Date: 2007-04-05
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Pearisburg! VA
Miles today: 30.8
Weather: overcast clouds

After Osprey bailed last nite I thought a lot about my plan and decided to go for it-the original plan. Get up early & hike 30 miles to Pearisburg! Bust it out!Pish! I'm not splittin it into 2 15-ish days. Wouldn't know what to do the rest of the day-sit in the shelter?? Plus if i don't catch Osprey or somebody in town I may be hikin alone for weeks! I don't mind a nite or two solo in the shelter, but it's nice to swap stories of our adventures each day.The temps were supposed to drop dramatically over the next few days and last nite was pretty chilly, ?mid to high 20's.So i bailed at "0-dark 30" (0430) and cranked in the dark til 0630-ish.It was a chilly morning, the wind blowing and temps ?mid 20's to low 30's all morning. It was cold, but it makes me hike faster to stay warm-a good motivator. Just about sun up it started SNOWING, no accummulation, but actual snow falling!Unbeleivable! The first half of the week has been oppressive heat- 70's Sunny humid, no wind; then it got windy for 2 days, but still hot (the wind a real blessing!) Now snow only a day later!! Wild!Cranked hard to Wapiti Shelter (14.2miles)by 0945. Psyched!Met The "Stash" Brothers. Doing their last section of the trail-Damascus to Harper's Ferry, then they're done! Slow and steady but they're gonna make it!Much better energy today than my last big mileage day.Continued on another 8.4 to Doc's Knob shelter, a little slower. Got there by 1350 and back on trail afta a break by 1415.Hard to stay focused and motivated on long day without a fast pacer, easy to slow my pace (tired) which makes a long day MUCH longer and harder. Got to maintain good pace and crank it out before it gets away from ya. Finally made it to Angel's rest, overlooking Pearisburg. What a georgeous view!Then I CRANKED running the 1.9 miles all downhill with switchbacks all the way to town in 35 minutes!I was flying. Tough to stop quick for misteps, surprise corners and tough footing. Yikes. Took a header earlier on a much less steep decline, scraped up my knee. At this speed it would hurt a LOT more!I was psyched to roll in by 5pm-right on time! 12 1/2 hours!Checked in to my motel, left a message at Osprey's hostel. Never heard from him. Did my laundry, grabbed an awesome steak dinna at the Mexican restaurant next door. Catching up a little on my journal. WAY behind.WHAT A WEEKDamascus to Pearisburg 162.6 miles in 7 days!!23.8 Slack pack   [hot/humid]20.2               [hot/humid]19.7 (with 4hours off trail for church & breakfast) [hot/humid]25.5 [hot/humid]19   [tough climbs, hot but strong breeze]23.6 (with 2+ hours off trail for resupply & lunch) [hot but very windy-nice]27.9 THE BIG DAY into Pearisburg [BRRR-COLD, windy, SNOW-but great to hike in]What a week!It's amazing what a strong pace will do!Don't think I wanna maintain such a hi mileage rate though, unless it stays cool for while. A little less would be ideal mileage.Well that's all for tonite. Hopefully I'll have some time and find a PC that can upload photo's from my camera phone SD memory card soon.Gotta resupply tomorrow morning and get outta here by ??noon.Hopefully I'll hear from Osprey, if not guess I'll head out sometimre afta lunch.Not sure what I'll figure out for Easter Sunday church & food.Like all trail days, all plans are flexible!FedEx[editorial note-I say all the above NOT to brag cuz there's plenty of hikers out there who kick my ass crankin out REALLY big miles EVERY DAY or hikin MUCH faster than I can (see Woodstock, TunaMac, Osprey at times, etc). I ramble on braggin cuz I'm amazed how much I can crank when i push myself-especially when someone is there to push me (see Turbo, Osprey,etc); I'm humbled when I read their shelter register entries or trail journals!]