May 26, 2008

Trail Daze

Yet again, I have become very lax in my blogging duties. Please forgive me - myself at a blog is very similar to a monkey at a typewriter.

However, the last few weeks have indeed been eventful, so I will give you the abbreviated highlights...

"ahem"

Hiking out of Damascus, rain storm, group seperated, Troutdale, slackpack w/ Racoon and Lipstick, Grayson Highlands (wild ponies!).

Trail Days! = back to Damascus. reunion!, Tent City campground, Grizzly Park, lots of vendors, lots of Damascus Eats, Mom visits, The Place, hikers parade/water fight, talent show, Vachon goes home, more tent city, party's over, everyone's split, gotta go.

Back to the trail, Relax Inn at Atkins, crossing I-81, cow pastures, short days, huge trail magic breakfast, into Bland, picked up and home for the weekend.

Tooling around Pearisburg, visit people ahead on the trail, meet Freefall and Double D, back to my place, lots of food, hot tub, Monday morning - drop 'em off, gotta meet Mary Disa, back to Bland, and away we go.

*whew*

So that's the super super quick version. If you want anything fleshed out, just shoot me a line somehow. My pictures might help illustrate some, too, since I've actually got them updated now.

Until next time...good night and good luck.

May 8, 2008

The Road to Damascus

Alright.

So a lot has happened since Gatlinburg. Let me see if I can condense all of it into one blog post...

We left Clingmans Dome and made it out of the Smokies alive, with no other craziness to speak of. We spent a quick two nights outside the park before we hit Hot Springs, NC. A couple of the shelters along the way had been terrorized by bears (or probably a bear), but luckily most of my companions and I were able to avoid them, although we have heard many a story from those who didn't. On the way into Hot Springs, Vachon hiked on ahead of the rest of us to meet his wife, Mary Lynn, in town, and as the rest of us arrived, we were all promptly ushered into a car and driven out to a wonderful little cabin they had rented. They invited everyone to crash there, use the shower, shuttle back and forth to town, and eat a ridiculous amount of delicious food that Mary Lynn prepared. It was amazing. Also, since there was a car easily accesible, Vachon hatched a plan to slackpack a good section of the trail, or day-hike in other words - take some water and lunch, get dropped off at one point, picked up at another, and come back to spend the night in town. I was invited to join, and I sure wasn't going to pass up something like that. Long story short - Vachon, Dave from Maine, and I all ended up slackpacking something like 70 miles in between Hot Springs and Erwin, TN, while the rest of the crew hiked on their own. Alas, in Erwin, Mary Lynn finally had to head home, and unfortunately Dave also made the tough decision to end his hike there, for several reasons. We were very sad to see them go.

Vachon and I finally put our enormous packs back on and set out again for some "real" hiking...but we only ended up getting 4 miles our first day. The next day, we walked awhile in the rain, and that night an unexpected cold front blew through. When we woke up it was about 22 degrees and there was snow on the ground. This was not a good start back, but Mary Lynn just happened to have an uncle who lived in the area, so Vachon gave him a call, and we were whisked away to Bakersville, NC. Ted and his wife, Florence, who are some of the nicest people on the face of the earth, took us into their home and gave us showers, laundry, beds, plus breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Incredible trail magic.

Getting back on the trail a second time, we hiked some more fairly short and easy days (with some of the best views so far) until we met my parents in Elizabethton, TN, for yet another weekend of pampering and town food. We defintely had been spoiled. My parents dropped us back on the trail AGAIN, where we ascertained the whereabouts of the rest of our former group (minus MOTO, who sadly also decided to leave), quickly rejoined them, and headed on our merry way to the big V.A.

Which brings us up to this morning, where I woke up with my regular spring allergies in full swing (i.e. - incredibly itchy eyes). And like a dumb hiker, I just couldn't keep my dirt-covered hands out of my eye. No self-control - I just couldn't stop scratching. When I finally asked for some assistance, I was greeted with shock and appall at the state of my left eye, which was apparently swollen beyond comprehension. So it was decided that I should get to a doctor, post-haste, and get it checked out. So here I am in Damascus, a day earlier than expected. My eye is fine (don't rub your eye with dirty hands, by the way), and hopefully I will be able to slackpack the little section of trail I skipped.

Whew! And that's basically it. Here I am! Back in good ol' Virginia! Seems kind of weird to be some place I recognize. You should come and visit sometime, or maybe I'll visit you when I get near home. Three states down already, woohoo! The future's wide open!