Virginia is for Lovers...

4/12/08 - What the heck is that supposed to mean?! Virginia is for Lovers... certainly not lovers of the Appalachian Trail because Amos has been dreading this stretch of trail for a long long time. Anyway, welcome to VA! Where the state tree is the state flower and the state beverage is... milk (which I hear is a crucial ingredient in the official snack of the AT)!

• Yep! Kicked it into high gear after starting late and enjoying an hour-long lunch with Snoopy. With no intentions of spending another cold and rainy day on the trail they made the decision to go "all the way" around 4:30 pm & pushed onward a total of 26 miles to Damascus!!
• Knees are still sore - especially after today. BIG blister on big toe cropped up sometime during the big 2-6. Shins are doing just fine.
• The Place - a hostel belonging to the Damascus First United Methodist Church will be home sweet (warm & dry) home for the next few days.

4/13/08 - With a label like "The Friendliest Town on the Trail" who wouldn't want to spend a day mingling with the locals?!

• With a few inches of wet snow expected, Hearts took a zero day - lounging, coffee, church, lunch, beer, laundry, final round of the Masters, more beer, few rounds of cards, probably more beer, lights out.

Led astray...

4/11/08 - Fell asleep to a curious raccoon rummaging through garbage around camp last night... for about an hour.

• 22 miles & downright HOT - open to significant exposure since there are no leaves on the trees yet.
• Seriously considered taking a dip in Watauga Lake but thought better of it knowing that the water is still so cold.
• That is until scaling the next big hill... then nausea from the heat set in & he wished he'd gone avantouinti. (May have been suffering a mild case of heat stroke.)
• Lost for the 1st time - mile or 2 detour after misplacing the white blaze!
• Arrived at Iron Mountain Shelter fairly late. Everyone was asleep when he got there, so in an effort to let sleeping hikers lie, Hearts foraged through his dry provisions. Nothing fills a man up quite like dried nuts & berries after a long day on the trail...

Back in the saddle...

4/10/08 - If you're dying to know how you've been faring on the polls lately, let me run thru the results... cran/grape & mini straw (go figure - I voted beer), Naked Ron, AND if you said 4 days of boating (and boy did they boat! Everything but the kitchen sink... Tallulah, Nantahala Cascades, Cheoah, Yellow Creek [20 footer!], Wilsons Creek [4x in one day!], Little River in the Smokys, you name it!) you win the Kewpie doll! (I completely lost track of how many Mexican restaurants they hit... suffice it to say 'a lot!')

• Managed to snag a ride back to Kincora Hostel with Jesse to clean-up & catch-up on laundry. Then jumped right back in to AT around 6:30 (pm).
• 2 mi to Laurel Fork Shelter & good to be back! Except it's not. It's hard to get back out there after drying out, warming up, and spending some good quality time with the boys.
• (It's supposed to rain again tomorrow... then maybe snow Monday??)

Treerific timing...

3/4/08 - Woke-up in a big converted barn.

• 17.5 mi today.
• Hiked up Little Hump & Big Hump and into 60 mph winds on both mountains... blustery.
• Spent the remainder of the day below 3000 ft & strolled along Elk River for a good section of trail - which was a lovely change in pace... & scenery!
• Lots of "hillbilly" trash along the road again today, but no goats...
• Dinner: Chopped up wild onions to "ramp-up" instant mashed potatoes - mmm good move!
• Stayed at Mountaineer Falls Shelter.

4/5/08 - It poured all night.

