Given the forecasted very strong T-storms for this afternoon for this region, I reluctantly decided not to start back on the trail until tomorrow when it looks like the weather is "clear sailing". I can tell you that the second consecutive zero becomes frustrating, boring and something that causes me to think "Maybe I should have...". I don't want this hike to become a life-long event.
It is about 4:00 PM, the time when the heavy storms were supposed to hit, and we have not had anything but some fairly light rain so far. Now they are saying the storms are coming later. (But maybe I could have made it to the shelter by then...)
Anyway, there are many hikers in the same predicament. Several of us are going out to dinner at 7:00. One of the volunteer shuttle drivers from town has agreed to pick me up at the hotel at 7:30 AM tomorrow and get me back up to the trailhead. Onward and upward!
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Back on the grid in Waynesboro, Virginia
Hi all - its Tom - good to catch up with you personally for the first time since Easter. This time I went a long stretch without a cellphone signal so that I couldn't even get Anne an "I'm OK" call for three or four days. But she knows there are so many hikers now that she would have word in no time if something was amiss.
Yesterday I put in my longest day on the trail so far - 27 miles. I found that knowing that a heavy downpour with possible flash flooding is coming is a good motivator. About five hours of my hike yesterday were in a steady rain, but never real heavy. I don't mind that at all.
Waynesboro marks the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway portion of my hike and the start of the Shenandoah National Park portion. Waynesboro is a great trail town. The AT actually crosses US 250 about five miles East of town. A group of volunteer shuttlers has posted a list with their phone numbers so that when you arrive at the highway you can call for a ride into town. I was not sure that was going to work for me, since I didn't get to the highway until 7:30 PM, but the first person that I called on that list - Roy - said "I'll be up there in 10 minutes". He was a great guy, and accepted my invitation to let me buy him breakfast this morning.
I like companies that make good on their product warranties, so I want to mention Solomon boots. I had a problem in that my boots were loosing the grommets that the lace goes through (three of them). I called their customer support number, and they quickly said that should not happen to boots purchased early this year and agreed to replace them. They also agreed to ship a pair a half size larger, since it appears my feet have grown (as I was told would happen during this hike) and my right foot was beginning to develop blisters on the small toes from rubbing. They agreed to send them to the next location I was going into for a mail drop - Montebello, Virginia. The new boots were there when I arrived, and the slightly larger size feels just right.
I continue to enjoy watching Spring unfold in the Appalachians. We are now to the point where the maple trees have leafed out, following the budding of the flowering trees earlier. Now, when you get up to the tops of mountains, the hardwoods such as oak have still not leafed out but looking down into the lower levels and valleys you see a verdant green. Critters are more abundant, including the reptiles. I saw my first snake. He was pretty good sized, but darted back into a hole as I approached and I could not identify the type. I'm 99% sure he was not one of the "baddies" - copperhead or rattlesnake. I have also seen an orange newt with red spots on it and a toad that was as big as I have seen. (The toad was headed straight up a steep ascent. I tried to explain the concept of a switchback to him.)
I also saw a song bird that was a very bright green - almost neon - with black around his beak. It is common to find deer now as I ascend to the higher elevations. There were three of them a few days ago that started to run as I approached. I stopped and whistled, and the last of them stopped and we stared at each other for a moment of Zen.
Section hikers and others that I run into continue to be very kind to us thru hikers. Among the gifts that I have received:
I also has a simple invitation to join three section hikers from central Illinois at a campfire they had set up at one of my camping locations. I enjoyed chatting with them.
I finally had to try hitch hiking to get into a town to resupply. It took me 35 minutes to get the ride in... I was starting to get a bit discouraged. But finally a gentleman about my age stopped and took me right to the hostel in Glasgow where I was headed. On the way back out it only took about 10 minutes... so in the end I was glad to see that it worked. I thought that if I was clean shaven and a little neater looking it might be easier... what do you think?
Between Daleville, where I resupplied on Easter, and here I went into two locations to do smaller resupplies. In both cases I was fairly time inefficient. Glasgow was inefficient because I ate so much while there that I really couldn't hike much when I got back to the trail. I went about a mile and pitched the tent. Montebello was the other resupply. It was inefficient because it was 2.5 walking miles off the AT and down about 2,000 feet, and the store did not have some of the things they said they stocked - like my fuel canisters. The next morning I was dreading the climb back up to the trailhead, but as my "luck" would have it, I met a person affiliated with the AT Blackburn Center (near Harper's Ferry) and he agreed to drive me up as far as he could, which cut the distance to the trailhead at least in half.
I have decided that as far as shelters go, I like the ones that are off the ridges to be protected from the wind and with a gurgling creek in front of them. Two of my favorites so far have been the Bryant Ridge shelter and the Brown Mountain Creek shelter. I sleep real well with the sound of a creek... and it makes water resupply a snap.
