Update Coming soon.

I am currently in Kent, CT and will have a full update within the week. Sorry for the delay.

Waynesboro, VA 853.1 Miles

I have spoken to several past hikers and they repeatedly tell me that Virginia is easy and I will be able to hike 25-30 miles a day. Well I am Into central Virginia and am still waiting for the terrain to get "easy." I am still having 2-3 2000 foot climbs a day and I could easily go the whole way without doing a 30 mile day.

Since I got separated from my old hiking group I have entered some sort of thru hiker black hole. Before, at the end of the day, I would arrive to a fully loaded shelter almost daily. Now all I see are empty camp sites, trails and shelters. A couple of days I have not seen a single NOBO. I did meet a guy named Youngone from Indiana. We split a hotel room in Daleville and hiked together for a few days, but he went home for a few days. Youngone and myself made the climb to McAfee's KNob, which is considered to have one of the best views in VA and on the entire trail. As soon as I got there my camera died...still a great stop though.

After Youngone left I met up with Roughin It, who I had not seen since Georgia. Although he too was planning on going home when we reached the James River. The bridge over the river is the longest pedestrian footbridge on the entire trail. It also is a great place for diving and swimming. When I arrived there were about 20 young college students jumping of the bridge into the river. I got a hitch into town for a quick resupply and returned with the intention to jump off myself. The group of kids that drove me back said they were camping by the river that night, even though it is not allowed. They told me it is not enforced and offered for me to join them. I said I might go swimming and camp there as well. As I was setting up my tent a ranger came walking up. I figured he was going to kick us out, but he made a B-Line to the tent of the college kids who drove me to the bridge. Apparently they were smoking weed in there tent and the ranger busted them. Luckily for them they only got tickets. The ranger allowed us to stay camped where we were and went on his way.

This ticket did not deter the group of college kids. They were courteous and offered to move to another spot as not to bother me of the other thru hikers. I told them it wouldn't be a problem and I went to bed. In about 30 minutes I was awoken to a full on party by the river. 30 people showed up, built and bonfire, sang songs, drank and played guitar until 4am. I did not get much sleep...

The next day I crossed the river and hiked in about .5 miles. There I saw a hiker named Willard. He said even he could here all the noise from the night before. I guess I learned my lesson, as to not sleep by the road on a friday night.

I am now in Waynesboro, VA and about to enter the Shenandoah's. I am making great time and putting in 130+ miles a week. Hopefully I will catch up with the group ahead of me and get out of this black hole of hikers.

Pearisburg, VA 626.4 Miles

The weather so far on this journey has been incredible. After the freezing rain and wind I encountered on Springer Mountain I figured I was in for a cold and wet hike. Thru hikers last year went through a stretch of 18 straight days of rain. Therefore I have been very lucky. The weather has been mostly sunny and mild.

The worst weather to hike in is heat. I remember climbing Pond Mountain in 90 degree temperature. Once I got to the top I was drenched in sweat. It was as if I had just jumped into a pool. But on cold mornings I will be begging to be in that heat again and vice versa.

But with all the great weather we have had it was bound to get bad eventually. And that is just what happened when we left Atkins. Apparently tornadoes had hit just west of where we were and for the few days after my stay in Atkins we got the remnants of the severe storms. Fortunately companies make waterproof rain coats, pants, and pack covers to keep everything dry. Unfortunately, despite possessing these items, I got soaked.

After the rain I got separated from my hiking group. Al hurt his hip, Sonic got giardia from drinking contaminated water, and I have no idea what happened to Samurai. At first I thought they were ahead of me, as they typically are, so I hiked a couple of big mile days. Then I found out they had all stayed behind. Since I was making good miles, and was afraid to catch the hiker flu, I decided to push on without them. I figure they will catch up when I stop home once in Maryland.

Just before Pearisburg I stopped at the Woods Hole Hostel. Here they host a family style dinner and breakfast all with homemade organic food and Amish ice cream. While there I met an interesting guy named Antawn from Montreal. The Caps happened to be playing the Montreal Canadians that night in game 7. And THEY LOST. Great... Luckily Antawn is a humble guy and refrained from rubbing it in. I did not know what to do with myself for a couple of days. I had fully expected the Caps to cruise through the playoffs. I was even planning on getting off the trail for a bit in order to see them win the cup. Now I guess all there is to do is hike.

