a couple grey beards

14.8 miles. 712.3 camp site to 727.8 HoJos in Daleville. It's practically right on the AT. The parking lot is empty of cars but the place is full hikers some concern about the laundry not working sent some hikers scurrying across the street to another hotel. The issue was resolved when the quarters were emptied out of the machines. If I wear my compression shorts and my rain jacket and crocks with no socks I can wash everything else. I can rinse the compression shorts out in the sink. Not a proper wash but close enough and the shorts usually can be dry or at least dry enough to wear in the morning. I am in the middle of one big bubble. Just north of McAfee knob is a place called Tinker Cliffs. I was looking back hoping to get a glimpse of mckafee knob thinking it was just back around the corner. But it was way the heck over there and I would have never guessed I had come so far and I never would have guessed that scratch of bare rock was the knob. I picked wild blueberries that were ripe. Took a nice long break and watched the thunder and lightening miles away. We have been getting afternoon showers like clockwork. Daleville has a Krogers grocery store and a good Mexican restaurant and a bbq joint called three little pigs. I slid into the three little pigs for bbq. And saw Goat's Beard. I joined him for a good over indulgence. Right when we were ready to leave a real thunder boomer rolled through big rain and big wind. So we sat and had a good visit for a hour or so. I'm making plans to get a ride north and slack pack back. I even bought a grapefruit to have for lunch.
That's Goat's Beard and me, a couple of grey beards. He's a social worker from Boston

80° Partly Cloudy
421 Walnut Ave, Waynesboro, VA, United States

He's WhErE?

Me, demonstrating Judd's route, to the Colby nurses....

Batteries not included

I go a week and this is what I get fromFather Goose. Yes that postage is $14.70 one way. Guess if it's refused they return it for "free."

 

And then, this morning:

It'll take me a while to open, post, download, paste the pics, etc.  Maybe he just got his battery charged.

"sort of a funky place...."

4 pines hostel. Got here at 1030. Really the only reason for coming was because I have a resupply box. It is sort of a funky place and really only comfortable for tenters. There's lawn chairs and cots behind the couches. Take your pick. On the way in I met Goats Beard and Reverse Chicken. And going up to Dragons tooth. A big stone. I fell in with Just Dave. Really the reason for coming here is to get the free ride into The Homestead restaurant. It's kind of a fancy all you can eat. AYCE. Restaurant that embraces hikers with what is rumored to be the eat food on the AT. It doesn't open until 11. But we all traipse off to be first in line. There really are families there in their Sunday best and all us stankyhikers. It was a dang good feed. Sat with Just Dave, Foo and another guy who seemed to be a partner more than a hiker. On the way back to four pines we stopped at a country store and luckily I remembered I needed a new stove canister. Most everyone else on the van got 24 packs of PBRs. When we got back I pushed on turned it into a 16 mile day. This didn't look like it was going to be a very restful place. I was surprised I could hike on a stuffed stomach. But I actually felt pretty good. We've been getting afternoon thunder showers. Just enough to to get everything soaked or cooled off before the afternoon slog and set up for the night. I got up to McAfee Knob. What a sight. There were thunder and lightening storms all around. I didn't hang out too long. Foo was there and he took my picture. He had been hanging around for a couple hours. I just wanted to get well below tree line. All the way up there were no camping signs. It's a pretty well worn track lots of day hikers. So of course just past the knob some idiot thru hiker has his tent set up. I picked my first ripe blueberries on the cliffs just past the knob. Spent the night at Campbell shelter campsite. Mile 712.4 from springer. 1476.8 miles from katahdin.