I am very much looking forward to hiking through the Shenandoahs. The hills are gentle... no more ascents of 2,000 to 3,000 feet for a good while now. Plus, the park has "waysides" located throughout, where you can buy a burger or a shake. Unfortunately, it is too early in the season for many of them to be open, but I do plan to figure out which ones are before starting tomorrow. I am told that the blackberry shakes are to die for.
Today after breakfast with Roy, he dropped me off at the Laundromat so I could wash my clothes. After that it was a leisurely stroll through Kroger to resupply. Then it was AYCE lunch at the Ming Garden restaurant. I'm going to stop by the Outfitter's this afternoon to pick up a fuel canister and a couple of other items. Such is the life of a thru hiker!
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| Pedlar River footbridge near Spy Rock |
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| A view of Spy Rock near Montebello |
I like companies that make good on their product warranties, so I want to mention Solomon boots. I had a problem in that my boots were loosing the grommets that the lace goes through (three of them). I called their customer support number, and they quickly said that should not happen to boots purchased early this year and agreed to replace them. They also agreed to ship a pair a half size larger, since it appears my feet have grown (as I was told would happen during this hike) and my right foot was beginning to develop blisters on the small toes from rubbing. They agreed to send them to the next location I was going into for a mail drop - Montebello, Virginia. The new boots were there when I arrived, and the slightly larger size feels just right.
I continue to enjoy watching Spring unfold in the Appalachians. We are now to the point where the maple trees have leafed out, following the budding of the flowering trees earlier. Now, when you get up to the tops of mountains, the hardwoods such as oak have still not leafed out but looking down into the lower levels and valleys you see a verdant green. Critters are more abundant, including the reptiles. I saw my first snake. He was pretty good sized, but darted back into a hole as I approached and I could not identify the type. I'm 99% sure he was not one of the "baddies" - copperhead or rattlesnake. I have also seen an orange newt with red spots on it and a toad that was as big as I have seen. (The toad was headed straight up a steep ascent. I tried to explain the concept of a switchback to him.)
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| A newt |
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| trillium are everywhere in bloom |
Section hikers and others that I run into continue to be very kind to us thru hikers. Among the gifts that I have received:
- Some home dehydrated foods (black beans, corn and peas) from a section hiker who was finishing his hike... delicious!
- A whole chocolate Easter rabbit and a coke - at 8:15 AM - from a trail angel. What would you do? It was a warm day so I knew I couldn't keep that chocolate till afternoon. I ate it for brunch.
- A complete lunch - four chili dogs, home made fries, chips, drink, pickles, etc - from "Fresh Grounds" and his Leapfrog Café. He set up at four different locations along the trail this year.
.jpg) |
| The Leapfrog Café with hiker Panzer |
I finally had to try hitch hiking to get into a town to resupply. It took me 35 minutes to get the ride in... I was starting to get a bit discouraged. But finally a gentleman about my age stopped and took me right to the hostel in Glasgow where I was headed. On the way back out it only took about 10 minutes... so in the end I was glad to see that it worked. I thought that if I was clean shaven and a little neater looking it might be easier... what do you think?
Between Daleville, where I resupplied on Easter, and here I went into two locations to do smaller resupplies. In both cases I was fairly time inefficient. Glasgow was inefficient because I ate so much while there that I really couldn't hike much when I got back to the trail. I went about a mile and pitched the tent. Montebello was the other resupply. It was inefficient because it was 2.5 walking miles off the AT and down about 2,000 feet, and the store did not have some of the things they said they stocked - like my fuel canisters. The next morning I was dreading the climb back up to the trailhead, but as my "luck" would have it, I met a person affiliated with the AT Blackburn Center (near Harper's Ferry) and he agreed to drive me up as far as he could, which cut the distance to the trailhead at least in half.
I have decided that as far as shelters go, I like the ones that are off the ridges to be protected from the wind and with a gurgling creek in front of them. Two of my favorites so far have been the Bryant Ridge shelter and the Brown Mountain Creek shelter. I sleep real well with the sound of a creek... and it makes water resupply a snap.
I am very much looking forward to hiking through the Shenandoahs. The hills are gentle... no more ascents of 2,000 to 3,000 feet for a good while now. Plus, the park has "waysides" located throughout, where you can buy a burger or a shake. Unfortunately, it is too early in the season for many of them to be open, but I do plan to figure out which ones are before starting tomorrow. I am told that the blackberry shakes are to die for.
Today after breakfast with Roy, he dropped me off at the Laundromat so I could wash my clothes. After that it was a leisurely stroll through Kroger to resupply. Then it was AYCE lunch at the Ming Garden restaurant. I'm going to stop by the Outfitter's this afternoon to pick up a fuel canister and a couple of other items. Such is the life of a thru hiker!