After my stay I made it into Pearisburg, VA which starts the central portion of Virginia. They break VA into 4 sections. There are a lot of miles in VA. The Virginia Blues are catching up to me...

Atkins, VA 538.8 miles

There is little I like about the state of Virginia. They have bad drivers, feud with Maryland in the Supreme Court more than any other state, have 2 ACC rivals of UMD, and seceded from the Union in 1861. The only saving grace, in my eyes, is the fact that a majority of Virginians voted for Obama in the past election. Other than the poor state history, politics and rivalry, the country side is quite beautiful.

Virginia houses the Graysand Highlands, which is a range of bald and bouldered mountains. All with beautiful views. They maintain their bald appearance due to a population of "wild" ponies i the area. They're very tame and you can get close enough to pet them, or in James' case ride them. Turns out the ponies are not so wild. They were introduced into the area by humans in the 1940's and a series of fences, which I constantly am climbing over while hiking, keeps them penned up. Each year they are herded together and checked by vets. Some are even sold to keep the population static.

Sadly James and Sherpa are leaving. James has a flight back to the Isle of Man and SHerpa has a wedding to attend. It will e tough to see them go. I have gotten to know well over the past month and I literally hike with them almost daily. The three of us all hike at about the same pace and don't care too much for early mornings. It is not as though we are lazy. Generally get on the trail by 9am each day but most people are up by 7am. I often find that James, Sherpa and myself are the only ones remaining in camp in the mornings, even though the sun hasn't come up yet.

Anyways the three of us chat about various subjects while walking. Yesterday I gave a brief history of the United States and James lectured on British history. We also talk about business ideas to get rich, and world sports. Thus it will be sad when they leave although they have planned an awesome trip in order to return home. The two of them plan to hitch a ride over 300 miles to Harpers Ferry, WV, rent bikes down the C & O canal into DC, and then catch their flights. I am slightly jealous.

A couple of days before they were to depart we arrived at Partnership Shelter, which is one of the nicest on the entire trail, equipped with warm showers. However, Samurai can attest that they are not warm. As we approached we were greeted by many thru hikers that we knew who were cooking burgers and throwing a going away party for Sherpa and James. Many of the hikers had zeroed at the shelter just for the event. Nefis was playing his ukulele as we sang songs which we did not know the words to. Thus the choruses were repeated over and over. At the en of the night a few of us remained around the campfire. It happened to be the close group of guys that had been together for the past month. After a game of hot potato, played with a hot coal from the fire, we went to bed. The next day we hiked into Atkins and booked our typical cheap motel room which we crammed with 5 hikers. After our stay James and Sherpa found a ride to Roanoke to begin their journey after the journey and we said goodbye. The rest of us continued on a footpath headed north.

Damascas Part 2

The trail has many hidden treasures along the way. Most of the hostels have been unique and fulfilling. The day after Beauty Spot was Samurai's birthday. I did not realize this until lunch time. I asked around but no one had anything resembling a cake. Luckily Pop-pop was going to a hostel nearby so I joined him with the plan on picking up a cupcake and candle for Samurai. When we arrived there was no one around. We walked around to the front of the house where the owner was installing a gas pump into her 1980's Chevy. As we approached she asked us if we were mechanics. Unfortunately we could not help. After 15 minutes she gave up and said she would make us food. We sat down to some cokes and ice cream. Luckily she had cheesecake and a candle. At that time Samurai, Sherpa and James arrived. We got the cake ready and surprised Samurai with the bday song. CC, the owner, then showed us her insanely obese cat who she said did tricks. She got a stool and put the cat on top. She then sang songs to the cat while feeding it food. All the cat did was eat...

Roan Mtn is the highest mountain on the AT until NH. On top sits the highest shelter on the AT and more snow. I hate hiking in snow but luckily it was only in a few places. After Roan begins a section of bald mountains known as the Roan Highlands. It looks like a scene out of Lord of the Rings. The last mountain in this chain is hump mountain. When we reached the summit I dropped my gear and declared, "Welp. I'm camping here." Soon the whole gang followed suite. We sat around a fire with 360 degree views, played cricket, listened to the radio and watched the sunset. This was my favorite mountain thus far.

