Smokies - Pearisburg Va.

Here we go

Send off

First and only view of the smokies
2000 more miles to go (Child of fortune)

Uconn Rass Putonn and bowl of something

Sheets of ice

How do these trees fall over?

One more state line down

Luke and his 90 year old hands

Steve-o's Out! we forgot to tell him it might be raining in the Smokies

We could have walked home from here

Sun set on Max Patch summit

.Guess how big this tent was

Jadus

Walking into Hot Springs

L-Train and street dog

Andy. He usually isn't this mad

Breakfast and Dinner

Walking out of hot Springs

Because everyday is a Great Day

Beauty.

Sun set on Little Bald mountain

Luke's worse April Fool's joke ever

Beauty.

Erwin

setting up camp

Unaka Mountain Summit

Comming down from Roan Mounain

Roan mtn. in the morning

Hump mtn. Summit

Hump Mountain

Table Rock and Hawk's Bill, weird

Back on the trail...

Our First waterfall from our first hike together

Our First Camp spot from our First Hike together

Massive waterfall

Massive

Mule.

Weird a beautiful day

Worn out but in VA!

Mt. Rogers and High Country

PONY STAMPEDE

...Seriously

Luke loves ponies

Attacked my ponies from out of nowhere

I think the brown one is sneaking something out of my pack

Pony kisses

Wild Ponies aren't as dangerous as one might think

Tunnel

Cave

Cow

Sociable Rabbit

Pizza delivered to Partnership Shelter

General, NoseHose, and Spielberg checking out the Pizza

"Barn"

I-81

Virginia Cows

sleeping under the picnic table in a storm isn't the best idea

probably the best weather ever

Davis Farm campsite

Cliff chair

Honey-Do in some sweet Jorts

I-77

Va. Sights

Beauty.

Questionable camping spot

Virginia Country side
Moon Set

Luke and Sun rise on Angel's Rest

Caleb and Sun rise on Angel's Rest

Sun Rise between boulders on Angel's Rest

Please excuse the laziness. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

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

A break from the trail...

This is Luke typing from the Meadowbrook Inn in Blowing Rock, NC (left the trail in Roan Mountain, NC, 387 miles up the trail).

Sorry about the abrupt end to the last post. The Hot Springs Library was sort of a low budget operation that had about four or five computers to accomodate about twelve thru-hikers that were in town. After thirty minutes the librarian politely asked me to leave so others could use the computer. Apparently, she was not a blog follower.

I left off talking about how awesome my cousin, Stephen ("Steve-o" to hikers), was. He hiked 15 miles (and up 4,400'!) into the Smokies to meet us at the most remote shelter in the whole park. The next day he hiked with us back the 15 miles he had already come the day before, which was almost entirely downhill and really tough on the joints. His last day, he hiked 17 miles to the summit of Max Patch where we all camped. That is just shy of 50 miles in three days! Stephen was out-hiking other thru-hikers who had had a month of conditioning already. Stephen was definitely soar and limping when we parted, but he has earned some crazy mad respect from the two of us and the other thru-hikers we introduced him to.

He also was super crucial in getting us to Hot Springs. With a day left to get to Hot Springs, Caleb and I were low on food, but Stephen left his trailmix and triscuits which were a huge help. Without that food, Caleb was planning on the following menu for our final day before Hot Springs: Breakfast - NutriGrain Bar, Lunch - Bottom of a Peanut Butter jar, Supper - pack of Crackers. For a hiker who burns 4,000-5,000 calories a day, that may not have been sufficient. With Stephen's food, however, we comfortably arrived at the shelter that was just a few miles shy of Hot Springs.

Just as we finished our supper at the shelter, another hiker we had met the night before named "Mule" approached the shelter from the trail holding up a huge Dillard's bag that was stuffed with something. He shouted, "Luke? Caleb?" Since everyone on the trail calls us by our trailnames, it was a shock to hear our real names and we answered, "Yeah?" with a great deal of confusion. Mule excitedly explained, "I met your mom down by the road and she gave me a ton of food and I've carried it for 3.5 miles and it is time to eat!"

We were shocked. We had no clue mom was trying to surprise us along the trail and feed us. She slightly underestimated our hiking speed and missed us, however. Other thru-hikers that we had passed earlier in the day told her that we were probably at the next shelter. Since she missed us, she didn't want the food to go to waste and fed a few thru-hikers (Ketchup, Lonewolf, and Mule) that came through. After being fed, Mule offered to carry us some food to the next shelter and, man, did he carry some food. He delivered us a 15-pound bag of pasta salad, fried chicken, chili, fresh fruit, spinach dip, crackers, and cheese. And we thought we were going to go to bed hungry earlier that morning! Mule said my mom was a great trail angel (someone who provides trail magic) and that she even gave Ketchup and Lonewolf a ride into town. I was in disbelief, but so happy.

