Date: 2009-05-28
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Well here I am, in Waynesboro, VA. There were a number of times this week that I thought I'd never make it here. I've hiked 226 miles in the last 9 days. Days have been good, bad, and in between. So much to tell...Last Wednesday morning I was packing up to leave the hostel in Pearisburg when a couple arrived. They said they'd give me a ride to the trailhead. As I finished packing I realized that the woman was hiking a section and that her husband was slacking her around for the week. What can I say, I am shameless...I asked them if they'd mind if I joined in the fun and they graciously agreed. Hey, anything to keep me on trail another day, right? So Wednesday through Friday I did some big days with support from Tim and Donna who are amazingly kind, and got to go back to the hostel in Pearisburg for a few nights. Good for the body and spirit. I saw the Keffer Oak, the second largest oak tree on the trail (freakin' huge, and yet I almost walked right by it...). I climbed up on Dragon's Tooth which is a large rock outcropping that resembles, well, a dragon's tooth. I spent the large part of one day using my trekking pole as a worm-whacker since the Gypsy moths had taken over the forest. There were so many that I could hear them crunching away at the leaves, while hundreds of others hung from their little webs trying to hitch a ride with me. Friday ended with us at the Homeplace Restaurant in Catawba which is AYCE favorite amongst hikers and locals alike. The restaurant kindly lets us hikers sleep in the gazebos in the lawn which was nice, because after a 25 mile day of hiking and eating my face off ther was no way I was going anywhere. Saturday I made it up to McAffee Knob which is a cool lookout where the rock juts out over the valley below. I had been planning on stopping and staying in Glasgow on Monday but the hotel there closed down. Another incredibly generous man named Ken Wallace does shuttling in the area so he picked me up and drove me to the hotel in Buena Vista. For 3 days he helped me out, and for 3 days he greeted me at the end of a long day hiking with a cold Mountain Dew. Ahh, Mountain Dew...I need to cut back on the stuff or Dateline is going to ask me to be in the follow-up episode to their portait of the "Children of Appalachia."The trail is entirely blown out with Spring. It is official a green tunnel now that the leaves are in full effect. The mountain laurel is all completely blossomed. I've been seeing all kinds of interesting creepy-crawlies, lots of deer who actually stop to look at me rather than scamper away, and some beautiful turtles! Love the turtles... It's been raining on and off the last 3 or 4 days, but it's been a joy! It's hot enough that I enjoy the rain and wouldn't dream of wearing my raincoat as I might keel over and die from suffocation. After a few nights of sleeping with my bag unzipped in as little clothing as I can get away with being in a wooden shack with a bunch of guys, I've decided to ditch my 20 degree sleeping bag for a summer weight one. My sleeping arrangements have proven to me that "no-see-ums" really do exist as I have been ravaged by bugs which cannot be seen. I was convinced it was just my skin rotting off since I hadn't been able to catch a shower or laundry, but others confirmed it really was tiny biting bugs.SO I made it to Waynesboro which was all I could think about for the week+   Tomorrow I am going to catch a ride (somehow) up to Front Royal to meet my fella who has managed to escape from society for a week to hike Shenandoah with me! Saturday we'll get back down here and head North for the week. Sooooooo excited. From where I am now I have a little over 300 miles left to finish up in PA. Well, I also have 80 miles up north to make up (60 in NY and 20 in VT). I may take care of those sections this summer, we'll see. I may actually want to, like, wear makeup on the weekends this summer. Believe it or not, when I am not living in the dirt with strange bearded men, I actually enjoy things like high heels and deodorant. And I prefer sashimi to tuna-in-a-bag. A strange dichotomy...