I am now in Damascas, VA the "friendliest" town on the trail. The gang I have been hiking with have been planning a zero here for sometime. Like Hot Springs the trail goes right down main street. It is also just 3 miles into VA which houses over 550 miles of the AT, the most by far than any other state.

In Damascas there are no cheap motels. Only Bed and Breakfast's which cost nearly $100 pp. However, Sherpa and I like the finer things in life and refused to believe the hostel was the only cheap place to stay in town. While walking along the street/trail I noticed a sign next to a bike rental shop that read "vacation Rentals - 4 Bed, 3 bath." Later we came to check out the place in greater detail. It was $150 per night which included a fully furnished house with laundry, showers, full kitchen and more. We asked if they had cable and the owner said, "no, sorry only satellite." Sherpa and I quickly gathered every thrue hiker we knew in sight and booked the place. Since they had not changed the beds over they knocked another 50 dollars off the price. The place even had a movie library (we later watched Lion King.) After gathering 9 hikers it came out to $11 per night per person. Not bad.

That night Sonic, James and I went to the grocery store to buy dinner. James and I were thinking Spaghetti but my idea is much different then his. Apparently he is a miniature Gordon Ramsey. Anyways I boiled noodles while he did the rest. We had a delicious and filling meal. Oh yeah the Caps happened to be on that night and won. As were the Orioles. They obviously lost.

Damascas, VA 463.5 miles

Leaving Hot Springs was difficult. Difficult enough that i walked about a half mile across the river to where camping was again permitted and pitched my tent. I found this to be acceptable because almost all of the hikers I saw at the bar the night before were doing the same thing. Unfortunately Duke won the NCAA tourny, but I made sure to let everyone know in that small NC town of my disapproval.

Returning to the trail after two great days in a town is like jumping into a cold shower. This lasted about ten miles for me. I reached a road and saw a sign for a hostel. Here I met a nice man named Fred who actually ran an incredible place. He gave me free coffee and let me use the phone. I used the Internet, got and few snacks and then it began to pour. Luckily Fred gave me a ride back to the trail head.

The next few days were amazing. The highlight being big Bald Mtn, which is over 5500 feet. Luckily the 50 mph wind gusts at the summit dried all of my wet gear in minutes. The shelter which was 400 feet below the summit was very cold and ended up being my last shelter to sleep in for sometime.

the day after Big Bald I made my way into Erwin, TN. There is a hostel right off of the trail called Uncle Johnny's. My mom actually stayed there in the past and informed me they rent bikes. Today about three of those bikes are in working condition and one has working brakes. Uncle Johnny himself gave us a ride to town to eat and resupply. i finally got Mexican food which I had been craving for sometime, however it did not compare to El Amigo, a local Valpo restaurant. Sonic, who I have been hiking with since Hot Springs ordered $21 worth of Wendys and ate it all in one sitting. After that he had a rough night.

On the way back we had a beer run and I split a six pack with a hiker nameed Pop-pop. There are many characters on the trail but Pop-pop may be my favorite. He is a retired pharmacists from WV and is in his mid sixties. He hikes like he is 30 and he lives the "highlife." I capped my night off with a viewing of none other then Forest Gump, to the delight of the entire bunkhouse.

Uncle Johnny has shuttles to town everyday so I decided to take the breakfast shuttle. I sat down at a Huddle House with James, Sherpa, Sonic and Pop-pop. The waitress gave sonic a hard time, most likely because he is from the West Coast and says the word "bro" in every sentence. Anyways a random couple walked up and laid a 20 dollar bill on our table and told us to add it to our order. We must have looked like we were starving POW's.

I returned to the hostel and got packed up and ready to go. I still had a load of laundry going and by the time it was done the lunch shuttle was leaving. How could I pass that up?

When I returned everyone was still at the hostel and hanging out on the porch. We found a guitar and started singing songs. James knew Britney Spears and the 5 of us guys proudly sang her hits at the top of our lungs. We delayed departure even further until the temp cooled and left at 4:30 pm.

Along the way we passed a train and Al flattened a penny on the tracks. Our plan was to hike until dark. At around 7:30 we were approaching a mtn called Beauty Spot. I reached the summit just as the sun was setting to an amazing scene. The best part was the spontaneity of the day and how great it ended up. We finished the hike with our head lamps and made camp at deep gap. Somehow we ended up doing 12 miles. It may have been my best day out here yet.

to be continued...

