May 18, 2016,   Pearisburg, Virginia
    As it happens, I made it through the last 10 days on the trail; 10 days without staying in a town. How would I describe it: mud. This seems quite appropriate and fitting. The last 3 weeks have been very wet. Fortunately for me, most of the heavy rain seemed to happen at night while I tried to sleep in the shelters, or prior to this, while I was in town. We are told by the meteorologists that the entire country has been affected by an unusual weather pattern and jet stream configuration causing an 'omega' block, giving the Midwest continuous sunshine and the east and west coasts a rainy unsettled pattern. Looks like I should have planned on hiking the Great Prairie, Cow-flop Trail after all this year. Each day for the past three weeks has had an interesting combination of clouds, sun, and the threat of rain. Some days, we wake to a bluebird sky, but could end with thunderstorms. Although we have not had a prolonged soaking rain, the cumulative effect of this rain on the trail has produced an overabundance of mud.  Additionally it has been unusually cold. At altitude, even one week ago, I was waking to temps in the upper 30's, making me question if I had unwittingly been teleported to New England, instead of Virginia. I have not seen snow recently, but friends in the Graceland Highlands two weeks ago saw six inches of snow with muddy wet trails, forcing their self evacuation back to Damascus to await a warm-up and drying of the trails. After making the final descent into Pearisburg, the weight on each foot was more mud than shoe. I spent an hour in the hostel there washing the boots with water and a steel wool sink pad. I was quite glad to give hiking a week break to return to Maine and family for Sean's graduation from UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine, and give the weather one more week to straighten out.
 

Moonrise over Walnut Mountain

I carefully worked out the hiking intervals needed over ten days to cover the 163 miles to Pearisburg, and found it could not include another town stop. Fortunately, there were two stores where some resupply was possible without leaving the trail, so I incorporated this into my plans and shopping in in Damascus. After a pleasant stay at the Hikers Inn, where I stayed in a room with a Queen bed that actually had sheets, I loaded up the backpack with 8 days of food and set out on the Virginia Creeper Trail, a converted rails to trails multi-use trail. The predominant form of recreation seemed to be bicycle,  and most cyclists  were ferried by van to the top of the trail in the mountains and coasted at high speeds back to town. The AT intersects, and for short distances follows this rail-trail, but finds at least one 1500' climb up a side ridge, before returning back to the Creeper Trail.  Those who are purists follow the AT, but those less inclined to be complete in their efforts to see every white blaze while going north, could be tempted to continue on the Creeper trail alone and 'blue-blaze', thus eliminating 2-3 miles and 1500' of climb. Although tempting, I followed the way of the white blaze. The new poles had arrived at the Post Office, and the old sent back to Orono. It felt great to once again have a good pole in each hand, and the Helinox poles seemed a much better choice over the Z-poles. As we continued north, I was impressed with the increased hiker traffic heading south. These were hikers doing an extended section hike with the purpose of concluding their hike as they entered Damascus for Trail Days. This event can attract an estimated 10,000 present and past hikers. I was all the more happy I had timed my visit to Damascus to avoid this event.

Max Patch

Crossing Virginia border to Damascus

   The second day out presented two of the most significant climbs for the week, both on the same day. The first climb brought me to the summit of 5800' Whitetop Mountain. There I ran into Ragawort again, who had camped 2 miles up from where I started. As I passed, he kept up with me for the rest of the day. We seemed quite matched for pace and endurance, and spent a fair amount of time hiking together over the next couple days. The second climb was over Mt. Rogers, then on to the Graceland Highlands, home for the 'wild' ponies. The horses are left on their own for three seasons, but are corralled and brought to farms over each winter. Consequently, they are easily approachable and have no fear of humans. A sign warns us to neither feed or pet the horses. I think of Sean nearly incited a stampede nine years ago when he offered a carrot to one or two of the ponies. At Elk Park, we found Trail Angels who offered us salads, fruits, cookies, sandwiches, and Gatorade. The gentleman had hiked the trail in 2013 and knew what we would crave most, so salads were first on the menu. They gave us small somemore packs with chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows. We took advantage of this at Wise shelter that night.

