Date: 2013-06-11
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Well I've made it to mile 723!!! I left out of Pearisburg and slack packed the 22 miles to the captains. The captain is a man who has thrued before and throws a hiker feed every year, he also allows hikers to camp on his property for free and always has cold sodas available on his porch in a fridge. The hike out of pearisburg really was not bad, there was a decent climb at first then it was easier from there. Someone had hiked on a toilet seat to the top at the shelter. It was positioned with a great view and they had written Rice Field Scenic Privy on it. Got a good chuckle out of that one. I camped at the captains that night and got to hang out with the hungover hikers that stayed after the feed. When we left the next morning we had to cross back over the creek via this pulley/zip line seat system. I sat on the seat which was just a wooden board and fell backwards off of it. It was quite hilarious. In my defense my pack was heavy. Once I left the captains we passed a sign that said 1.1 miles to shelter. It was an awful 1.1. I had to stop three times it was so steep I just needed breathers. I hardly ever sit down on breaks going uphill but for some reason this hill was just painful. I got to the shelter and it started to pour but all was good since I for once, was under cover for the rain. I started eating my food immediately in an attempt to make my pack lighter. Odie showed up with a jiffy pop that he popped over his jet boil, we had a feast. After sitting there for a while I just decided to stay there after hiking a whopping 3.7 miles. It was probably one of my favorite days on the trail. Gilgamesh, Dimples, Hanzel, Squid, Stringbean and I all hung out and made a roaring fire. There was a mouse-tastrophe that night that involved an angry mother mouse whom was later dispatched by carbon monoxide poisoning. I will say that she most definitely started it by trying to chew on his camelbak. The next day we met the ringmaster early in the morning. He does two things. One, a magic trick with a ring, hence the name ringmaster. And two, he asks you if you know the difference between a shower curtain and toilet paper. Most respond with I don't know. Then he replies, well don't use my bathroom. He's 70 and this is his third thru hike. We hiked 15 miles to the shelter and left the next morning planning on a 21.5 day to right before dragons tooth. Well we woke up the next day and it was pouring. That tropical depression had made its way over to us. We huddled under my tarp for a while then decided to try and get a ride but we were in the middle of nowhere with no signal and hardly any card going by. Long story short I'm sitting in Blacksburg across from VA tech and need to get my ppl at the campsite while getting to Daleville myself. This angel named Del picks us all up and I spend almost all day in a car. Finally in Daleville we zero to hope for good views at all the views we would be hitting for the next two days. We end up going back to where we were and hiking 9 miles to joes Four Pines Hostel and he takes us to the Homeplace for an awesome family style meal. We had a roaring fire that night at his place and then Del, who at this point is a best friend, picks out packs up for our 25 miles slack pack to Daleville. We hit all the great views that day with bright sunshine but it was pretty hot as well. We end up having 9 miles left to do and it's 6:30. We send Hanzel ahead to get the super 8 room and our packs from Del before its too late. We ended up hiking the last 3 miles in a thunderstorm in the dark. I almost stepped on a copperhead and Talker who we've been with for a few days, doesn't have a headlamp, and mine is in need of some fresh batteries. We made it to town and who was sitting there but none other than Del and Teacup, his min pin! They took us for some food and back to the Super 8 and I spent the next day recovering. I'm now about to walk out the door and its 10:00am Tuesday. I'll update in the next town, I gotsta get on the trail now!