Date: 2018-06-18
To: View Entry
Miles today: 92.8

The last time off trail was spent with Cam, Dawn and Dom. It was a great visit and lifted my spirits. We took Cam to a zoo in which you can feed the animals and included a safari ride. He was very excited and it felt so good to be with him. We went swimming in the pool and he showed us his swimming moves. He also showed off his ability to identify all of the alphabet and to recite them. The day we went back on trail and the few that followed I was grateful but I began to become home sick. I also think we hiked too much as we we were keeping up with a friend we would be saying by to as she was leaving the trail. We hiked 68 miles in 3 1/2 days ending with two 20 mile days to a hostel. The hostel ended up being a nightmare for many reasons they can be left unsaid. Stacy quickly got us out of there contacting an old friend from when she lived in Roanoke V.A. and we caught a ride 12 miles to her friends children¢s house. We were rescued by the generosity of her friend who I met the next day. I was happy to meet this kind woman who Stacy often spoke of. We re-supplied, hit a Waffle House, Krispy Creame and sheetz, all of which we do not have our way. I am very home sick and I can¢t wait to get home on June 27th for a quick visit with my family. I am most looking forward to spending time with Amanda whom I miss terribly and my mom. We will be staying with Dawn so I have another opportunity to cuddle with Cam. Southern V.A. has finally grew on me. We continue to hike the ridge line but with awesome views. We have had three great vistas at which we camp near, the last being Mcafee Knob, which we watched the sun set. The next morning we ate breakfast and got some photos hanging on the edge of the cliff of the knob. It is the most photographed vistas on the A.T. and seen as the most beautiful vista in V.A. The sky was beatiful as the sun went down. We reached this location after a 20 mile hike with two tough mountains to hike, one in the morning and one in late afternoon. The day before was a 20 mile day which ended with Dragon¢s  tooth. Dragon¢s tooth is a spectacular monolith on Cove mountain. It is a huge rock with crevices outcrops that allow for a 360 view. If you dare, you can climb to the top, which I did when I saw my friend waving to me. It was a scary climb but a more cautious climb down. There has been a lot of wildlife in this section. We were awoken by sounds all night of something walking around our hammock. I believe the culprit were deer and was hoping that it was not a bear as I waited for the sounds to end, only to be awoken again and again. Gulp! The following day we saw two bears and two deers, it will remain a mystery as to what was surrounding us the night before. We have not had any bad experiences with wildlife but met a woman (Cajun fire) last night had quite an experience with a hungry bear that I will leave to the imagination. We have passsed the 700 mile marker to 729.2 miles and today will pass into the 1/3 marker. I feel like the V.A. blues may have passed as we enter Northern V.A. today. The visit home will help. I am aware that when home I may not want to return. However the real world can wait until I push on and discover a little more about who I am and what I want for my future. Hiker tidbits: switchbacks are trails that smoothly and slowly incline along a mountain allowing you to get to the top without going straight up. Switchbacks are our friends but apparently V.A. does not believe in them leaving us to hike straight up the majority of the time. Dam you Virginia.