Trail Angels at Elk Park Gap

   At 4 AM, the heavens seemed to open up and the thunder, and lightning. The deluging rain that rolled off the roof seemed to accumulate in front of us, making a moat (no alligators), and bringing into question whether or not we might need to swim to escape the shelter. It was a good day to turn over and go back to sleep hoping that in a little more time, the rain might stop. After breakfast, and as soon as I put the pack cover on, the rain seemed to suddenly dissipate! This has actually been a recurrent theme and observation leading me to conclude that my pack cover is magical. As the day progressed, the sun came out which facilitated the 20 mile hike to Trimpi shelter. This proved to be an old stone and mason shelter with a fire place built in the 1960's.
   The next day, I awoke to a strange blinding, glowing orb in the sky, something I had a hard time identifying at first, but later felt with some degree of certainty that it was indeed the sun.  After leaving in the early morning, I passed through several fields with livestock, (which is considerably better than deadstock!). The morning sun on the dew laden grass was beautiful to see, but my boots quickly seemed to fill with water.
   We hiked through a long climb to Partnership Shelter, located on the edge of the parking lot for the Park Headquarters for Mt. Rogers, on the road to Marion., Va. The shelter is new and heavily coveted by hikers as it can hold up to 16 hikers. There is a phone outside the park HQ building for hikers to make local calls, and yes both Pizza Hut and the local Chinese restaurant will deliver to the gate from town, (cash only!) Finally, the shelter has it's own shower! Usually, the water is heated with propane, but when I arrived, it seemed someone had forgotten to pay the bill. Undeterred, and facing many more days without a shower, I took a very refreshing cold shower in my hiking clothes (multi-tasking,) with only one consequence that George described so well on Seinfeld. I then laid out in the warm sun for an hour, drying and enjoying lunch, while most of my hiking companions went into town for resupply.
   After lunch, I continued to hike the last 6.8 miles to Chatfield shelter. A stream flowed in front of the shelter and there were several hikers there, none of whom I had met before. I apparently decided to make a spectacular entrance however to really impress them, and again fell spread eagled in the stream after stepping on a slimy rock. This once again earned me a score of 8.5 (damn that Swiss judge and his 8.5!). No permanent damage, but that did hurt, and an immersion of my lower extremities in the cold water did help. This is the one thing that all hikers fear: an unexpected fall causing enough trauma to take you off the trail.  So far, so good!
 

Ragawort on muddy trail outside of Pearisburg

  The next morning once again, I awoke early to the sound of pounding rain on the metal roof, though this time, there was no thunder or lightning. Once again, after donning the pack cover, and leaving at 7:30, the rain ceased, like Moses and the Red Sea. The day improved with the sun appearing later in the day. As I passed through Grossclose, passing under I-81.  I found some provisions at the wayside Shell station to supply me for the next two days that was not sugar, sugar, chips and candy. I bought two out of three Ramen noodle packages they had for sale. After my mad shopping spree, I went to The Barn, home of the Hungry Hiker Burger, which is not available at 9:30 in the morning. So I had an egg/bacon entree, sandwiched between two wonderful pieces of toasted Wonder Bread.  After this second breakfast,  I walked on to Knot Maul shelter and settled in for the night. There I met Slo-Poke and Hot-Rod, two middle aged, thru-hiking twins from Florida who passed through. I had heard of these guys and how funny they were from other hikers (reputation  travels fast). They did not disappoint. That night however, I shared the shelter with two young men. One of them had a snore that was Moe, Larry, Curley, all rolled up into one, and sent bears running for miles around. I can usually sleep through most shelter snoring, but not the case that night. Each of these guys had no sense of hiker etiquette, as they arrived late and were still night hiking at 9:30, well after the rest of us had gone sleep.  They then insisted we make room for them in the shelter and one stayed up well past 11PM, showing really no respect for other hikers there. They were both, of course, still sleeping in their bags at 7:30 the next day as I left.

