Thursday, June 5

I had a decision to make today. On one hand,I could do a long day and catch Mas and Blazing Star, who are 10 miles ahead of me. On the other hand, I could dawdle and let Jogle, Becca, and Animal catch up. I thought all three were a half day behind me. I started off thinking I would be aggressive but I changed my mind. It was over 90 degrees for the first time on the trip and very humid. Also, I was suffering from a lack of motivation after Andrea left. I miss her. I needed to hike with a team again so I pulled up early today and did my camp chores at a relaxed pace. I pitched my tent in a prime spot, hung my bear-bag, filtered water, and unrolled my sleeping bag well before dark. Only problem is that nobody I know showed up. As of 7:45 it's just me and a group of section hikers here at the Niday Shelter. So do I dawdle again tomorrow? I feel like I would be happier with people around me but I don't want my legs to get used to these short days. We'll see.

Eastern Continental Divide


A female thru-hiker named Snack was so impressed with Jogle's British manners that she named us "Team Lovely". The name is growing on me. I hope to rejoin Team Lovely tomorrow.
--Dirty Girl and Truckin' were forced off trail by money shortage. They hope to work at a bluegrass festival, make some cash, and get going again. Good luck guys.
--The bugs are getting worse. I have so many bites on my legs I am considering long pants, despite the heat.

How about this bug???


All's well.

Niday Shelter. Today - 10.0 miles, Total - 674.2

Friday, June 6

In 1914, Aldo Leopold wrote about the "aristocracy of space based upon transport". Before WWII, only wealthy aristocrats could afford travel to the wilderness areas that Leopold studied. Air, rail, or automobile travel over any great distance was too expensive for most, so only the financially privileged could visit the world's beauty spots. The post-war prosperity meant that most Americans could afford a car and had enough leisure time to visit the country's wonders. National Park visitation figures show that they did. A devoted conservationist, Leopold worried about what this democratization of space and transport would mean to wild places. Would the hordes overrun and destroy America's best spaces? Leopold needn't have worried.

Audie Murphy Monument


While he was correct that spaces were no longer protected by an aristocracy of transport, he couldn't have foreseen what that meant. Americans of 2008 aren't as much blessed by their vehicles as they are bound by them. Few would dream of visiting a place, no matter how scenic, if it were more than a couple of miles from a parking lot. National Park visitation remains high, but most only see the park through their windshield. Wilderness today is protected by an aristocracy of space based upon effort. Every AT thru-hiker has worked to see the things that we encounter daily. We have endured the uncertainty inherent in leaving jobs, family and friends behind. We have toiled away at gyms or on the road to keep ourselves in shape for something like this. We exert ourselves daily to climb the next peak looking for the next view. the next experience. When I leave the trail I will have left drops of my sweat on over 250 named peaks.

A really fat lizard!


I'm proud to be a part of this aristocracy. I'm proud to have worked my way into it. I'm humbled that my effort has given me and my fellow aristocrats stewardship over these places I'm walking through. I'm camping tonight surrounded by the finest of the aristocracy of effort. They are tough endurance athletes with a love of nature and a taste for adventure. I'm lucky to be here.

All's well.

Pickle Branch Shelter. Today - 10.1 miles, Total - 684.3

Saturday June 7

It's summertime. It was just last week that I was shivering in my sleeping bag. Now I am sweating on top of it. I've gone to a bigger tent, an MSR Zoid II that shouldn't hold as much heat but it is still warm. We did 17 miles today by taking a long break in the afternoon while it was the hottest. I am hiking with Animal again, with Jogle and Becca just behind us. My attitude is very positive again.

Trees in central Virginia


Last night two Virginia Tech freshmen came into our camp. They were lost, out of water, and unsure where they had parked. Two section hikers, Jay and Papa Smurf, directed them to the nearest road and taught them to use a water filter. If they weren't 18 and in perfect shape they would have been in trouble.

This afternoon's hike was very scenic. We took a break at 2:00 and ate at a family-style dinor in Catawba. It was good - The Homeplace. Papa Smurf gave Animal and me a ride back to the trail and we hiked up to McAfee Knob just before sunset. We spent some time taking pics of each other on the Diving Board, a rock outcropping. I think they turned out well. McAfee knob is reputed to be the most photographed spot in Virginia.





The springs are still running but if this weather pattern holds up we will have trouble later. For now...

All's well.

Campbell Shelter. Today - 17.0 miles, Total - 701.3

Sunday June 8

If today were a book, the title would be "Attrition on the AT". Hikers call this phenomenon The Virginia Blues. Because we spend over 500 miles in Virginia, lots of hikers get bored and quit. The heat wave has exaggerated this well-known trail tendency.

