoyed the sunset. Little did we know but that was the last time we were going to see that glowing ball in the sky. That night it started to rain and kept going trough the night.
The next morning the rain broke and we packed up wet camp and made it 19 miles to the next shelter. It was suppose to be an easy day according to the guide book but it was everything but. It was a foggy ridge line with pointless ups and downs all day. The last ten miles were some of the longest miles we have done yet. We all decided to tent because there was a couple of older hikers that looked like they needed a dry nights sleep in the shelter. So we pitched our wet tents and got to dry them out for about an hour before the rain started back. Again it rained all night long and unfortunately we had a good amount of water get between our tent and our ground cover so a lot of our clothes got soaked. We made the best of it and woke up to a dumping sky but pushed on and hike 14 miles by 11:30 where we made it to the next shelter cold and wet and decided we had hiked enough and it was our turn for a dry nights rest. So we called it early and enjoyed the cover of the Jenkins Shelter. We also ran into DayPack and Funnybone who were also taking cover in the shelter and decided to have a zero there. We unpacked, dried off and enjoyed the afternoon in the shelter. The morning finally came after a long 18 hours of being cooped up in the shelter we took our chances and headed out. We had good luck all day and just had some light misting. We didn't even have to put on rain gear. We took advantage of the weather and pushed it 24.4 miles to the Wapiti Shelter. Although the weather cooperated the trail was a running creek and our feet were soaked so we called it at the shelter. It turned out that this was the shelter that the two hikers got axed murdered in many years ago. We decided to take our chances and monopolized the whole shelter. It was Sleeping Beauty, Fatty, Spanky, Paddy Cakes and myself in the shelter. That night we all decided that we were going to wake up at 5:00 am and hike 18 miles into Pearisburg, VA and make it to the all you can eat Chinese buffet for lunch.
Well, we all got up and were on the trail by 5:45 using headlamps to see because the sun wasn't up yet. We had about 45 min of no rain and then it started. The most extreme downpour we have seen yet. We had on full rain gear and still had trouble staying dry. As for our feet there was no chance. The middle of the trail was an ankle deep muddy river that was unavoidable. We slipped tripped and fell our way down the trail. Paddy Cakes, Fatty and Spanky all fell but Sleeping Beauty took the gold by falling four times. The trail was defeating, long, cold, wet and muddy. The day felt never ending but still we all made it to town just in time to eat multiple plates of delicious Chinese food. The trail tried to defeat us but the moaning of our stomaches and the promise of a bed and shower pushed us down off the mountain into Pearisburg. We are heading back out tomorrow and the weather looks about the same as the last few days so we are going to try and stay as dry as possible and keep a positive attitude. Wish us the best!
Puddin'

Beautiful Virginia

After our two zero days in Damascus, VA (which we found out was too long for us) we headed out on the Virginia Creeper Trail which hooked back up with the AT. It was finally sunny and our group headed up and over Iron Mountain to a great pond where we stopped for lunch. It was a humid day but we had some great streams to cool down in. We found a great campsite by the water where we pitched our tents. Well about two hours later we had 15 tents set up around us. What happens is when the trail goes through a town a lot of hikers group up in what we call a bubble, and it's always hard to get out of the bubble. So, we formed a tent city for the night, made a fire, and enjoyed the company.
The next morning the smell of skunk suffocated my nostrils and woke me up so we were on the trail by 6:50. We also were trying to escape the bubble. It was also "Pony Day". In Grayson Highlands State Park they have wild ponies that will come right up to you. We ended up seeing over 15 ponies and made it to over 500 miles for the total hike. It was a windy, rainy rocky day but we ended it with trail magic from "Willow & Cedar Tree" from Mississippi. They fed us hot dogs, chips, and root beer. It started to rain so we called it a day early and tucked in.
The next morning we woke up to Sleeping Beauty moaning about how cold he was and how he was heading into town. Apparently his tent blew open in the night and being that he is sleeping beauty he slept right through it. His sleeping bag had become completely soaked and froze the entire night. So, him and Night Rider headed into Marion to dry out. Fatty, Nova, Paddy Cakes and I headed on. It started out a little rainy but ended up being a great evening with gorgeous fields of flowers that had amazing smells and even a rabbit. Something we have realized on the trail is our sense of smell has become more sensitive. We ended the night at a small campsite with Fatty and Nova but ended the day after 21.6 miles with all smiles.
The next morning our goal was to make it to Atkins, VA to pick up our resupply package from dad. We had one of our more beautiful days with open fields, barns, flowers, & great views. We got into town by lunch and decided to treat ourselves to a hotel or motel I should say. There was only one motel in the very small town of Atkins but it was cheap thank goodness because it was one of the crappiest places I have ever been in. But a hot shower and clean clothes is worth more than a clean room. From Atkins our next stop is Pearisburg and the weather is calling for nothing but rain. We are hoping for the best.