Date: 2019-06-12
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Daleville, VA 
Miles today: 90.0

This week certainly had its ups and downs. On the bright side, my shin splints have healed as well as I could have hoped and I was able to up my mileage with minimal pain. On the other hand, this week was by far the worst weather I¢ve experienced in the trail.It rained a bit on Wednesday as I was leaving Pearisburg, then poured Thursday through Sunday with no breaks at all. I knew I¢d have to hike through the rain plenty on the AT- it¢s part of the challenge of thru hiking that you have to hike in all weather on the trail. But I had been pretty fortunate so far to have minimal rainy days on the trail- that all changed this week.Hiking in the rain can be very mentally exhausting. I wasn¢t just wet this week, I was drenched. All my hiking clothes were soaked and I had no ability to dry them. Waking up and putting on wet socks, underwear and shirts is a demoralizing feeling. My hands and feet looked like prunes for hours even after I got to shelters and I was honestly worried I might get trench foot or something. My phone got wet and wouldn¢t work making communication very difficult. And the smell of wet and sweaty hiker clothes when people are packed into small shelters is just awful. I also passed by two of the marquee sites on the trail - Dragon¢s Tooth and McAfee Knob - where all you could see were clouds. The descent from Dragon¢s Tooth was extremely challenging because of how steep it was and the large, wet slabs of rock I had to navigate down. It was very tedious and nerve racking at times wedging my feet into slippery foot holds and holding on to anything I could with my hands. I don¢t have pictures because of my phone issues but it¢s worth a google.Sunday night I finally got a break by making it to a hostel. The hostel offered a shuttle to an all you can eat southern restaurant that was amazing and I had a great time playing cards and chatting with about 20 other hikers also seeking refuge from the weather. It didn¢t, however, have any towels for the shower which was pretty odd and disappointing. Despite the weather, I gained more and more confidence in my leg and did two 17 mile days as well as an 18. It was probably more than I wanted to do (was hoping to stick to 15s) but my options were usually limited to a 10 or so mile day or a 17 or 18 if I wanted a roof over my head in a shelter (which I definitely did). I¢m taking a day off today and should be back to full strength this week.Having a day off has been nice and allowed me to visit a great outfitter in town where I upgraded my sleeping bag, pad and water filtration system - cutting almost three pounds out of my bag. It may not sound like much but makes a huge difference over hundreds of miles and should help take strain off my legs.I¢m excited to get back to the trail tomorrow with the new gear and will cross the 1/3 of the way mark about a mile after leaving town. I¢m on pace to reach Katahdin in early October but hope to pick up the pace a bit and get there for September. Finally, I want to wish a very happy 65th wedding anniversary to my amazing grandparents Ed and Barbara Vanderhey. I knew I would miss out on some things when I decided to do the trail and was sad I couldn¢t be with my family to celebrate last weekend. I was able to FaceTime them from the hostel which definitely lifted my spirits. My grandparents are a huge inspiration and very supportive- 65 years together and still going strong! If you¢re still reading this, I appreciate all the support- it means a lot. Until next time.- Kevin ¢Crypter¢-Kevin