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| Jack at Rockfish Outfitters was very helpful. |
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
780 miles and counting through Virginia
I just got off the phone with Tom who is enjoying a pizza while waiting for his laundry to dry in Glasgow, Virginia, at elevation 680 feet. He has had some big elevation changes since being in Daleville at an elevation of 1,350 on Easter Sunday. He crossed by curry creek along the way picture below. Then trail starts to criss -cross over The Blue Ridge Parkway in Thunder Ridge Wilderness and I had a very brief phone call from Tom 2 days ago very excited that at one of those crossings he came upon a trash can. There is a" no trace" rule while on the trail so hikers must carry out all their trash. No trash cans are provide within the shelter areas, so to find one I guess was very wonderful!
He crossed by this famous rock formation "The Guillotine" shown below at 4,225 feet. It has a large boulder suspended over the trail in a narrow rock canyon. The hikers must proceed through that small opening.
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| Curry creek-mile 760 of the trail |
He crossed by this famous rock formation "The Guillotine" shown below at 4,225 feet. It has a large boulder suspended over the trail in a narrow rock canyon. The hikers must proceed through that small opening.
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| Guillotine Rock Formation Mile765 |
As Tom approached Glasgow and another elevation change down to 680 feet he crossed over the James River and the longest pedestrian- only bridge on the entire trail.
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| James River Footbridge |
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| James River Footbridge |
He will be climbing again today and tomorrow up to over 4,000 feet until he gets to the next town. It makes my knees ache just thinking about it as he makes his way past the mile 780.
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| The James River Valley as Tom descended |
Anne
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Resting on Easter Sunday
Sorry it has been so long since I have been able to update this blog personally, and I am very grateful to my wife Anne who has done a great job of keeping you up to date.
I've taken a zero day at a Howard Johnson's motel in Troutville, VA. I am at about 725 miles in to this hike, and I realize I am essentially 1/3 of the way. I did a 25 mile day yesterday to get in just after dark last night. As you can see from the photo of my right foot, I needed today to be a day of healing.
Nova, a fellow engineer from Nova Scotia, has been my travel companion for much of the past two weeks. He had gotten a half day ahead of me a few days before arriving here, and he was good enough to share a hotel room and have a half pizza waiting for me when I got in. Unfortunately, Nova is a section hiker who has finished his section. He will be off the trail until he decides to start his next section... and I'll miss his company.
As an aside... I had to put my head lamp on for the last 20 minutes or so of the hike yesterday evening. I try to avoid putting it on as long as possible, because once it is on you suffer from tunnel vision - only being able to see what is directly in the beam of light. I had my second fall of the trail when I looked up suddenly and found myself an inch from a big spider who had apparently started building his web at dusk. I threw my head back so suddenly that I lost my balance and went over backwards. Fortunately, the trail was soft there... so no damage done except to my ego. (I had immediately looked around to see if anyone saw me, of course, but there aren't usually a lot of people on the trail after dark.)
Spring continues to unfold in the Appalachians, and it is awesome to watch. Some of the forest floors at the lower elevations that showed nothing but the dead leaves of last year a few weeks ago are turning green.
Many of the trees are starting to leaf out, or in the case of flowering trees, bud out. The last week of hiking included some of the more well known parts of the trail.
Dragon's Tooth, which I crossed two days ago has rungs built into the rock in a couple of places and required me to put down the hiking poles to climb in a couple of spots. It also required real caution on the descent. But the formation itself and the view from the top were magnificent. Yesterday I reached McAffee Knob, which is probably the most photographed spot on the trail.
Even though I went up to it on the Saturday of Easter weekend, which meant I was joined by a whole lot of other hikers, the beauty of that spot (my photo doesn't begin to do it justice) is hard to describe. About five miles later, I was at Tinker's Cliffs which was also magnificent and absent the crowds.
I have run into a father-daughter section hiker pair from Athens, GA over the past couple of weeks at various places who are on my hero list. Among the things they did for me: 1) provided a cord for hanging my food bag, 2) found and returned to me my wristwatch, which had popped off my wrist at a spring where I was refilling my Nalgene bottle, and 3) provided me with just enough iodine tablets to make sure I could make it to my next resupply spot when I had run low. Thanks Skittles and Goofy!
As the hike progresses and weather begins to warm, here are two changes I have implemented in my eating habits. When I leave town, I try to take one onion and one green pepper with me. I have found that if I dice those up and sautee them in olive oil it makes whatever I am eating for dinner taste better. Many of the hikers are motivated mostly by conserving fuel, so they will only boil water and pour it into a Mountain House dehydrated meal bag. Who knows... maybe as this progresses I will start doing the same, to avoid having to carry so much fuel. The second change I have made is - since it is no longer so cold in the morning - adding powdered milk and a chocolate flavored protein mix to my Nalgene bottle, mixing it well, and enjoying what tastes like a good chocolate shake.