Hot Springs, NC 271.3 miles

GSMNP is the most visited National Park in the country. It also contains the country's most diverse forest. My trip through the smokies was very diverse to say the least.

Thru hikers are accustomed to very few rules. Essentially we abide by Leave No Trace principals. This changes in the Smokies. First of all we as well as all hikers must carry a permit at all time. This is easy to obtain, in fact you can fill one out before you cross over the dam into the park. On the other hand thru hikers must give way to "section hikers." Each shelter has four spots reserved for thru hikers. The remainder of the spots can be reserved by section hikers. Well there are enough thru hikers to fill each shelter every night, and once a section hiker comes strolling in, this means one of us must give way and sleep outside. We must all give way to horses. My British friend James thought this meant if a horse came walking in we all had to sleep outside.

The highest point on the AT is in the Smokies at Clingmans Dome, over 6600 feet. The plan was to leave the shelter early and catch the sunrise. What I did not anticipate were the three foot snow drifts. Thus I missed the rise by an hour, but it was still a beautiful hike/morning. Some guys even slept on the viewing tower. Highly illegal but highly awesome. I spent a good amount of time at the summit and then descended. The rest of the day was tough. The three feet snow drifts turned into six foot snow drifts. My feet became soaked and tired within minutes. I even got lost few times as it is hard to find the blazes in all the snow. Every 100 yards or so I would post hole down the entire embankment and would be unable to move for 2-3 minutes. The difficulty of this walk made the idea of going into Gaitlinburg more and more appealing. By the time I was 2 miles away from the gap I had made up my mind, I was going into town for a hot meal.

As I arrived at the gap I saw a sea of people and cars. This is something I had not seen the entire trip. I had arrived at the site where FDR dedicated the park in the 1940's. It is also the site of some 2nd round trail magic from a nice couple, WIll and Way (thru hikers of last year) and my first hitch hike of my life.

Six of us stood by the roadside and stuck out our thumbs trying to entice the sea of cars to give any or all of us a lift. After 15 minutes I finally got picked up by a driver. It must have been my great BO or the fact that I wore my best bandanna but I managed to flag down a driver. It happened to be a young women, Suzie, who was on a road trip from NY and was paying back for all the hitching she had done. After some rearranging, Samurai and myself jammed into her car. SHe was very nice and took a great interest in our hike. She also provided me with some ideas for after the hike, including opportunities to travel and work at the same time.

After a 30 min ride Suzie generously dropped us off in the middle of town. What a site. Gaitlinburg may be the biggest tourist town in America. Fake museums, t-shirt stores, old time photos, haunted houses, mini golf, etc, lined the street. This is why GSMNP is the most visited national park in the nation. It starts in Gaitlinburg. I doubt many even make it up to the mountains. All in all it is one of the most amusing/disgusting places I have ever been to. One store proudly displayed two of my most hated flags. Of of the confederacy and one of the Duke Blue Devils. Clearly I did not enter this store. In fact I sat outside it hoping my smell and general appearance would put the place out of business.

I purchased a new mattress pad, for more comfort, resupplied, and got some KFC. We quickly got a cheap cab ride, $10 for 2, back to the gap and walked to the nearest shelter. Samurai and I pulled in at sundown and of course the shelter was full. Thus we pitched our tents outside and went to sleep.

About an hour later two rangers came up looking for 2 lost hikers. No one had seen them, but the rangers gave us a "warning" for tenting and not moving on to the next shelter. We tried to explain that it was getting dark and the next shelter was likely to be full but they wouldn't hear any of it. I still haven't heard what has happened to those two hikers. The rest of the smokies were beautiful and snowy. Probably the best stretch of the trail I have hiekd so far. I was eager to hike through a section I did last March with my friend Kurt, and very eager to meet up with a man named Curtis who runs a hostel. It is impossible for me to describe him correctly but imagine a 20 year older Joe Dirt.His hostel is truely a hikers haven. Everyhitng one needs is located on his property in a different hut. There is even a hut for the interent.

I am now in Hot Springs, NC. The AT actually goes right through town down the sidewalk. Samurai, Sherpa and myself conveniently got a room above the only bar in town. hikers are everywhere. Tonight I plan to go swimming in the river and take a dip in the natural hot springs. It is amazing how much hiking the trail makes one appreciate the simple things in life.