• Woke up & hiked first 8 mi or so with Spock & Twiggy - started calling Twiggy "Hammer Pants" because her winter pants are a little big... that's ok - she's been calling him "Mary Poppins!"
• Change in plans: FINALLY had cell phone service around noon. Just in time to learn that Scot was on his way down & would be there around 2:00! A fierce desire to boat with Cody MUST have consumed him because he jogged the remaining 7.5 mi to Kincora Hostel and wound up getting there a half an hour before Scot & posse!
• As he reached Dennis Cove Rd. he looked back & a HUGE tree fell right where he had just been hiking!!
• Passed fellow thru-hikers Kerbie & Ken. They were all meandering down a trail headed into town when Amos looked back up the hill right as Kerbie tripped & fell... & then continued to fall for roughly 25-30 yards... straight down! It took another big tree to bring Kerbie to a stop! Amos (jokingly) told him he wasn't allowed to cheat & that he had to go back up the hill & hike back down... he did!!
• Boating for the next few days but should be back to AT around mid-week.

Up up and away...

4/3/08 - Crazy guy DID ride his Harley & lawnmower around this morning just as crazy lady predicted... at 5 am!! Lots of benchmarks today:

• Climbed Roan Mountain which rose over 3,000 ft in a span of only 3 mi!
• Last time over 6,000 ft until Mt. Washington in New Hampshire - good news.
• Less than 1800 mi to go!
• Last day walking the line between NC & TN and last night in North Carolina altogether!
• Day was described as such: Cold WIND WIND WIND WIND cold & rain... and then some more rain wind & cold. All in all not much fun.
• 14 AT mi to Overmountain Shelter - really cold & desperate to get warm under his quilt.

April showers...

4/2/08 - Bring soggy hikers - 6 days in a row with rain! Can't a guy catch a break!??

• Don't count on it. It's supposed to rain Thurs, Fri & Sat, too...
• Long day - 20 AT mi (+1 extra mile down an old forestry road). Especially since he & his new bunkmates (Half-brew & his dog, Spock & Twiggy) stayed up till midnight the night before giving each other relationship advice. Twiggy's a psych major who wants to be a marriage counselor someday - free help!
• Hiked with Half-brew part of the day & had lunch with him (& his dog) on top of Beauty Spot. It was a grassy knob flooded with sunshine - very peaceful.
• Climbed up Unaka Mtn. & then back down.
• Left shin started hurting really badly today - maybe the early onset of shin splints... Also, legs are getting more & more tired earlier & earlier in the day. Knees are: "Predictably sore. It's the new stuff I don't like" - Amos said.
• Staying at the Greasy Creek Friendly - owner seemed to be a peculiar elderly woman (with lots of cats...) who forced Amos wash his hands 3x in the span of 2 hours and has grand plans of making her own thru-hiker reality tv show! (Lyn - I'll get you her digits!) She mentioned having or wanting to use a web cam, too... Someone get the Google search started for any raw footage that might be out there of Amos brushing his teeth...
• Something to look forward to: The equally eccentric hostel owner claims her neighbor is "schizo" & HATES hikers! Apparently he owns a few vicious dogs & revves his Harley on his way to get his morning paper & after breakfast he rides his lawnmower around & beats on the hood to wake them up!! Should be an interesting rise & shine...

Leave it to Hearts...

4/1/08 - Spent a good part of the day in Erwin or getting to Erwin...

• Hiked around 6 mi to a hostel where $3 was spent on a much needed load of laundry & an additional $3 was spent on an even more essential shower.
• Crossed 3rd kayak-able river he didn't get to run... poor Hearts. (No need to be blue: looks like Scot will be down to get him on the 9th!)
• The hostel let him borrow a bike (for free!) to cruise into town.
• Hit up the grocery store, post office & library. Alright, alright - of course he went the local Mexican restaurant... Scarfed down a big order of veggie fajitas. SO FULL he couldn't walk... but managed to find room for a pint of ice cream!! (surprisingly NOT Ben or Jerry)
• Got lost in Erwin on his way out of town...
• Biked a total of 10 mi to and from Erwin. Rode back with a grocery bag on each handlebar : )
• Hiked remaining 4.5 mi to Curley Maple Gap Shelter. Hanging out with Half-Brew (who just got bit by a mouse) & his dog.