Date: 2006-04-23
From: Rendezvous Motel, Pearisburg

To: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: light rain

Day 51 Sunday, a day of rest. Does hiking 19.6 miles count as rest? It does for us! Great day for hiking today - sunny and warm and GREEN! Got up early and microwaved our breakfast before leaving the motel around 7:30. Walked over the New River on the way out of town and happened to see Burree's parents (down from New Jersey to visit) drive by on the bridge. Had a pretty good climb up out of Pearisburg, but once we got to the ridge it was smooth sailing. Really nice easy trail all the way to the first shelter. Nice view from there - we think we could see West Virginia because we got pretty close to the border today. Had a drink and a snack and took a few pictures before moving on. A little ways down the trail we walked up into a meadow that was full of pink and white trees. Beautiful! Wished we had waited for lunch up there but stopped just about 1 mile shy. Headed past the meadow and continued to follow the ridge, which was really rocky in some sections. My feet aren't doing so well over the rocks so we really slowed down and took our time through that section. Almost got lost twice today as the white blazes disappeared in some pretty important places. Like where the trail takes a sharp right turn in a really rocky section, and it's hard to tell which way to go anyway. Good thing Swiftcreek's with me; he always knows which way to go. Sometimes he even predicts where we're headed. Like one day he pointed to a mountain in the distance and said, "I bet we hike that ridge right there." And sure enough that's where we went. I'm glad he's good with directions because I'm definitely not. We took a nice long break on a big tree before walking the last 2.5 miles to the shelter. Saw the Allegheny Trail which goes all the way to PA! Pretty messy trail though - not maintained at all. Made it here, had dinner and have been enjoying the company. So many people out here today. We all got bunched up coming out of town. Helium caught us on the trail today. Good to be back with him after chasing all the way from Damascus. Also Buree, Two Shoes, and Restless here with us. Passed Wayfarer and Stickers today and have Red - B and Homebrew here tonight, too. Also passed Treegirl doing a slackpack south (probably see her tomorrow) and some members of the Virginia Tech Outdoor Club (who maintain this section of trail) went by, too. Good to see some fellow Hokies! We're not that far from Tech, here. Tomorrow we pass Wind Rock, an overlook that Swiftcreek and I visited many times while I was in school. When we walked there before, we only had to go about 1/4 mile from a road. This time, we'll have walked almost 700 miles to get there. Looking forward to it!Saw some deer today. Big herd of them up on the ridge. And some nice views as we walked along. We're loving this trip so far. This is an exciting week with Wind Rock tomorrow and Dragon's Tooth, Tinker Cliffs and McAfee Knob coming up. Then only 8 days to Waynesboro! Definitely not feeling the "Virginia blues". Love to family and friends! Hope your Sunday was as restful and peaceful as ours! Clear skies and a warm fire - great end to a great day.