Animal and I woke at 4:30 and were on the trail just after 5:00 a.m.--well before daylight. We had over 15 miles into town and wanted to do it before the heat got too bad. It turned out to be a hot, humid day anyway and our spirits were flagging despite stupendous views of the James River and from Tinker Cliffs. We got help from a couple who had loaded their five dogs with Gatorade and ice and then stood at the top of a hill handing out cold drinks to thru-hikers. They had four Shepherds and one Lab so they had good pack animals. With that assist we got to Daleville by noon.

James River Panorama


Animal had an invitation to stay with a family friend and I checked into the Daleville HoJo. I am sharing a room with a hiker named Donnie whom I met right before Trail Days. Mostly I hung out with Rodeo and Bojangles. Between us, we made a list of all the hikers who have dropped out in the last week and it was depressingly long. Some of them I haven't mentioned before--Dutch, Chewy, Crabby, Blue Butterfly. A third member of Team Kilt, Pilot, dropped out. Waters, whose oversized foodbag has been discussed here, is about to go. He has a short-term job lined up. He says he will start from Maine and come south when the job ends and I believe he will. Every hiker who quits says they will be back, but Waters is a strong, determined hiker and I think he will come back and finish if the job situation allows. Closest to home, Campfire, a member in good standing of Team Lovely, dropped out after Pearisburg. He said he missed his family too much. He had talked about quitting before this, but Samson kept cheering him up and getting him going. The atmosphere around the Daleville HoJo is pretty glum. I won't mind walking away from it tomorrow.

The Virginia Blues haven't got me. Temps are supposed to drop a couple degrees and I am hungry to hike. Animal and I both feel even stronger than we smell. Next stop, Shenandoah National Park! I should make it there by next week.

All's well.

Troutville, VA Today - 15.4 miles, Total - 716.7

Monday June 9

Lots to write. I'm going with bullet points because I'm tired and not up to making up that many introductory sentences and segues.

--Donnie got very sick last night. He was up all night. I was up from about 2:00. Not his fault. Donnie was trying to be quiet. By morning it was clear that he needed a doctor, so Buck, Fleur, and I wandered around the HoJo parking lot asking people as they drove out if they would drive Donnie to the doctor. Buck hit paydirt and Donnie was off to the Urgent Care.
--We crossed the 1/3 complete point.
--Jogle and Becca are a trail couple. They are sharing equipment. They have not made the final commitment, sending redundant equipment home.
--Mas, Blazing Star and Samson all took Zero days and are a half-day behind.
--Animal's boyfriend mailed her eleven pounds of food. Her pack outweighs mine now.
--I have eight days of food and I am not coming off trail until Waynesboro, the south entrance to Shenandoah.
--Animal and I think we will be in shape to run a 50 mile race after this. We are going to look for one.
--We camped with Hoods in the Woods, juvenile criminals who go to a boot camp kind of place. They were out for a two-week hike. They seemed respectful and under control.
--Spot, the heavy sleeper, is off trail with a knee injury. I keep plugging along. I feel strong.

All's well.

Wilson Creek Shelter. Today - 11.2 miles, Total - 727.9

Tuesday June 10

I'm starting my writing late tonight. Animal and I started at 6:15 this morning to beat the heat, so we camped early as well. I spent a long time by the campfire being sociable though so I didn't leave myself much writing time. I want to record an interesting campfire conversation before I turned in.

I was talking to Swami, Duckfeet, and Big Ease about "Blue Blazing", the practice of taking side trails, instead of the AT. Sometimes thru-hikers do it to see a special sight. Sometimes they do it to cut out some miles or a big climb, which makes me grind my teeth together in quiet anger. I'm not the most extreme when it comes to sticking to the trail. Animal once thought we had come off the trail on the wrong corner of a parking lot so she doubled back into the woods and walked to the "correct" corner.

Swami, Duckfeet, and Big Ease are at the other extreme. They take side trails, cut out miles and hard climbs. I must have made a face when they told me about their latest shortcut because they got a little defensive. Their justification is that the trail gets rerouted every year. This year's shortcut could be next year's AT. We are not following in the footsteps of Earl Shaffer, the first thru-hiker. Out here we are fond of saying "hike your own hike". Personally though, when the ranger in Maine asks if I have completed a thru-hike, I want to say, "Yes" without guilty knowledge of a few short cuts in my mind.

All's well.

Bryant Ridge Shelter. Today - 20.6 miles, Total - 748.5