I gave you the rundown of Hot Springs in the last post, pretty much. It was a great little town with everything a hiker needs. After getting kicked out of the library, we went back to the Smoky Mountain Diner for supper (cheeseburger with all you can eat pinto beans, onions, and cornbread) where we ate with about ten other hikers and ended up leaving Hot Springs around 8:00 PM on Monday night to venture back into the woods for our first night-hiking experience. Since we had 116 miles to cover by Saturday (where my parents had rented a cabin with jacuzzi, beer, and Final Four access to motivate us), we wanted to knock off a few miles that night instead of taking a complete zero day in Hot Springs. We hiked with our headlamps on for a good while until we got tired. I asked Caleb what time he thought it was and he said, "I don't know, like 9:55?" I said, "No way. It's got to be close to 11:30." We got out my phone and checked...it was 1:00 AM! We hiked 8 miles in the dark that night! We still managed to wake up at dawn the next day and covered 23 miles Tuesday, 24 miles on Wednesday, 21 on Thursday, 23 on Friday, and 15 to reach the cabin on Saturday around 4:00 PM. This was a huge feat for us, because we had not hiked 20 miles in one day up to Hot Springs. We passed all the other hikers we knew and reached another bubble of hikers that were all new to us. We did catch up to one of our closest friends on the trail, Mullet, who had been about a day ahead of us since Fontana Dam and it was great to hike with him for a while. We have some pictures of him up on the blog that you can check out. He is a recent graduate from UF whose band broke up pretty recently. You can listen to his solo stuff at www.myspace.com/boynton. We are fans regardless of how his music sounds (we haven't really got to listen to it, yet).

The weather hasn't been great during this stretch. There has been rain for probably 8 of the last 10 days. It has managed to clear up for some nice views on Big Bald, Little Hump Mountain, and Hump Mountain. We could see Table Rock and Hawksbill from the Hump Mountains, which was really cool. We've been seeing and hiking mountains this entire trip, but never mountains I recognized. To see a pair of mountains that I saw everyday while at home was cool and comforting. Caleb is planning on putting up some pictures once I get done with this post.

The cabin was great. It was everything we were dreaming of while we were hiking those long days. My whole family came, along with Michael, Stephen, Uncle Huss, Aunt Denise (who brought the big one-year-old), and Grandma Peggy. Caleb's dad, Lory, met us at the cabin, as well. He took us to Ingles and bought our groceries, which was great. Caleb and I have decided that we are the most spoiled thru-hikers ever.

We were getting ready to head back onto the trail this afternoon, but have decided to take two additional zero-days. My shin has been acting up since we did those big days but the real reason is the weather forecast. It says that the mountains are expecting 4-8" inches of snow tonight and the high is 33 degrees with a windchill in the low teens. I also want to watch the tar heels play in the national championship tonight since it seems pretty certain I am going to be a law student there in the fall. So, it just seems to make sense to take a couple of zero-days right now. We're already ahead of our expected schedule and are in no rush to arrive in Maine. So, now we are at the Meadowbrook Inn (which has a jacuzzi) in Blowing Rock, NC, and are planning on leaving Wednesday morning for the trail.

Thanks for following us on our journey. Reading your comments is a highlight of my week. To know people actually care about what we are doing makes it feel all the more awesome that we are doing it. Each day I am thankful for the situation I am in and the people around me who are so supportive. Thank you, so much.

-NoseHose

Caleb's Hike...

HEy, today's post...

A good friend recently asked me, “why? Look Caleb, why am I so blessed?” I instinctively responded with a quick superficial witty solution to avoid the complexity and confusion of answering the question, ‘why?’ In reflection I’ve strayed from solution and found myself lost in another question, ‘why ask?’ The trail spans twenty-one hundred miles. These miles climb mountains, fall into valleys, circle ridges, and parallel streams. Never once have I questioned this path. I follow it. Through conversations and literature I gain knowledge about future steps. Each night I reflect and record past steps. I can’t explain the difference between a chosen step and a fated step. I will never be able to explain what makes one step remembered and the next forgotten. I walk the path for what it is. I walk the path and accept where I am. I walk the path, but have I’ve never asked ‘why?’

Caleb's Hike...

HEy! last week's post...




Today’s hike has sparked a forgotten memory. Once my sister and I were sitting upon the foothills we were raised in looking up towards the mountains. We would guess how high the mountains were. I remember my technique would be to first imagine a ruler. I would then take this imagined ruler and imagine flipping the ruler up the mountain side. How many times could I flip this ruler to the summit? It seemed like an infinite amount that I would have to ascribe an exaggerated number to. My sister and I would guess amounts. Her guesses were slightly more logical. However today I realize that my hyperbolized guesses seem to fit this adventure. These mountains aren’t standing in ranges but in random, and infinite is a logical guess. I hope tomorrow’s hike remembers more.