Date: 2005-05-27
From: Bland, VA

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Up and gone this morning by 7:15. Once again Tal and I hiked together that day. We kept on running in to Goat and Buffet along the way. They are both from NH where they live on a lake. They were in that "Retirement Group" I talked about earlier. They were both in their early 60's if I recall correctly. A husband and wife team that actually stayed together the whole trip. There were a few husband and wife teams on the trail but, not as many when compared to the trail relationships that spawned along the way. It was interesting to see those types of relationships blossom, some lasted and some didn't. Some even went as far as a proposal (on Katahdin). One team I remember even left the trail to get married ( I believe they may have known each other before the got on the AT). Some times the relationships would break up and hikers would go their separate ways (heading North of course). Ending relationships were blamed on many different things but by far the weirdest reason for a break up was different hiking speeds. It would be harder on the guys then the girls for the most part. The male to female ratio was huge. I would joke with the guys mostly and tell them of what I heard once about relationships in Alaska (where women are scarce and the Caribou are frightened). I said, "you never loose your girlfriend, you just loose your turn".   My wife Brenda and I talked about hiking together. If we ever do I will remember what I saw "that worked" for those couples and try to avoid the problem areas (things that didn't work). One thing in particular is the dreaded "hiker stare". That is when you (as a couple) are hiking so close behind the person in front of you that for the most part, all you see of the trail is that person's calf muscles. That got old even for one day for me. One of the reasons why I liked hiking alone (to have nothing in your way). Couples suffer this without even thinking of it. I remember hiking behind Roamer (not that I minded it, she had nice legs) and all I could remember at the end of the day was this huge backpack cover in front of me and those cute legs. Beware of the stare I warn you. Too much time together leads to arguments as well. Walk separately for short time periods, take turns being in front. Camp chores can be shared if given out equally. I have seen arguments over who gets the water more then once.    There always and I mean always, is the presence of that dreaded "hiker funk". A two person tent means that you sleep awfully close together and on hot days that could get nasty. I recommend having the option of switching from a two person tent to two single person tents. Sounds a bit silly but it reminds me of two things I was once told. I asked a bike rider about cross country tandem riding, and he said, "It isn't bad if the person in the back don't mind smelling the persons lunch all day long", get the idea? The other was in regards to a two person Kayak, the best person up front in a two person Kayak, I was told, is your dog (no one to argue with). What I am getting at is by having your own space it would make the trip more tolerable.   This was a 22 mile day with the last two miles before town being the most difficult. Blue Angel got word back to us, through Buffet, that this was a "tough down". She was so right. It was gorgeous (a lot of big rocks) however, that down was so hard on the knees (after a back to back plus 20 milers). Here I started developing a technique for going down hill that I used time and time again. Keep your legs semi-taunt with a slight bend in them, Glide along as best as you can and avoid the impact syndrome. Use your trekking poles to develop a rhythm. Gliding will save the wear and tear on the body and will assist in the healing during the hikes "recovery time". Recovery time is any time you are not with your backpack. There is never enough recovery time unless you take time off the trail. By time off I am talking about weeks, not days. 2174.9 miles is a long way to go and the body needs to be saved for the end, trust me on that one.   Goat, Buffet, Tal and I took a nice lunch break at a abandoned looking cabin along the way. There was a picnic table there plus good spring water. It was well worth stopping at. I took out my tent ( as usual) to dry from the night before. As a habit I always dried my gear when I could. Dry gear once again is lighter gear. Even if it didn't rain the night before, there always was the presence of moisture in the tent through breath evaporation. Constant drying out your equipment kept mildew from forming and when dry you can shake out the debris. Debris causes pre-mature wear out of your gear and once again, there was a long way yet to go. Take care of the gear before you feed your face, the best advise I can give in regards to that topic.         Back in Bland I was able to call my wife to make arrangements to have some family members pick me up the next day in Pearisburg. My "in laws" live nearby in Christiansburg, VA. All was set up so when I came to town I would call and they would come by and pick me up (and we did just that). I also wanted to try something different ( I touched on this subject before), on how I went about entering and leaving a town. I decided to go all the way through town before I got off the trail. Not such a big thing in a small town however, you can save a lot of time by doing this in a larger town. Sometimes the trail meanders through town for a long way. Once you find the exit then you finished that section you were done with it (a white blazers way of thinking primarily). "Economy of motion" is what it is called, no wasted effort. When I got to town I did just that. Leaving town this way meant I did not have to go back and complete pieces I may have already done just by walking around town.    There was a store at the end of this town called "Wades". My wife told me when you get there you have to try the chicken they serve, it was said to be "the best". She was right, it was good. Their corn bread wasn't that good though, but that chicken, wow. I called "Pops", my father-in-law and Evelyn (my wife's stepmother) answered the phone. She was on her way to get me within a few minutes. I stank again so I went and purchased a deodorant stick, then put on my cleanest things (my sleeping clothes, the dry stuff). Pops wasn't feeling well and was lying down. He is retired military and has issues with his lungs (agent orange, a hard tour in Nam). This is a man who went through basic training with Elvis Presley. Pops has the basic training book (like a year book) with Elvis's picture in it (and his own too of course). He is doing as well as can be expected and it was good to see them both.    I stayed two half days and one night with the family. That night I was up to midnight talking with Pops. He said I looked like a drowned rat when I came out of the shower. I was down quite a bit of weight and my hair was getting long. A drowned rat ? Perhaps so, to me.... I looked like a thru-hiker.