Rolling through Virginia

Since we checked in last a few days ago we have traveled some 165 miles to Pearisburg Virginia. Along the way we have begun to appreciate just how gorgeous southern Virginia is. The ridges we hike come flanked with sprawling farm flecked valleys, the hills topped with shady oaks, and the towns with all you can eat restaurants. It's difficult to tell whether or not the beauty is due to the arrival of spring or the landscape itself. Spring is finally and definitely here; the hike into town today was an explosion of green leaves and pink and white blossoms.

We've quickened our pace lately as the mountains here are more tame. They're still a challenge to climb, but we spend more time along ridge lines and creeks than mindless ups and downs.

Big events include the mount Rogers area (think middle earth), Grayson highlands with its wild ponies, a shelter where you can order pizza, fresh ground's leap frog cafe, the self sustaining Woods Hole hostel/ farm replete with guinea fowl, and celebrating a German hiker's birthday.

Fresh grounds cafe deserves a bit of explanation. Fresh grounds did a large portion of the AT last but feels called to feed hikers this year. Armed with a large tarp, grill, small collie names dotti, and a thick North Carolina accent (Virginia is Vah-gin-yuh) fresh grounds feeds hiker massive amounts of bacon, eggs, potatoes, beans, hot dogs, fruit, soda, and coffee. He started in Georgia and stayed for a few days, then packed up and headed about 200 miles (it varies) north on the trail to do it again. He's made about 6 jumps so far and we've caught him on his last 2. Fresh grounds is an incredibly generous guy keeping us all motivated and fed. Also, he runs completely by donation, which is incredible given the spread he puts out. Below is a picture of maybe 10 hikers all chowing down at his camp a few days ago.

Also pictured are wild pony foals, me and the chocolate lab Amicooa at woods hole, a pony licking our friend tallboy's legs, Cinnamon and Garfunkel hiking on a bridge along a bike path the AT briefly follows, and Garfunkel creepin' behind a rock at fat mans squeeze.

Oh! I met Lady Grey today too. She's my tea counterpart on the trial. I've been hiking a few days behind her for a long time and every time either of us met anyone new they immediately asked if we'd met. Also, apparently my name makes people think I'm an old man, which is always funny when a new face looks in a shelter asking for Earl Grey is looking right at the retired guys.

The road to Damascus.

We have finally entered Virginia as Tyler mentioned and are staying in Damascus, another one of the towns the trail runs through. We are taking another zero as the massive storm moving across the US passes over us and we've already done out usual bout of laundry, showers, gorging, and shopping.

Before mentioning anything else, I should mention Tyler's road to Damascus conversion from Tyler to... Garfunkel. Yes, Tyler's trail name is now Garfunkel after almost becoming "nerd." A hiker we met the other night saw us hiking down into a shelter and said we looked like Simon and Garfunkel since Tyler has lately had incredibly poofy and curly Garfunkelesque hair. After a few lines of 'bridge over troubled waters' the name stuck. So we are now Earl Gray and Garfunkel.

In other news we've been incredibly blessed the past few days. Dave and Steph Schools, friends from college, met up with us at laurel fork shelter and brought pizza and thin mints! There is always the fear of reconnecting with old friends and finding things to talk about but the School's generosity blew that right out of the water. They've been doing great (ask Dave about his poems) and were eager to share what they've been given. Thanks again for the best trail magic so far Dave and Steph.

We also hit the jackpot at the post office yesterday. After hiking 18 miles into town in 5 hours (we really, really wanted a second lunch) and dropping our packs we had to lug some 8 packages back to the church hostel were staying at. Thanks to uncle bob, mom, dad, grandma Colby, the reeds, and both sets of Ewings. We were so inundated with food we only had to buy about 5 things in town. Uncle bob's package was probably the best as I've got a passion for salt water taffy and a thirst for anything that's not just water. Thanks for the tang and taffy uncle bob. Moms package was a close second, but if the message on the Reed's package is true than their next package will blow our minds and destroy the competition.

We've sunk into a good hiking rhythm after 36 days and the trail continues to defy the monotony some people are beginning to experience. We've been swimming twice since our last post, once at a waterfall and again at a flooded lake picnic area, both times with patch and his service dog Sophie: everybody's favorite hiker. Hiking with patch and Sophie makes me miss my families beloved yellow lab Leia, who hiked with us for years. Hiking with a dog is heavenly. You always have a companion, warm pillow, swimming buddy, and occasional pack mule.

As Tyler mentioned Tennessee has been excellent: astonishing gorges, blue lakes, and vivid green valleys. I've been looking into other methods of photo sharing as uploading to flikr has been an unmitigated disaster. We hope you enjoy what we an post.

The things in foil are smoked turkey legs a restaurant owner gave to us. The guys sitting down are father-son duo medicine man and kudo. Kudo, as Dave and Steph discovered, is a near perfect Phil Buzzeli clone. The first thing I said to him 200 miles ago in the NOC was asking if he was related to Phil. Also, for a while both our phones and cameras were dead, so despite hiking 10 feet from a dozen milk kine and over a flame-orange lizard we got no pictures.

Flora and Fauna

It has become a little project of mine to take pictures of all the new flowers that we've encountered along the way. With spring arriving quickly, I thought I'd share a few of my finds! I'm sure most of you have seen these flowers before, but the little color they add to the Trail has been a daily boost.

Kyle and I have also been fortunate enough to see a wide range of fauna as well (though no bear yet!). Innumerable birds, white tail deer, a hen turkey, several salamanders, a few lizards, a snake, and a few curious bovines. We have also heard coyotes howling on several occasions, as well as the sleep preventing hooting of owls!

Done with Tennessee

Right now Kyle and I are sitting in the 24 hr. laundry mat in Damascus Virginia just a few miles from the the Tennessee border. 3 states already completed! As Kyle mentioned in a past post, Virginia contains the most trail of any state (about 25%). You also might be interested to know that we've graduated from 10 to 20 percenters!

I'm still avoiding the Hiker Plague and hope to keep it that way. Tennessee has been one of the most beautiful and adventure/fun filled portions of the trail yet, even though it only took about 4 days to complete. The terrain has beenmostly rolling hills with few steep ascents. Throughout our hiking we have experienced many trail conditions from gravel, to dirt, to leafcovered, to snow encrusted, to completely water ssubmerged, but Tennessee provided us with an even dirt path about 2 feet wide most of the time. We hope to upload more pictures to the slideshow soon, but I'll give you a little preview!