   The day started out well for hiking with a bluebird sky and cool temps. I had wonderful views to the south with Mt. Rogers and Graceland highlands in the distance, as I climbed up through bald pasturelands. Despite a favorable forecast however, the day clouded up, and I had rain by the time I reached Wallace Gap. This time the pack cover could not save me, and the cold rain and sleet (at 4500') persisted. The ridge proved to be difficult footing and a tiring section to navigate with many short ups and downs before finally descending to Jenkins shelter.

   That night was a cold one once again, with a low in the upper 30's (really, Virginia?) That day was ideal hiking weather as the sun did stay out, but ineffectively as the temps never got above 60. We made a short day of this to Helvey's Mill shelter, in order to give myself a mini-rest day, arriving there at 2PM, allowing a nap, reading, and generalized goofing off.  The hiking traffic had really thinned out by now as everyone who cared was at Trail Days in Damascus. 

  The next day promised a room for rent with a shower in a store only a half mile off the trail, as long as I could hike to Trenten store and reach there early enough in the day. Once agin, I caught up to Ragawort, and we hiked most of the day together. I have to admit that if you hike with a companion who matches your pace, the conversation makes the day go by very quickly. I told him about the room for rent, and he agreed to go half on the rental. We  got the room which included a shower and laundry for $22.50  per person. We of course availed ourselves of the restaurant and had a great burger with fries that night and scrambled eggs the following morning.

Woods Hole Hostel, Pearisburg, Va.

We did set off early the next day as the weather promised intermittent rain for the next three days. Our goal was to reach the famous hostel of Woods Hole, and we knew the rain would bring everyone off the trails in search of a dry place for the night. I had wanted to stay here with Ryan 9 years ago, but the family had closed it 10 days prior to our arrival, as they felt Tilley, the grandmother, was no longer physically capable of running the operation. Fortunately, the grand-daughter Neville and her husband Michael took over the operation 2 - 3 years later and have transformed the place into a farm that is nothing less than awesome. This put a special spring in our step and we covered the 15 miles before 1:15 PM. Once there, we rewarded our efforts with a pint sized blueberry/banana smoothie. The hostel is a favorite with hikers. We stay in a barn with clean mattresses and fitted sheet. It includes a shower and for extra charges, they prepare dinner and breakfast. In a kitchen smaller than mine at home in Orono, they prepared dinner for over 30 people. There were over 20 cold frames, from which they picked the fresh components of a wonderful salad. The bunkhouse, as predicted, filled fast, and people were being turned away by 3PM.

Ponies in Graceland Highlands

The final day's hike was again foggy and damp, though no frank rain, as I made my way over the last 11 miles to Pearisburg. Ragawort left at 6:15, so I had no chance to wish him good-bye or safe hike. Hopefully we'll see each other again up the trail. This reminds me of the many chance encounters we experience on the trail, and the different people we meet. I'll return to the trail a week later, and the cast of characters will have completely changed. This is just another opportunity to meet more new trail people. We are all bonded by a common cause and purpose. Being unsuccessful in my attempt to secure a rental car in Pearisburg from the local Enterprise Agency, (who apparently have a reputation of never having any cars to rent), I arranged for a local shuttle with Don Raines, who brought me to Blacksburg. From there, a bus picked me up the next morning, and for $4, drove me the hour to Roanoke Airport. So here I am in Orono, on 'vacation' from my present job of hiking the AT. The timing of the visit is perfect for attending Sean's graduation, as well as being here for Kathy's 60th birthday. We'll be back on the trail as of May 27th.

