Date: 2013-07-02
From: Daleville, Virginia

To: Daleville, Virginia
Miles today: 0.0

And so this section hike comes to an end.  As I wait here for my Barbara to pick me up here are some final thoughts as I think back on this month of hiking.  First off, I learned from other hikers that I am considered a ¢Lasher¢ (long ass section hiker) - which means I have hiked over 200 miles in one section hike. Although this was prime hiking season I found myself hiking alone most of the time.  I did meet up with other hikers, but mostly in the evenings at the various shelters.  Even though cell phones and guides are everywhere Word of mouth is still the way a lot of information gets passed along. You find out from other hikers that a water source has dried up or a hotel has burned down. The shelters all have registers where we can sign in and make comments. If you are hiking north a sobo might leave info on an upcoming water supply, shelter or hostel.  The shelters in Virginia have privies.  Inside each there is a mailbox to keeper the toilet paper safe from the mice. The thing is I never opened one of those mailboxes to find any toilet paper. Food on the trail is pretty basic - Knorr sides like Creamy Chicken and Noodles, shells with flavoring, instant mashed potatoes, tuna in a bag, stuffing, instant oatmeal and hot chocolate. Towards the end of my hike I splurged one day and bought two cans of little Vienna sausages and roasted them over a campfire. I also bought a package of Oreos, my favorite!  I doled them out to myself carefully, eating only 3 per day for about 4 days.  On the fifth day I ended up at Niday Shelter, probably the nicest of this hike. It was down a steep embankment .4 of a mile and took some effort to get to, but it was worth it.  It had a covered porch, clear plastic skylights, and it was higher inside than most. When POP TART and SALAMANDER and BUTTERFLY and RED BEARD arrived they made a fire and gave me one of their hot dogs.  Mmmm...boy, it tasted so good, even without a roll. So I decided to share my last section of Oreos with them.  Four of them were left uneaten out of politeness.  Later when the mice came out SALAMANDER leapt out of his hammock and gobbled those last cookies down before the mice could get them. Camaraderie among hikers is common. Days later I met up with Pop Tart again and she said, ¢Every time I look at you all I can think about are those Oreos you gave us.¢Little treats are big treats on the trail. Joe Mitchell, who ran the 4 PINES Hostel, really got in the business by accident. Years ago a thru-hiker asked if he knew of a place where he could pitch his tent for the night.  Joe took him to his nearby house and offered him the use of the shower in his 3 car garage.  And that was the beginning.  This hiker said his garage would be a great place for a hostel.  So Joe says, ¢What's a hostel.¢ And beginning with nothing more than a hand made sign he now hosts between 1200 and 1500 hikers a year.The weather was not the best. I had a lot of rain but did manage to get in some dramatic views, especially at McAfee knob.  I saw lots of deer in Virginia, (just about every day), black snakes, ruffled grouse, rabbits, one black bear.  The ticks were out in the high wet grass and I took a lot off of me but luckily did not get any bites.  I thank again my trail angels - ANGEL the canine trail angel who brought me water when I really needed it, other hikers who offered to get water and filter it for me after a hard day, SUPER DAVE who left a cooler of oranges and cold drinks.  Sometimes I would see a cooler in the distance (kind of like being in the desert and seeing an oasis)only to arrive and find it empty or filled with empty cans. That happened to me twice. Would I do anything differently? I would bring my Hennessy Hammock instead of my tent for this time of year in Virginia.  It's very hard o the trail to find flat spots to pitch a tent and so you end up rolling into a ball on one end or the other.  Also that would save me at least 1pound in weight. I would keep my Go Lites to hike in.  The most popular boot on the trail was Merrill but many, many hikers had constant trouble with blisters and hot spots. I liked my wood stove but could not use it many times due to all the rain. If I could get it started it would really smoke with all the wetness.  A small propane stove would have been more versatile and convenient, but it weighs more. Useful things - plastic garbage bags to cover my pack, zip loc bags to repackage food, dryer lint to start a fire.  I always checked the dryer filters at motels, hostels, etc.  I did not use any of my First Aid stuff, my sunglasses, my solar charger. This time around I didn't carry as many fears in my pack. For me, it had been too many cold weather clothes and carrying too much extra food. One of the things I liked was talking to the locals at the resupply places. The owner of Cowboy's in Damascus gave me some good advice. At Trent's Grocery, Jimmy the owner was so interesting to talk to. A lot of the locals would cme in for breakfast of just to visit. I talked with farmers and hunters. I now have AT vocabulary - ZERO, NERO, CAMEL UP, LASHER, YELLOW BLAZE, BLUE BLAZE, SOBO and NOBO.  I am a Nobo Lasher. It has been truly an unforgettable experience.