Date: 2013-04-09
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Perisburg, VA
Miles today: 0.0

In Perisburg at the not so classy Holiday Motor Inn. We crammed 7 people in a room about 20x12 feet long and paid 5 dollars each. I slept in the closet which had just enough room for my sleeping pad. However, it was DRY! Which was what really mattered in the end. Planning on hiking to Daleville and then hitching down I 81 back to Damascus for trail days. All is great on the trail except for the tropical depression that had stalled out directly over where I was on the trail. My athletes foot is not bothering me so much anymore due to the heavy use of anti fungal meds and so my feet are feeling pretty great. Happy trails with smiles and some bigger miles so far. Day 29: First day of true heat! Today was extremely difficult and mostly uphill however the truly worst part about the day was the heat. My long hair felt as though it was super heating my body. I stopped at every spring or stream and dipped my head and a bandanna for some relief. Hiked only 13 miles because of a late start and a hot day. Day 30: Hot again today, but seems to be more bearable. Stomach was a little upset the entire day. I am worried that I might have a virus that has been going around called the norovirus. ATC comminishined a warning about it and many people have been having to quarantine themselves in hotels until the virus passes. We hiked only 13 miles again because the USFS closed a section of the trail for a controlled burn to promote the growth of Red Oak. Hopefully Ill feel better in the morning. Day 31: Hiked 18 miles today over a rocky ridge line. I could see some of the fires on the ridges and also walked through a lot of the burnt areas which was pretty cool. A fellow hiker fell and dislocated his shoulder today, luckily he was able to get a ride in a ATV from the USFS. Camping in Big Flat tonight with the forecast showing a wind, hail, rain, thunder and tornado warning. Should be interesting.Day 32: Woke up to a soaked tent after the intense storm last night. Also woke up to two people in my group puking (they got the Norovirus). We walked to the nearest road and sent them to a hotel while the rest of us went to a hostel to make sure we wernt going to hike into the woods just to be sick like them. Day 33: Got a ride with Miss Janet (legendary trail angel) back to the trail head. I forgot my trekking poles in the back of her van and she came back and forced me to dance to get them back in front of a small crowd of hikers and about 6 cameras. I also met some pre-trail friends at the trail head (Caroline and John) we did some catching up and discussed the trail a little bit and agreed to camp together that night. We camped on top of a huge bald mountain and caught a beautiful sunset. Day 35: Arrived in Erwin for a resupply and a BBQ party at Miss Janet's. Day 36: After re supplying in Erwin I realised that my eyes we're larger than my stomach. I bought so much food that I couldn't fit it all in my bag. One of these food items included a roasted chicken which I strapped to the outside of my pack. At the trail head there was a scale to weigh our packs, everyone weighed in averaging around 40 pounds or so, I was last to weigh when I hung my bag from the scale without water inside it topped the scale at 52 pounds! I yelled out "Winner winner chicken dinner." Needless to say the 5 mile hike up the mountains to camp wasn't a lot of fun but the chicken and boiled potatoe dinner was definitely worth it. Day 38: Slept in a Barn that was converted to a shelter tonight! Day 39: Left the barn and started hiking. Got onto the first big bald of the day with 60 mph winds and rain pelting my face so hard it stung. Hard to walk straight and stay on the trail. But I loved every minute of it. Stayed at the Mountain Harbour Inn and camped under a 5th wheel horse trailer to stay dry. Day 41: Took a hiker bath today in the river just below the massive laurel falls. Didn't do much for the smell though. Camping on the river tonight. Day 44: Hiked 26.2 miles from Iron Mountain Shelter to Damascus today. Its a challenge called the damascathon. Difficult day particularly due to my athletes foot but I made it. I also crossed into Virginia today! Stayed at "The Place" (church run hostel). Planning a 0 tomorrow. Day 46: Decided to Blue Blaze a section called the virginia creeper trail (when a hiker takes a side trail that intersects the AT later on). I did this because this trail followed a river on which I could use my back packing fly rod that my parents sent me from home. I hiked and fished on and off both days that I was on the trail with no success in the fishing department. However the trail and river were both very beautiful. Day 49: Hiking through the highlands today where wild ponies were introduced to keep the vegetation from growing and to maintain the beautiful balds that are there. The Highlands are very beautiful however they are poorly blazed and there are trails created by the ponies everywhere. Because of this I got lost, I ended up about 4 miles on a trail that used to be the AT before it was rerouted. I however didn't know it. I decided to hike on hoping that the trail would meet back up with the AT further on and if worse came to worse I could use my compass to bushwack my way back to the trail. Thankfully it didn't come to that and I met back up with the AT further down. I kissed the first white blaze I saw. I did however manage to see a small herd of about a dozen wild ponies who let me get pretty close for some good pictures. Day 50: Today is my mothers birthday (Happy bday Mom). At this point I have been without cell phone reception for about 10 days and have heard that I still won't for at least another day or two. However I read in my guide that Partnership shelter which was about 23 miles away had a payphone. So I planed on making it there to call mom on her bday. After a long day of hiking I finally arrived and made a collect call (whoops) to my lovely mother to wish her a happy bday. After I called mom I called Dominoes and ordered some pizza to the shelter... Naturally.Day 51: Hiked into Atkins today and hitched a ride in the back of a pickup from a friendly man with not a tooth in his head to the local Wal-Mart for a resupply. After being in the woods for so long I find Wal-Marts stressful and overwhelming so I made my visit short and got out of there. I stayed the night at the Relax Inn near the trail head so I could shower and wash clothes. Ate dinner and breakfast the next day at the Barn (Amazing southern style food). Plans to hike solo for a while away from the group just for fun, will meet back up with them at trail days a few weeks from now. Day 52: Hiked 21 miles and past the 1/4 mark of the AT. Now all I have to do is repeat that 3 more times and ill be done. I hiked onto Chestnut Ridge, planned to go farther but when I saw the view I couldn't leave. Beautiful sunset, and when the sun went down I didn't see a single light from any house or town! First night sleeping completely alone with no other tents around.