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.