Wild Azaleas

May 8, 2016   Damascus, Va
  Well, it finally happened. We have now officially crossed into Virginia, leaving North Carolina and Tennessee in our rear view mirror. That means there is only 550 miles in Virginia to go before the next state crossing... that's a quarter of the entire trail's length! The weather has been not so nice. Most days we get a combination of clouds and sun, and sometimes a brief period of rain. Fortunately for me, most of the heavy rain happens at night, and also fortunately, I'm usually in a shelter safe and dry.. with the mice. We have not seen or heard from a bear so far, though I have talked with several hikers who are convinces they saw or heard a bear. One hiker states he was sure he saw a bear.. while he was night hiking without a light. Spring continues to progress, though you can go from leaves out and green in the lower elevations, to brown and still winter at 6000'.
  After leaving Erwin, I was driven back to Beauty Spot by my host Mike at Cantarosa Farm. Once again, it was beautiful, but much of the mountains were shrouded in low clouds and seemed to be promising rain.I pasted the picture to Facebook and wished my wife a happy anniversary. It proved to be a fairly easy hike to Unaka Mtn. It is amazing how much energy you can still have if you let a vehicle make all your elevation gain for you! The summit, once again unlike most high mountains in the south, is completely covered by a pine forest, making one think of the mountains in New England. After leaving the summit the heavens opened up with heavy rain for about an hour completely soaking me, though the pack stayed dry. There is a mantra that hikers know and that is that nothing dries on the AT. Later the sun re-emerged and we were at least partially dried. I passed Greasy Creek and resisted the urge to visit a new hostel, and with the stories that later emerged, I am probably happier for it as the proprietor was already earning a reputation as being a little eccentric. It is interesting how many new start-up hostels emerge, and how many established hostels have closed. There is a limited amount of cash flow brought by hikers who tend to be very conservative in their spending habits. I spent the night at a shelter refurbished as an eagle project with Odie, Just Drew, and Hollywood. We had to choose our sleeping site carefully  inside as it was obvious the roof leaked.  Never trust a boy scout! We did get another rip-roaring thunder storm and tropical-like downpours that night which toppled a couple trees, but no one in the shelter got wet despite the leaks.
  By morning however, the sun was out, and it was once again a beautiful day to cover the 16 miles over Roan Mountain to Overmountain shelter. The climb up Roan was cool but long to the 6285 foot summit, only 3 feet lower than mount Washington. There were views but the summit is again largely covered by a pine forest. On top, we met an older couple who were doing the trail angel thing by passing out candy and oranges and apples to thru-hikers.It was beautiful through Carver's gap and up to Grassy Bald, but once again, thunderstorms chased the hikers most of the mid-afternoon. The shelter is actually a barn erected at the time of the revolutionary war. Yellow Gap is famous as a group of constitutional militia crossed the high gap and surprised and defeated the British loyalists on the other side. At the shelter, more than 15 hikers eventually accumulated for the night. Their was a mother/daughter pair who had decided to spend a second night there. The daughter had recently been discharged from the military, but was dressed in combat fatigues, and was open-carrying a 45 caliber weapon. I guess we new who was sheriff. Most authorities highly recommend that hikers not carry weapons by the way. Although they had the intention of doing a thru-hike, they had decided to quit the next day and family was picking them up. One less gun on the AT to worry about!That night, the rain was once again on and off, Although I was down below on the first level looking out over the valley, the women and the rest of the hikers were on the second floor. I had the misfortune of having a young overweight hiker sleeping directly above me who obviously had obstructive sleep apnea, and snored so heartily, the barn shook, and with that shaking the dirt on the floor under him found the passage through the cracks in the floor to my place of sleep, head and mouth! At 4:30 AM, I heard the two women up talking and laughing in full voice as though they were the only ones there. At 6:30, I awoke to smoke inside my sleeping bag. Looking out the two women had decided to start a fire on the dirt floor, ... inside the barn, preferring not to chance getting wet by using the designated fire ring. I quickly told them that this was an ill-conceived idea as a 200 year old barn would go up like a box of matches if it caught fire not only putting themselves in danger but also all the hikers still asleep above. They did comply and moved the fire to it's appropriate area. Several others were up but it seemed I was the only one to speak up; maybe the gun had something to do with it!
