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...