Date: 2003-06-04
From: Bland, VA

To: Trent's Groceries
Miles today: 18.6

Got up at 7:00 this morning...Blip had set her alarm and I hadn't slept well all night. It showed too...big bags under my eyes...bleah! I started getting everything together so we could get an early start. With almost 19 miles ahead of us, we needed to get going. No Pepsi was surprised to see us up at such an early hour...he was heading to get some breakfast. We finished packing everything up and hit the Dairy Queen for breakfast...joined No Pepsi there. The Scot also joined us. We ate and talked about our plans for the day...big miles, we weren't sure we would be able to make it. We finished eating and went outside to discover...rain. So much for trying to find a hitch right then. It looked like a passing shower, so we waited it out, then started hitching. Weezer, Cookie and Muk Tuk came into the D.Q. parking lot and headed to the motel. We got a ride to the center of town, where some people who were slack packing picked us up and gave us a ride to the trailhead.!So began our big day. No Pepsi and The Scot quickly got ahead of me and Blip. We met Mud-Butt on our first up. I had read her journal online, but hadn't met her, as she had started ahead of me. Blip knew her, though, so they caught up on people and stories. We headed to the first shelter to use the privy and ended up taking a 40 minute break so we could read the register...not the best way to start a 19 mile day! We continued on at a really good pace. After 2 hours, we wanted to stop for lunch, but couldn't find a good spot...millipedes were EVERYWHERE today. We finally found a dry, nice space...I sat on my backpack (a very versatile piece of equipment!) and Blip sat on her groundcloth. Later, when we were nearly done lunch, she noticed that an ugly worm/bug was crawling into her shorts leg...when she went to get it out, I noticed two other, different worms crawling on the side of her shorts...yuck! I was glad that I was perched on my backpack! Lunch definitely !over, we moved on. We made good time to the next shelter, where we got water and discussed what we were doing. Blip had been feeling great in the morning, but had developed a shin splint in her left leg. She said we should continue on, she'd just be slow. So...we went slowly over the next mile to find soda in the creek for us! No Pepsi and The Scot had left them there (thanks!). We drank them there and continued on. It was a really nice hike...the weather had cooled down a bit, there was a great breeze on the ridgeline and the terrain was easy and smooth. It was taking us awhile to get there, though. I worried that we wouldn't get out of the woods before dark...it was 8:15 already. Finally we came to the last stretch...through a meadow, across a fabu suspension bridge (Seester...you would have LOVED it!) and onto the road...where no one would stop to give us a ride. We walked the 8/10ths of a mile to Trent's, where we were greeted by No Pepsi, The Scot and Chris (the guy who had given us a ride that morning.) The Dude, Thoreau and !Meredith were also there. They had chili dogs, chips and s'mores for us...yay! We ate, set up camp and hit the tents...very happy to be done for the day!