VA!

This is Luke typing from Stuart 106 in Emory, VA. My friend, Kevin, picked us up in Damascus, VA which is 463.0 miles north on the Appalachian Trail.

After a few days resting at Meadowbrook and eating constantly, my mom (who is great) dropped Caleb and I back off on the trail at US19E in Roan Mt, TN on Wednesday around noon. The next 16 or so miles were unique because it was a section of the trail that Caleb and I had done a test run on when we first got the idea of thru-hiking. We had memories of huge hills and little water from the summer before last when we had been on this particular section. After our three days in the woods back then, we returned to the "real-world" and gorged ourselves with massive amounts of gatorade and junk food from a small convenience store that is now out of business. We discovered back then that the A.T. was tough! So we were prepared for some hard hiking on Wednesday.

Much to our surprise, the huge mountains of two summers ago were now anthills. The section from Roan Mt, TN to Damascus, VA has been the flatest part of our hike to date. We got a good laugh at how out of shape we must have been when we stumbled out into the woods with our 50+ pound packs two years ago. We recognized so many spots where we once took a break/got some water/thought we were going to die of thirst. What we did in three days two summers ago, we hiked in 24 hours from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday Morning. It was definitely enjoyable remembering our old trip, though.

The weather has been how it seems to have been this whole trip. 75% of the time it is either raining or acts like it is going to. The other 25% is wonderful and we appreciate the sun so much. This section of the hike did not have many mountaintop views, but stayed at lower elevations and followed streams which occasionally led to some beautiful waterfalls. We also had the chance to hike through a beautiful prairie for about a mile. While mountaintop views are great, it was nice to have a different kind of hike with a little change in the scenery. This 75 miles has also been a bit more solitary. We've hiked with a couple of girls from New Zealand and reunited with Mule (the guy who delivered us mom's food to the shelter), but other than them, we have not seen any other thru-hikers. With the big winter storm that lasted a couple of days, we think some thru-hikers might have called it quits. Or at least taken an extended stay off the trail. Anyway, according to the trail journals that are in the shelters, there isn't really anyone three days in front of us or three days behind us, which is kind of odd. We were used to meeting new thru-hikers everyday.

Another weird thing is how section hikers are suddenly looking to us for advice. My backpacking experience was really pretty limited before this trip, but now I find myself giving advice to all sorts of people that are asking about my gear, or how I do things, or what a good part of the trail to hike is. I just think that it's so funny how in a month, I have suddenly become a revered outdoorsman to some people, even though I feel like I'm just a kid taking life one step at a time at the moment. I have to admit, it's pretty cool.

The shin was feeling much better heading into Damascus, but on the extended decent into town, I began getting blisters on the top of my toes from my boots so I foolishly switched to my flip-flops for the last three miles. My shins started to kill me. I took so long getting into town, that Caleb actually dropped his pack and came back up the trail to look for me. So, no more hiking in flip-flops. Like I said, I can't believe other hikers are looking to me for advice.

My good friend, Kevin, picked us up in Damascus on Sunday evening and brought us back to my college, Emory & Henry, which is twenty minutes down the road. We're taking two zero days here, to give me a chance to say goodbye to all my friends before we all go our separate ways into the big, scary real-world. It's been great seeing everyone and sleeping in my old bed, here in Stuart 106. My Emory friends have been wonderful here. From giving us rides (Kevin), to sleeping/storing things in their rooms (Eric, Chris, Kevin), to making us all-you-can-eat suppers (Shanna), to taking us grocery shopping (Dale), to just being excited to see and talk to us (everyone). It's been great and I'm going to really miss life in Emory.

As showcased here and throughout my other posts, my friends and family have shown us tremendous support throughout the southern portion of the trail, but sadly, Damascus is really the last spot that we will be catered to. For the next 1700 miles, we will have to be much more independent than we have been up to this point. While the support has been incredible, it will be exciting to be a stranger in a strangeland for the next few months.

Again, thanks for following us on here and commenting on our posts. It's awesome that you care. We've put some videos up on YouTube from the first 400 miles or so of the trail and you can watch them by clicking under "A.T. Video Adventures Fun." We've also put a new poll question at the bottom of the page. I am going to make sure Caleb adds his photos, because he has some good ones.

We'll post soon, from up the trail in Virginia.

Take Care,

NoseHose