Date: 2015-04-17
From: Pearisburg

To: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter
Miles today: 19.5
Weather: light rain

I woke up about 6am but kept drifting and stayed in bed until 7am. It was extremely difficult to get out of bed. I ate the rest of my cereal and got ready. I got back onto the trail about 8.30am.Then, I walked through about a thousand spider webs. A good portion of them did get stuck to my face. It was quite unpleasant. The trail wound up the mountains for about 8 miles, with a slow incline. For far too long, the trail was right by a landfill. The smell was disgusting, sort of like sulphur and bad eggs. I grabbed an early lunch at the shelter at the top, and the rest of the day was mostly walking along a ridgeline. Mostly gentle ups and downs, until the last couple miles which was switchbacks downhill. The weather started off a bit grey but became sunny and a bit warm. I got sun burnt again. Tomorrow we're predicted more hot and sunny weather, and then Sunday is rain again. Whilst hiking along the ridgeline, a wild turkey ran across the trail. It took me a couple seconds to realise what it was, by which time it had vanished off into the woods. I also saw a type of plane which I think was a Blackbird? It was extremely loud, and I turned to find the source of the noise. Then I had no choice but to keep watching it, because it was actually awe inspiring in the skill of the pilot and speed of the plane. Not long after that, I started to get quite bored. The wifi in town was bad, so I was unable to get new podcasts and lectures to entertain me. Instead, I took out my kindle and put one walking stick on my pack. I walked along and read for a couple hours, and used one walking pole to make sure I didn't twist an ankle. The trail is defined enough that I only accidentally walked off of it into the bushes a few times. The biggest problem with reading whilst hiking is the rocks. The trail is sometimes extremely rocky, and requires full attention. Reading also makes me feel tired faster than just hiking. However, it is a good distraction and breaks up the monotony of the trail. Today was the first time I was really hiking alone, since Brightside is still MIA. I was a little worried that I would be alone in the shelter tonight, but it was an unnecessary worry. The shelter is very busy tonight. Wayfarer (who I met at Woods Hole, and who has already hiked more than 1,000 miles) and another hiker were already here. Frodo showed up just a couple minutes after me, followed by Lorax and Archangel. I finally used the water purification tablets that I bought at a Uncle Johnny's in Erwin. My water is now orange and tastes really gross. I have no idea how this can be so different from the chlorine tablets that I was using before. So, at the next possible opportunity (in 5 days at least), I think I will buy one of the Sawyer filters instead. Being by myself, I get to decide where I want to go tomorrow. Wayfarer said that this section ahead is called the Virginia rollercoaster, because you spend all day going up and down. Tomorrow I have a choice between 18.5 miles and more than 25 miles. I think I will probably have to do 18.5 miles because the heat will make me feel even more tired. At the moment, it's only 7pm but I'm already in bed and ready to sleep. I have been yawning since 3pm. Some days are extremely tiring at the moment and I don't entirely know why. Today I drank a lot of water, so maybe it's just a lack of food/energy in the afternoon.