70° Partly Cloudy
6164 Newport Rd, Catawba, VA, United States

To Hell and Back

It's not easy to get a rattle snake to pose under a white AT blaze. I seem to be hiking in quite a bubble of hikers. Everyone has their snake stories and pictures --now I do too. I am going to slide into the hostel where my resupply box is tomorrow. It took a while to figure out just how far I should go each day. Now that I know I can go 20 miles if I have to. But everyone is going to slip a day or two so they can go into Captain's hostel for the fish fry and the hiker feast . I'm hoping that slows everyone up enough to so that I can slip into Four Pines hostel.  Pretty popular because the guy takes everyone into the local all you can eat buffet. Home place restaurant. Supposed to be the best food on the whole AT. These last couple days were 10 or 12 mile days. Pretty nice.like today I sat at the Audie Murphy** monument for about two hours. Mostly drying things out. I noticed that Murphy's plane crashed May 28. Whoa two days ago in 1973 I think. He was 47. I left pretty early this morning. Technically could get 10 miles in before lunch! Came across a stream and heard the neighbors yell out hey hiker dude, want a doughnut? So I said yes and moseyed over. It was Keychain , Pathfinder and another fellow eating Krispy creams that the owners had given them before they left. An old couple who love the place fighting off some pipeline that's coming through. Pathfinder wants to buy it and turn it into a hostel. There was an old board in the outdoor fire pit that said “Wyoming hotel”. There was an old covered wagon that would be a moveable rentable room like woodchucks teepee in Damascus. Right on the river we even found a swing chained to a tree but you could swing way out over the stream. Pathfinder is really excited and dreaming up all kinds of things for her hostel right on the AT. I trekked into the pickle branch shelter and down a steep trail to load up on water. The. The place was giving me weird vibes and I hike out again all loaded up with water to make supper and get me into 4 Pines . Found a nice stealth sites. Although now I am worried that there is an awful lot of poison ivy around. I had gumbo. Made by pack it gourmet. Wicked good. I've been supplementing everything with beans or corn. I have packets of dehydrated beans and corn. In the morning I put a quarter of a cup or so in this plastic jar I have with a tight screw on lid and add enough water to cover. By the time I'm making supper it's good to go. The other night I had bean and tuna burrito. Darn good!74° Partly Cloudy
7270 Bradshaw Rd, Salem, VA, United States

**decorated war hero and actor--You recall To Hell and Back-- come on, Judd and I aren't THAT old.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy

Lots of other characters

Friday the 29th. That means I'm 12 days into my conditioning 14 days. Seems like I've been at this longer. Today was 10.4 miles. I'm trying to figure out a schedule that gets me into four pines hostel. Written up as a three bay garage with a shower. There a resupply box there and I think I should just about get there with no food in my pack. A close call but that's how it's supposed to work. 12 miles tomorrow and 7 miles to get into town. Rumor is that the fellow who runs it ferries everyone into an all you can eat restaurant. I'm up for that. I got up early this morning and was the first one on the trail. I swear there were 30 tents at this lean-to. People were rolling in at 10 pm. Everyone really close. The people beside me set their tent up directly under where I hung my bear bag of food. I got that down quietly in the morning. Crawled up and over the continental divide. The eastern continental divide I guess. I took a picture. I had just gotten up and over this sort of open space and thunder storms rolled through. I was wondering how all those campers I left sleeping were going to get through here especially with all those metal hiking poles. Saw deer, hummingbirds and they looked like horned toads. Kept passing through air heavy with honeysuckle. No snakes but everyone else seems to have stories and pictures of humongous poisonous vipers. An hour before the shelter it started raining. Got a good bath. Had some hot grits for a late lunch. Then set up my tarp and hammock. I'm getting good at keeping everything dry. Well at least only damp. Took a nap to the plop of rain; woke up around 430 and now it was definitely too late to think about pushing on. Although some of my friends were to find a stealth camp. Pretty much still raining. I'm hoping it'll Peter out by morning. In the last few days have hiked with JC a r eroded firefighter from Nashua. A mom 50 something and son twenty something team. A nice Finnish fellow very insightful American humor. A couple German boys. Oblivious. Smoking cigarettes at the picnic table we were eating supper at. I don't want to think about where those two now empty coke cans are. Lots of other characters. Passed a local young fellow carrying a blanket a tarp and a gallon jug of water. Nada nice chat he's out for about 25 miles of trail. My hammock is comfortable and dry. I don't know how this tarp does it so well.

UNEDITED: "You blow into the tube."

Today started ok but that 20 miles yesterday must have really beat me up. One thing was I started out with no water. I didn't even try to choke down a granola bar. The nearest water was 3 miles away. My mouth was already dry. It was going to be like this all day. I had visions of making 15 miles when I started out. That was going to change. I figured out how to get the last bit of water out of the tube of my water bladder. You blow into the tube. The. That eliminates the vapor lock and you can suck the water you can see sitting in the tube. There were a couple serious ups and down and by the time I got to the shelter campsite 10.7 miles out I was beat. I had thought I was going on to the next one. All I could do is drink water and set up my hammock for a nap. Right before I lay down a hiker was taking off and said it was 2:30. Ah man I thought it was 4:30. I took my nap. It rained. Hikers showed up all afternoon ate and pushed on to the next shelter. Then there was a lull and folks started showing up. I laid down around 730 and since then it sounds like about 40 people have showed up to camp. The is is the circus. People throwing empty come cans. Dropping orange peals and smoking in the middle of cooking supper. It sounds like tents going up all around me practically tripping on my tarp stakes. Earlier a mother and son team showed up. Fun to chat. There is a Finnish fellow and two German boys. Key chain showed up waiting for pathfinder and Waldo. And JC from NH showed up. He's a retired firefighter and built rugged. He moves quick.
Mountain laurel in full swing. Pink lady slippers. Pink trillium. I've got to get up and out early tomorrow.