At this point - again, about a third in - I feel good about what I have accomplished so far and about my chances of being able to finish this hike!
I've taken a zero day at a Howard Johnson's motel in Troutville, VA. I am at about 725 miles in to this hike, and I realize I am essentially 1/3 of the way. I did a 25 mile day yesterday to get in just after dark last night. As you can see from the photo of my right foot, I needed today to be a day of healing.
 |
| Ouch! |
Nova, a fellow engineer from Nova Scotia, has been my travel companion for much of the past two weeks. He had gotten a half day ahead of me a few days before arriving here, and he was good enough to share a hotel room and have a half pizza waiting for me when I got in. Unfortunately, Nova is a section hiker who has finished his section. He will be off the trail until he decides to start his next section... and I'll miss his company.
 |
| Tom and Nova at coffee shop Easter morning |
Spring continues to unfold in the Appalachians, and it is awesome to watch. Some of the forest floors at the lower elevations that showed nothing but the dead leaves of last year a few weeks ago are turning green.
 |
| Spring along the trail |
Many of the trees are starting to leaf out, or in the case of flowering trees, bud out. The last week of hiking included some of the more well known parts of the trail.
Dragon's Tooth, which I crossed two days ago has rungs built into the rock in a couple of places and required me to put down the hiking poles to climb in a couple of spots. It also required real caution on the descent. But the formation itself and the view from the top were magnificent. Yesterday I reached McAffee Knob, which is probably the most photographed spot on the trail.
 |
| Tom at McAffee Knob |
I have run into a father-daughter section hiker pair from Athens, GA over the past couple of weeks at various places who are on my hero list. Among the things they did for me: 1) provided a cord for hanging my food bag, 2) found and returned to me my wristwatch, which had popped off my wrist at a spring where I was refilling my Nalgene bottle, and 3) provided me with just enough iodine tablets to make sure I could make it to my next resupply spot when I had run low. Thanks Skittles and Goofy!
 |
| A 300 year old Keefer Oak |
At this point - again, about a third in - I feel good about what I have accomplished so far and about my chances of being able to finish this hike!
Friday, April 18, 2014
Onward in Virginia
I had a good conversation with Tom this noon, he is still in Virginia which has the most mileage of any state ; 550 miles of trails. Some consider the Virginia section to be the wettest.
Yesterday the temperatures were back to normal again and he camped at a campsite, which also was a storage facility for some large RV"s. His tent is the white round one in the front.
He is looking forward to getting close to Catawba, Virginia and eating some fried chicken at Homeplace Restaurant. It is about mile 698. One thing the hikers do all the time is talk about food! This one place has been the talk for weeks now. Tom would be the first to tell you that food, water and shelter have taken on a whole new meaning! Hope we get some pictures of the food!
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| This notice marked the first detour on the trail for Tom. It was near The Virginia Creeper trail and a bridge had washed out. |
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| The view from Rice Field Shelter |
Two nights ago the weather turned very cold again and what the hikers then do is find the closest shelter, eat and climb into their sleeping bags. Well, it just happened to be before dark on April 15 for Tom and he was at Rice Field Shelter, picture above.. The next shelter was 12 miles away so it turned out to be an early night. He tells me that he was the only one in the shelter that night and it was very cold and windy and not much sleeping happened!.
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| Trent's Campground |
He is looking forward to getting close to Catawba, Virginia and eating some fried chicken at Homeplace Restaurant. It is about mile 698. One thing the hikers do all the time is talk about food! This one place has been the talk for weeks now. Tom would be the first to tell you that food, water and shelter have taken on a whole new meaning! Hope we get some pictures of the food!
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| family style restaurant in the plans for tomorrow! |
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Woods Hole Hostel-Pearisburg, VA
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| Woods Hole Hostel |
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| Kitchen at Woods Hole with Neville, left and Michael on the right. |
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| Outdoor Shower |
Tom shared with me that all the hikers assist with mealtime then sit around a family style table. Tom is taking the photo but you see the other hikers he is among on his trek.
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| Dinner time at Woods Hole |
Friday, April 11, 2014
Over 25 % complete and going strong!
Tom tells me he is feeling great and loving the Virginia terrain with pastures and rolling hills. He was able to enjoy a burger at The Barn Restaurant a few nights ago while near Groseclose, VA. He continues to hike over 20 miles each day. Last evening he came upon another unique shelter, Chestnut Knob, at mile 565 along the trail. The stonework and views make it one of the best ones so far. The geological formation called God's Thumbprint can be seen from the shelter and it part of Burkes Garden area.
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| Chestnut knob Shelter, 4,409 feet |
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| This is" God's Thumbprint" a crater like geological depression |
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