Date: 2016-04-18
From: Camp Near Damascus

To: Off Whitetop Mountain
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: clear sky

I woke up around 8 today with the babbling of the river behind me. The winter gear is slowly shedding away as the warmth of the spring moves in. I used to sleep with fleece pants, big thick wool socks, my bag liner, coat and base layers. This was the first 3-4 weeks of the trail. But now I can sleep with the rain cover off of my hammock so I can see the stars above me on a clear night. The extra layers have left my sleep system and my pack altogether.Learning Curve, Optimistic Dreamer and Baby Chicken were sitting around the fire drinking coffee when I first woke up. I first woke at 7, but decided to take the hour to just appreciate the warmth and comfort of my "bed." When we moved out of camp, there was a detour due to a bridge being out. The river wasn't small enough to ford so the route of the AT had been changed all together. We walked alongside of a wide mountain river and eventually gained elevation. As we rose up above the water, it's voice became quieter. We worked up a long, steep climb with switchbacks. The valley below us came into view. Little farm houses and perfectly squared off fields dominated the landscape. As we went higher, the tops of the hills around us became part of the scenery rather than a towering opposition from a view. I made my way to the Saunders shelter around 10:30 to make my oatmeal and coffee. It's an easy combination to make as it requires very little effort. This is good for me in the morning when my motivation to do anything other than hike is non existent. Learning Curve went up the hill to get better service to call his father. I went downhill from the shelter to the water source. There were 3 deer down by the spring when I arrived. I took a couple of minutes to savor this truly unique experience. Only 30 ft off from me, the deer went about their business. The overwhelming human presence in their habitat has caused them to lose their inherent fear of us.We left the shelter and worked over the ridge line. Groups of hikers came southbound, all of them greeting us with friendly smiles and intrigue. It's too early for them to be SOBO hikers, and their admiration of us lead me to assume they were sectioning. I guess it's pretty easy to spot a thru hiker when we come by. Our weathered appearance and steady strides are easily recognizable. We stopped a couple of hours later to snack by a green algae filled pond. Learning Curve and I decided it would be a good thing to stick together through as much of VA as possible. I enjoy hiking with him as he challenges me. He hikes hard and never lets up. We've both struggled to get going after Damascus so I believe that we can bounce good energy off of one another and make it through together.The plan is to get up to 25 miles a day again and keep it steady there. Assuming that can be done, we'll make it out of VA in under a month. Once that's out of the way, we'll officially be at the halfway mark. It's hard seeing all of our friends names in the log books. Most people we know are anywhere from. 5-15 days ahead. I don't regret getting off trail for the week, but it sure us thrown me off a bit. Our bubble was bound to burst eventually, I'm just happy to have a friend to go along with. It's a good thing.We fell short of our 25 mile mark by a considerable amount. We were only able to put up 12 miles. It's sad because I've gone from a 44 mile day, to hardly over 10. But I learned this virtue at the beginning of the trail; listen to your body and it will be good to you. It's ok to push a little harder than what's comfortable, but injuries as small as blisters will only contribute to more setbacks. This is a retraining/toughening phase. To give ourselves credit, we did have over 3000 ft of elevation today. It's just hard because a they hiker's perspective is jaded once we see big miles. My patience will pay off, and I know it's time to rest. Tomorrow we will push and shoot for the 25 again, and we'll do it together.I lay in my hammock tonight overlooking the valley below. The sun set earlier off to our right and the moon is pouring white light through my bug screen. There is no rain cover over me on this warm and clear night. Just the stars, the lights from homes below and the crackle of the fire off to my side.