Date: 2003-05-03
From: Pearisburg VA 

To: Pearisburg VA (Zero Day) 
Miles today: 0.0

Day 51   Avg Mls/Day 12.2Weather: Partly Cloudy morning thru mid afternoon. High temp in 60's. Cloudy in evening scattered showers.Not a bad zero day. Got out around 7 and the first person I run into is Charlie. We go next door to the Sports Cafe for breakfast, but they don't open until 9. I know there's a family restaurant a mile or so at the other end of town. It's nice so we decide to walk there. There's also a Walmart Super Store across from the restaurant and Charlie needs a new fuel canister. We get to The Friends & Family Restaurant and get excited over a great breakfast menue. I have the usual bacon, eggs, fried potatoes, biscuit & gravy, 2 pancakes, O.J. and coffee. It was very good. We no more than sit down and seated next to us is the Goldberry group...Gb, Mom, Ben and Lucky. Mom takes a picture of Charlie and I pigging out. She says I've lost weight since Clingman's dome... so I'd eat up.After breakfast, we head over to Walmart. They don't have Charlie's fuel and are also out of the yellow bottles of Heat (fuel for alcohol stoves). I take an hour or so to browse the store, carefully selecting food based on weight and fat content. (okay, and price). Charlie realizes he needs to get to the Post Office before it closes at noon. He takes off and that's the last I see of him. I buy crackers, Famous Amos cookies, Little Debbie brownies, 3 oz tuna packets, velvetta cheese, instant mashed potatoes, an apple and a couple of bannanas. I'm getting a pretty good drop box and some treats from friends in 4 days so I try not to overdo it.I go to the DQ and get a large Heath Blizzard...need those fat calories.When I get back to the room, the Motel Manager let's me use their computer to access the internet. After updating and editing my journal I spend a couple of hours visiting trailjournals. It's great to see Molasses is still trudging away...Footslogger too. I don't think I'll get to see them on the Trail unless I go back for Trail Days in 2 weeks. I see AWOL has also started his journey. He was really preparing in ernst for this and I sincerely hope it works out. It sounds like he had a sore knee right off the bat. Kind of worisome.Went back to the room and laid around waiting for a call from Julia. It came and we chatted awhile. Things seem fine at home except the landscaping is going to hell. She's going to get an estimate to replace some of the dead stuff. She's also going out tonight to a nice dinner on her employer while I'm eating at the DQ...but I'm not complaining.For dinner I go to Sports Cafe next door and have a grilled pastromi & corned beef sandwich and fries. Then to the DQ for a chocolate shake. After that I go to the Food Lion for a Hickor Farms beef stick and a premade hogie for tomorrow.Then it's back to the room to pack up do this entry and take a shower. I'd like to do nearly 20 miles tomorrow to Pine Swamp Branch Shelter. It's going be some climbing out of this valley so it could be a tough day. The weather after tomorrow doesn't look good...rain Monday and thunderstorms the rest of the week. Would like to be at Four Pines by Wednesday.Along the line of gear talk is water bottles/hydrators and treatment. I like very much my 2 liter Platypus hydrator. It allows me to sip water without having to stop and take off my pack...nice when it's warm out and I need a lot of water. I also have the Aquamira drink bottle with built in filter. It allows me to dip into springs and drink cool water without waiting for treatments to work. When I get to camp, I use the Aquamira treatment (liquid drops from bottles) for 1 or 2 litres for cooking and fillimg the hydrator. I have a colapsable platypus 2 litre container for this. I also carry one more small (16 oz) nalgene bottle that I use for flavored drinks like lemonade. All of this has worked so far but we'll have to see if it's enough for the hot summer temps.Thought for the Day: Too much in the food bag can waste energy and money.