Bland to Perisburg

Another short section this time. We had originally planned on going from Marion to Pearisburg but stopped in bland to take care of bobcats leg. The weather has been scattered thunderstorms for several days now and we started out in the pouring rain. By mid afternoon though it had cleared up and me made it 20 miles to a campsite near dismal waterfall. In the middle of the day we hit the 600 mile mark. It seems like only yesterday we were at 500 and 400 doesn't seem to long ago either. The next day we did 23 miles into pearisburg. Construction going on nearby though means all the hotels are filled up. Luckily some friends from the trail had parents in town and we're able to give us a ride to the next town over. We'll have to hitch later this morning back to the trailhead.

Marion to Bland

Short post because not much happened but I promised I would do better to keep up with these.

The day we left Marion was probably our best town to woods reentry mission yet. We made 26 miles before stopping although we had to night hike for about an hour in complete darkness. The gorgeous sunset right as we came over a ridge into a valley was worth it though.

Our Israeli friend Bobcat and a new friend easy rider have been hiking with us for the past few days. Bobcat hiked a crazy amount of miles to catch up with us. I think it was almost 70 is 2.5 days. Unfortunately now he's got shin splints. We pulled into the town of Bland VA so he could go to the clinic. He got a couple of steroid shots but will be taking a few days off the trail. Luckily his parents were driving to his brothers graduation in new England any way and we're able to pick him up.

Anyway that's the reason we decided to stop here and after taking care of all of that it was late so we ended up staying. Next stop is pearisburg VA which is a pretty big town (at least as far as AT towns go.)

Hot Springs to Marion.

So I am now in Marion Virginia at mile 532 and I've realized it's been a while since my last blog post. Hot Springs was mile 270 something so almost half trip has passed without a post. Whoops. I'll try to sum up as best I can and hopefully pictures can fill in some too.

As I mentioned in the last post I met my parents in hot springs and it was so great to see them. We ended up spending several days in hot springs which is an absolutely awesome town. Bones had to meet his parents in Erwin and had to leave early, we still haven't caught up to him. From hot springs we next went to erwin. Since its been so long I'm just going to list highlights and maybe later I'll go back and fill in the stories behind them. If you want one of the stories in particular let me know and I'll do those first.

The amazing fantastic good luck charm gumby.

Mom's grocery store/abandoned shack/old moonshine ditillery.

The 25 mile hitchhike for waffle house and beer.

Erwin shenanigans and hot tubs.

Chicken anus PBR. With friends!

A dog name luger.

Boys scouts and barns at over mountain shelter.

Filthy hikers eating breakfast like kings at mountain harbor hostel.

The amazing cider salad and beer saga.

The Holy cow burger.

Communal tree climbing 101.

Waterfall shows and thunderstorms.

Norrovirus or just hungry? At kincora hostel.

My firstborn child is for Bob Peoples.

Hampton to Damascus two day sprint.

Damascus: hiker paradise.

Th amazing gumby part 2.

Ponies Gone Wild: Grayson Highland edition.

The first 30 day. Ugh.

It's a Cinco de Mayo miracle!

Milkshakes and rat meat at Marion.

Of course there have been countless mountains and experiences that need no explaining and were just beautful. Roan mountian Mt. Rogers the Grayson highlands 300 400 and 500 miles marks, just to name a few.

Looking back at this list it doesn't involve much hiking. In reality my whole life is walking. Most days I eat a brief cold breakfast and start hiking at 730. And most days I walk until I'm literally ready to sleep with brief stops to shovel food down my throat.  Set up my hammock eat dinner sleep wake up hike repeat. The stories above are the exceptions not the rules. And while that may sound boring I love it. Again sorry for the long break I'll try to keep up this time.