Date: 2014-05-31
From: Trout Creek Campsite

To: Catawba Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: scattered clouds

I'm not sure if soaking my feet in the creek helped my feet or not, because I had severe ankle pain in my left foot all night and into the morning. I don't know what is wrong with it, but it has been an issue this whole trip so far. I got up at 6:30am and was packed by 7:30. A slow morning right off the bat. I ate a Snickers bar and was hiking by 7:50am. There was no water for the first 14 miles of trail today, so I drank a liter in the morning and then carried 2 liters with me, which I got from Trout Creek. The day was uneventful for the first 6 miles, just typical rocky VA ridgeline walking. Around noon, I made it to Dragon's Tooth, a stone monolith at the summit of Cove Mountain. The descent from Dragon's Tooth was no joke! It was extremely technical, rocky and steep, and in some places, re-bar was drilled into the rock to use as a ladder. It was by far the the most tedious slow going section of trail yet, but I actually enjoyed it somewhat. When I reached Lost Spectacles Gap, the trail mellowed out a little and I was at VA HWY 624 by 2pm. I decided to hike another 5.9 miles to VA HWY 311 so I could eat at The Homeplace (more on that later). By this time, dehydration was really catching up with me, and I drank my last bit of now warm water soon after I crossed the 700 mile mark. Yes- 700 miles! As dehydration set in, my physical capability changed drastically. I was having a hard time moving my legs, and I was not lifting them high enough as I was walking, which resulted in me banging my feet into a lot of rocks. It was a long 5.9 miles. Every time the trail climbed, I'd get upset because where I wanted to be was at the road crossing down in the valley, still several miles away. After another 2.5 hours, I reached the road crossing, but The Homeplace was 1.4 miles west, and I'm certainly not walking 2.8 off-trail miles. I stuck my thumb out, but nobody offered a ride. Then, I soon spotted two young and attractive women in the parking lot, and asked if I could give them a few bucks for a ride to The Homeplace. They refused the money, but gave me a ride anyway. Soon I was being dropped off at the restaurant, and I put my name on the list, and was told it would be a 45 minute wait to be seated. I got a cup of water and went outside and took my shoes and socks off on the porch of the restaurant, much to the unpleasant surprise of anybody around me. The Homeplace is one of the most talked about restaurants along the AT, and for good reason. They serve a family style all-you-can-eat spread for $14, including drink and dessert. Another thru-hiker named Toceans joined me at my table and we ate a lot. Sweet tea, lemonade, fried chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, biscuits, and much more came out by the plate full. For dessert we had hot peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream on top, washed down with 2 cups of coffee. We both ate much more than we needed to, and when I was done I was so full it hurt to breathe. Seriously, it hurt to breathe. I felt like a snake that ate a horse. I also drank copious amounts of tea and lemonade, which cured my dehydration issue. As we were leaving, the same 2 girls that dropped me off came back to eat there. They were also on a waiting list and so we sat on the porch talking for about 30 minutes. They were both nurses from New Hampshire that moved to nearby Roanoke, VA. Very nice girls. As I was about to go to the road and hitch-hike back to the trail, a 1996 thru-hiker offered me a ride back to the trail. Score! I got back to the AT at 7:30pm, and quickly hiked 2 miles to Catawba Mountain Shelter, which I shared with a group of 4 local girls that are graduating high school next week. This is the first night I slept in a shelter without another thru-hiker. I built a fire and me and the girls sat around it until about midnight talking. They were blown away that I've hiked over 700 miles to get here, and shocked when I told them that I still have almost 1500 miles to go! I am really looking forward to crossing McAfee Knob in the morning. After eating and drinking so much, I felt very strong on the 2 miles since Homeplace, fully hydrated and fully fed. 17.8 miles to Daleville tomorrow where I'll meet back up with Earnhart.