Date: 2019-06-20
From: Daleville, VA 

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 130.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I made it into Waynesboro today after my longest stretch on the trail since my injury - 7 days, 6 nights and 130 miles since Daleville. Along the way I saw a naked man, a glass dinosaur, three deer and some amazing views. Now views and deer are pretty common, the other two you might be wondering about. This stretch was a lot of fun in that I was able to up my mileage again, hike with friends, and the weather was great. But part of the excitement of the AT is you never know what you¢re going to see or who you might meet on a given day. After traveling three days and 57 miles from Daleville, I hitch-hiked for the first time into the small town of Glasgow. I was with two friends at the time and it was pretty easy. Along the trail, people get used to seeing AT hikers hitching (backpacks and trekking poles are a dead give away) and you can usually find a ride wherever you need to go. Glasgow was unique in that it had a town run shelter with a shower, trash cans and porta-potties  - a thru hikers dream. It also featured a twenty foot tall glass dinosaur in the middle of town. Besides that I think it had two gas stations, an Italian restaurant I went to that evening and a dollar general. Safe to say they are known for the dinosaur. A couple days later I was hiking up to a road crossing when I saw a man probably in his sixties walking down the trail in sandals, a backpack and nothing else. He acted like it was the most normal thing in the world and said something like ¢great day isn¢t it?¢ I just looked straight at the ground and replied ¢yup¢ and went on my way. The AT is weird sometimes.I¢ve wanted to do a write up about trail lingo for a while and figured this would be a good time to do so as I did my first ¢hero¢ day this week and found out I¢ll have a good amount of friends ¢aqua blazing¢ the Shenandoahs next week. Below is a list of definitions for common AT phrases.Zero day - pretty self explanatory, a day you don¢t hike. Typically a day you stay in town or in a hostel.Nero- a day you hike less than ten miles, frequently a short day you hike into town and then spend the night.Hero Day - a day you go into town to resupply and still hike 15+ miles. I did mine into Buena Vista, VA. Picked up new shoes at the post office, got food at the dollar store, then cut my insoles to fit the shoes and packed up my bag at a booth in a Hardee¢s before getting back on trail.White blazing - following the exact path of the AT. Purist - someone who follows only the white blazes and does every possible mile of the entire trail. I would put myself in this category.Blue blazing - taking side trails or shortcuts to cut mileage while on AT. Yellow Blazing - getting in a car to skip miles or sections of the AT. Very frowned upon by purists.Aqua blazing - floating by canoe or raft down the Shenandoah river to bypass hiking the Shenandoah National Park. Bit of a gray area.Slackpacking - having someone stage all of your gear except food and water for the day up the trail so you can hike a section without the weight of your whole pack. Typically offered by hostels for a fee.Trail Magic - free food or goods (toilet paper, hand sanitizer, etc) set up to help thru hikers - typically at parking lots or road crossings. Always a treat and often done by former thru hikers.Trail Angels - people who do trail magic or give hikers free rides or places to stay. Some of the nicest people you¢ll ever meet.I¢m sure there¢s a lot I¢m forgetting- I¢ll try to do another list later in my hike. All in all though, things are going great. I¢m staying at my friend Fisher¢s house near Waynesboro tonight (he graciously offered to let me stay for free and even gave me free food from a grocery store he owns) and will be heading into Shenandoah National Park tomorrow which features some of the easiest (in terms of elevation gain) terrain on the AT. I¢m hoping to be out of Virginia and cross the Mason- Dixon lone in a couple weeks. I¢ve already been in VA for a month and will be glad to see another state line. Thanks to everyone still reading this and sending support - it means a lot.- Kevin ¢Crypter¢-Kevin