  That day of hiking, I braced for what I thought the weather predictions were for heavy rain. However, this once again never materialized. Going over the multiple grassy balds, the fog was thick, and I had sporadic showers, but no heavy rain. It was somewhat erie being out there alone and I thought it was likely similar to the Scottish Moors. At he end of the day, I arrived at Mountaineer Shelter, named after the adjacent falls which was the water source. This was a newer shelter built 10 years ago with the anticipation of more thru-hiker traffic. We fit over 15 people in the shelter, and still three others had to tent with the full house.
  The next days hike of 17 miles brought me to the famous Kincora, run for 30 years by Bob Peoples, who is an AT legend. He has been a force in trail maintenance and rerouting projects on the trail from Tennessee to Damascus. He built that new Mountaineer shelter. Nine years ago, his place was full and Sean and I had to tent. This time however, there were only 5 or 6 other hikers. The place had been let go a bit. He took in stray cats and provided a home for which the cats returned the favor by peeing on the hiker mattresses. There was a light out over the shower and I'm convinced this was a divine blessing so I could not fully see what was growing at the bottom of the shower. I did stay because he was a nice man, and I thought he deserved some hiker respect. I did get by and did a laundry and got a shower. Bob took us into the small town of Hamilton, Tn. for resupply where I bought a frozen pizza for dinner, and frozen burritos for the next days breakfast. The things we compromise in terms of niceties and diet while on the AT. The bar is obviously much lowered.
  After exiting Kincora, I made my way for Vandevetter shelter some 18 miles away. There was a stiff climb up and down Pond Mountain before starting the climb up the massif to  4500'.Once again the predictions were for a rainy day, but in the morning, the sun actually appeared. The air continued to be unusually cool, but excellent for hiking. In the process, I passed by Watauga Lake, a man-made lake in the TVA system. We were told not to camp or loiter at the lake as there had been a pesky bear problem. They had closed the shelter to camping for two years due to this smart bear. They had briefly reopened it earlier this year but like Yogi, the bear returned to pull his old stunts on the unsuspecting campers.. and mister ranger did not like that! I crossed the dam, and followed the ridge line up for miles giving outstanding views over the lake, arriving at the shelter by 4:30. At  6 PM, it started to rain with only four of us at the six man shelter. Then the hoards arrived starting at  6:30. We had 12  hikers all  wanting space out of the rain in that tiny shelter. We managed to squeeze in 8, but the rest had to set up their tents in the falling rain and falling temps which by then were in the mid forties. A fog  descended on the mountain, and all night the wind blew the rain and fog  into the shelter. Everything was damp in the morning. The temperature fell to 38' that night. I ate a brief breakfast, then got on the trail feeling that exercise was the best way to ward off hypothermia. Unfortunately within the first hour, I slipped in the mud. Once a 30 pound pack has momentum in the wrong direction, it's taking you with it. At this point I did a full spread eagle on the muddy trail. Fortunately neither my clothing nor any body parts were injured in this technical acrobatics which earned me a 9.9 score.The entire day, I was in the wind and a cold fog until I descended in altitude. I stayed at Double Spring shelter with Big Bird, a retired airforce helicopter pilot, and Vanderwort, a section hiker now committed to finish the entire trail now that he had retired from Publix Market after 40 years of managing the bakery section.
  The next day was a surprisingly quick hike of 18 miles to Damascus and the Virginia line. As I reached the sign post, marking the border, divine providence sent a troop of boy scouts, who were tech-savvy enough to use my phone and take my picture with Wilson. The first night here, I stayed in a hostel called the Place, run by the Methodist Church. Tonight however, I get a bed to myself (king-sized) in the Hikers Inn. I've spent the off day mostly stocking up on calories and enjoying the town. Plans are now to try to complete the 160 miles in 9 days and reach Pearisburg, Va, then drive to Roanoke and fly home for Sean's graduation, resting a week at home with family before returning to the trail.