Date: 2006-10-15
From: damascus

To: lost mountain shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

======2003====== thursday, april 3, day 41we had HEAVY packs heading out of town....pretty hard on our feet and knees*....hey!....but i like virginia already!.....good trail!....although there were a lot of "ups" this mornin', there were plenty of switchbacks (which, in my opinion is always a blessing!)....we followed the virginia creeper bike trail along a river....the views to the mtns. were very pretty....pale sky....charcoal peaks looming up in front of us.....at one point, the river "unfurled" up and away from us like a roll of foil unraveling into the gorge against slopes nearly silhouetted by the mid morning light.....another time, a little village nestled in "ireland-green" paddocks, stair-stepped its way up gentle ridges with white farmhouses, a red barn and what?....a caboose?.....hmmmm.....afterwards, we did lots of ridgetop, sort of "knobbly" walking.....it was very warm....a beautiful day for which we were thankful....we kept "leap-frogging" vagabond and commenting to each other what a perfect day it was for "lolly-gagging" with long, leisurely breaks and easy hiking....one part of the AT actually takes in a mile of the creeper trail.....we thought it might be nice to come back sometime and bring our bikes!......botanical "finds" today : spurred violet, plantain-leaved sedge in full bloom! (very pretty! very white!)...and something that i think may be marsh marigold....i don't know what it was....sort of looked like robin's plantain, only it was yellow.....i spent a lot of time today looking for "trail treasures" to put in a baggie to give to mckenna when i see her : a few blossoms....grapevine "curly cues"....a pretty rock....a pine cone....a piece of lycopodium....a few teaberries...etc...etc....bet she's never gotten a gift like this!...(bet she's never wanted one like this! ha ha!)....our easy pace today also gave me plenty of time to consider again WHY we're out here....shouldn't i really be able to intelligently answer that question?....oh well....perhaps we'll talk some more about that later.....guess my easy day has pooped me out more than i thought.....hey!...maybe we'll see the ponies tomorrow!....well... all the "kids" have gone on ahead....switchin' into "virginia gear" i guess....we need to step it up a bit, too, i guess....we'll be in this state for about 6 weeks......i can't WAIT to see my "babies"!======2006====== friday, march 24, day 41 (20.8 miles from hurricane mtn. to partnership shelter)soooo tired.....walked under our "brollies" all day in light snow.....right now i feel pretty cold and grouchy.....seems that paw-ee doesn't feel so hot either...when will i ever learn that it's better just to remain quiet when i'm tired at the end of a long day?!!....arrrgh!....i always say things i regret....and things ALWAYS look brighter in the morning....for both of us!....i guess the only thing to do now is to try to get ready to sleep here at the "partnership igloo" (and give myself a break for bein' human!).....we'll stay in atkins tomorrow......funny....seemed like this day started out great.....maybe i just need some rest....*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS*heavy packs....hard on feet and knees....if you've been reading our accounts of both our '03 and '06 hikes, then you'll know we had very few pain problems in '06 compared to'03 (thank the Lord, AND His blessing of our friend marilyn griffith who introduced us to natural borage oil!....this, along with lighter packs and increased doses of glucosomine w/ msm, made a WORLD of difference in how we felt on our hike!.....