Date: 2009-05-02
From: Cascade's house

To: Shenandoah, baby!
Miles today: 114.4

Crazy and awesome past week. First though, a slight elaboration on the last entry.There is an area in Virginia north of Damascus called Greyson Highlands State Park. It's an incredibly beautiful highland at around 5000 above sea level. Boulders are scattered here and there throughout a sea of golden grasses in which the waves of wind crash up against islands of evergreen trees. As if not awesome enough already, the area has one very distinct feature - a herd of wild ponies that lives there. Although the ponies are "feral", they're about the friendliest feral ponies one could ever meet. When they see you, they walk up to you and start licking your pants to get the salt off and think nothing of it if you want to take their picture, pat them, or even say hi to their foals. I spent the afternoon up there, basking in the sun (i.e. getting a bad sunburn) and playing with the ponies - all in all a day to remember.Also, another journal!Spokes - Great guy. Has biked across the United States, decided he'd cross the country again just for fun. He's ahead of me now, but I'll hopefully catch up to him at some point. www.trailjournals.com/SpokesI think the other two blurbs in the prior entry are self-explanatory, so on to the present.Coming out of Pearisburg, I had a definite goal fixed in my mind - get to The Homeplace in Catawba, VA by April 30th. What is the Homeplace you ask? It's an all you can eat restaurant that's only open 4 days a week and was rumored to have the best food on the trail. In short, it is every hiker's idea of Nirvana.However, the wonderful thing about having this goal was not just the endless bowls of hiker manna that would come at the end, but the journey it required. Catawba wasn't much more that a 4 day hike out of Pearisburg, but the restaurant's schedule require that I take five days. So my quest basically required me to be a lazy bum, a role which I took up with aplumb the next few days. I was hiking with two guys named Smiley and Zen Master, and our daily schedule was something similar to the following: Wake up at 8, lounge around for an hour and a half, hike for 3 hours, take a 3-4 hour lunch break followed by a nap, hike for 3 more hours, end early and go to sleep. It was excellent.When we finally got to Catawba, we pigged out. The food at the Homeplace was very good, although best on the trail is a bit of a stretch. The impressive thing was not so much the quality but the sheer quantity of food set before our eyes. Obviusly, I ate until I felt like I was about to die. Then I went back to the General Store where I was camping, waited an hour, and then proceeded to eat an entire pint of Ben and Jerry's. I love being a thru hiker.One day out of Catawba, I arrived in my current location - Daleville, VA. This little town also has the honor of being the home of Cascade and her parents, Homer and Teresa. A few weeks prior, I had actually met Cascade's parents when they were day hiking in Tennessee, and they had mentioned that when I got to Daleville they would be happy to put me up for the night. I met them again in Catawba (and actually caught a hitch into town from Homer) and again, they said that they would be glad to host me and the other 4 people I was hiking with at the time.Therefore, when we got to Daleville, we promptly called Homer up and he took us into his home. Through my trail hiking experience, many people have been extremely generous to me and my fellow hikers, but the generosity shown by these people has been absolutely extraordinary. They took us in, fed us, let us do our laundry, shower, and gave us a place to sleep. Then, as if that weren't enough, they offered to let us slackpack* 21 miles today, and then come back again tonight! So here I am, sitting in the computer room in Cascade's house for the second night in a row, well fed for the second night in a row, and incredibly happy. I cannot thank these wonderful people enough for what they have done, and hope I can one day pass on their generosity to other hikers.So in any case, tomorrow it's back to the pack, but right now a comfy spot on a fuzzy white rug awaits.*Slackpacking - Basically day-hiking for thru hikers. Instead of lugging my 30-40 pound pack for this 21 mile stretch, I was dropped off at the trailhead, hiked the miles with a 5 pound day pack, and then was shuttled from the other end back to Cascade's house. Definitely a welcome change of pace.Life, liberty, and the pursuit of Katahdin,