Date: 2021-08-13
From: Stealth Site

To: VA Rte 612
Miles today: 23.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Suffice it to say, my dreams were dominated by all things yellow jackets.  I won¢t go into detail, the strangeness was a little much even for me, but it wasn¢t the most restful night, waiting to see what I would be facing from my winged nemesis¢s.  I was using the red light on my headlamp and working in the dark, just in case the bees came back at sunrise. It was one of the quickest pack ups I¢ve done, all while freaking out every time I saw bug fly by. I did find two of the yellow jackets still on my tarp. They are now resting in peace. Quiksilver and I got on trail at 6:30, knowing we had a 22 mile day planned and that we¢d continue experiencing a typical hot, humid, dry Virginia summer day. Professor caught up to us about 3 miles out and we hiked together for another hour and then did a .5 mile road walk to Trent¢s grocery. What a great place. It¢s a combo gas station, convenience store, grill, gun shop, and meeting place. They happily fixed us cheeseburgers at 8:30 am while we purchased cold drinks and hot coffee. A klatch of local retirees were seated at the tables with one old overweight gentleman telling another old overweight gentleman ¢you¢ve got to quit eating all that processed crap, get some cauliflower and steam it and don¢t drown the damn things in cheese¢.  Sage advice!We chilled there for an hour, long enough for me to break down and buy myself the first Moon Pie I¢ve had in a quarter century. I have no regrets. Then came the water calculations: how much to carry over the next 16 dry miles to stave off heat stroke while not carrying to much and causing back ache from the weight?  Given that the shelter we were aiming for likely had no water, I decided on just under 4 liters, and filled up. After getting back to the trail there was a fairly steep 800 foot climb through pasture and woodland. There was a very large bull in the pasture about 20 feet off the trail, but he seemed much more interested in eating thistle than messing with us. As per normal, I was sluggish after eating and Quiksilver quickly disappeared ahead of me. Once the climb was done, it was a lot of bebopping up and down along a ridge.  There were a lot of thunderstorms in the area all afternoon and at one point I was bookended by thunderstorm on either side of the ridge. After hiking 8 miles I ran into Quiksilver, who was taking a break. We assessed the ongoing water situation and that Lost and Found - a NOBO section hiker we were supposed to meet at the shelter - had decided to go to Weary Feet hostel instead of the dry shelter. We decided to do this same, but rather than get off at the road we were at, decided to hike another 8 miles to the next road crossing in order to get this dry section completed. So he called the hostel and arranged a pick up three hours hence. I took the lead on the trail from there and had a total silk blazing free for all for the next eight miles. I was covered in webs by the time I was done. The only things that broke up the monotonous horror was seeing a juvenile bear running away from me downhill and then having a staring contest with a large Whitetail Doe that was standing in the middle of the trail. I won.Also today we crossed two milestones: less than 600 miles to go and more than 1600 miles hiked on the AT.  Today¢s picture is of the 600 miles to go written with rocks that was right beside the trail.So we¢re now at the Weary Feet hostel, a really nice old farm house converted into a hostel. The owner is great and has a well appointed place here.  Because of the water situation, we¢re going Iceberg tomorrow and doing a 16.5 mile slack pack NOBO back towards the hostel for a seconds night stay.  I¢m sitting on the front porch, keeping an eye on the storms roaming around the ridges that surround the hostel. Goodnight!