Sick in Daleville

So an update over the last few days.

Not too much to report hiking wise. On the AT there is something known as the "Virginia Blues." This is because a high number people drop off in VA. By this time the newness and excitement of hiking has wore off and it's a lot of day in and day out of the same things. On top of that VA is probably so far been the most boring part of the trail. There haven't been many great views and there aren't a whole lot of difficult ups and downs. To top it off there hasn't even been much trail magic to speak of in VA. I can understand why people wouldn't like Virginia much.

On Thursday afternoon this past week JD and I arrived in Daleville. JD went grocery shopping and I checked into the motel room we reserved. I had some food and dried out my tent and clothing from the rainy day earlier in the week. By the time JD got to the room with his food I was not feeling too well. I think I had Norovirus which is common on the trail and equivalent to food poisoning. I'm not gonna elaborate on my symptoms, but I will say it usually lasts between 12 and 48 hours. Knowing this is took Friday off and stayed in town. JD stayed as well because we have been eating and drinking from the same places and he wanted to be sure he was not going to get sick as well.  Lucky for him he was fine.

Unfortunately this put us in a very tight schedule.  It was 134 miles from Daleville to Waynesboro and we had 5 days to make it in time for our aquablazing reservation. Our original plan gave us 5.5 days with extra time to prepare. Coming off of being sick, I didn't think it was smart to push myself as hard as it would be required to make our schedule. JD took off in the morning on Saturday for the 134 miles, I got a shuttle to Glasgow,  VA and cut off about 57 miles that I can go back and do at a later time. Of course as things would work out, I was able to easily knock out the 77 miles I had in under 3 days meaning I could easily have made the full 134 miles in time. So now I have 2 days in Waynesboro to get ready for aquablazing and kill time. Right now I am enjoying myself in Panera with some coffee and wifi. I can't wait to get on the Shenandoah river on Thursday! More information on aquablazing still to come! Maybe I'll put info on that tomorrow since I'll have time then too!

Meanwhile enjoy the pics!

Rainy night update

So it has been a crazy couple of days, which is now to be expected on the trail.  Leaving Pearisburg JD and I planned a casual 12 mile day to a water source and camp area outside of town. We were able to get some water about a mile before we planned to stop. Neither of us filled up as we had enough water to make it the remaining mile.  We get to the camping area but were told that the site was just a little farther down the trail as the description of the area did not match what the book said. Another mile down the trail it is 7:00pm and we came to a point where we could verify we were now a full mile away. So as any good hiker faced with the decision to walk back 1 mile to stop and camp or continue on another 7 miles with no water and in the dark to stop and stay at or near the next shelter would do...we hiked on.

3 hours later we arrive at the shelter, exhausted and ready to set up camp or crash in the shelter. The only problem is every campsite we can find is full and the shelter is filled as well. We fill up with water and continue on another half mile until we can find a suitable place for 2 tents.

The next day wasn't too bad. We got a much later start than usual (left about 8:30 opposed to 6:30 as normal). It wasn't a bad day. Only 2 major uphill treks. Of course during the day I find myself as I do most days in my head just thinking about things. At one point I realized I had not seen any of the required white blazes that signify you are on the correct trail for quite some time now. I hike on a little further paying extra attention to ensure that I just didn't notice them, but was on the correct trail...no such luck.  I ended up hiking about a half mile uphill down the wrong trail. It was so demoralizing. I made it where we planned though!

Today we woke up in rain. It was a hard short rain, just enough to get everything wet. We also had planned our hardest day in VA. The first uphill was immediately after our campsite. I got a late start and struggled up the hill about 3 miles straight up.  I arrived at the first meet up point and JD had already been there about an hour. He waited a little while with me so we could discuss the plan forward.  I ate, filled up with water and left as the rain came coming down. Again just long enough to soak everything.  The rain stopped as I hit the next major up hill, this one about 5 miles of continuous up.  The sun is out and everything is extremely humid. I am soaked from sweat.  I meet JD, we discuss our final plans and take off for our last uphill battle for the day, another 5ish miles, some of the most difficult inclines we've seen so far in VA. Of course I'm about midway up the climb and a thunderstorm rolls in. It lasts like the earlier ones just long enough to make everything wet and the air humid.

JD waits for me prior to the final summit, known as dragon's tooth, and we hike it together. It is a little rocky but or the most part not too bad. The decent on the other hand wad deadly. So many steep wet rocks, one wrong move and your hike is over. It took us almost an hour to go downhill about 1 mile. Our normal average pace is 3ish mph.  We are now camping outside of Catawba, VA. The rain was so bad for a while it woke me up and I'm struggling to get back to sleep. So here's a long update.

VA has very few cool pictures. Below is a panorama I took just after one of the shelters yesterday.

Pearisburg, VA for the night

Spent last night in Pearisburg, VA.  From Erwin JD and I hiked a couple of solid 25 mile days to get near enough to have an easy 16 mile day into town. It was awesome to be done by noon!

Two nights ago we stayed at Wapiti shelter about 16 miles from Pearisburg.  It was very cool because we were with a few older section hikers from Atlanta. One guy was a doctor who was planning to section hike the trail, another was a Chick-fil-a executive of some kind and the last guy was involved in construction.  The conversations were great and funny. It was especially an interesting night when the doctor gave a mini exam to one of the hikers who was having some issues. Everything seemed okay with the guy but without the proper equipment the doc suggested he go into town and get checked out. I found out today that the doctor was able to assist last night at a shelter with someone who thought he was having a heart attack. They were able to get 911 to come out and assist. The guy luckily wasn't having a heart attack but he was taken off the trail as his oxygen levels in his blood was low.

Today we plan on a short day. Looking forward to it! I'm also looking forward to aquablazing from Waynesboro to Harpers Ferry! Yes, it is as cool as it sounds!  More info on that later.

Enjoy the pics!