5/20 Hardcore Day 1

0 hiked today, 955.2 miles N, 1218.8 Kinaora in Hampton, TN

Today was completely devoted to hardcore. I got up and ate breakfast and then headed to the post office parking lot where everyone who is doing Hardcore meet. There we signed waviers and got into cars to start the drive to the work site. The objective of this two day project is to relocate some of the Appaclachain Trail from an old route with poor trail design to a new more environmentally sustianable trail. The old trail used to go straight up and down the mountain we were on and we are replacing it with a sloped trail that winds around the sides of the mountain. These genteler grades will both be easier on the hiker and allow more water to drain from the trail quicker reducing erroson greatly. I rode in Possum's car, a very nice lady who has retired recently to travel, and Santa's Helper, and older gentelman who was also a pleasure to spend time with. I played navigator for the drive and did a pretty good job. At the work site everyone grabbed tools and headed up the mount!
ain to a trail only visable by small red flags stuck in the leaves. Next we went to town pulling off the duff on the surface and side-hilling into the slope to form a flat tread to hike on. I found the work very tough as it showed me all the muscels that has becaome atrophied from disuse on the trail. Dispite this us hikers did a great job. With 80 people we built more than 1/4 mile of trail today in about 6 hours. We did so much work the organizers of Hardcore were scrambeling to mark more segemnts of trail to build before we finished the last ones. After that day of work we were all tired but in good spirits. Several of my buddies who I haven't seen in a long time are here; Snackbreak, Big Gulp, Walnut who is the Goat previously know as Sarah. From the worksite we went straight to dinner where they did a good job of statisfing the appetite of hungry hikers.
After that is was the goodies. Bob Peoples, a ledgend amongst the AT community and the owner of Kinkora, gave a thank you speech. Then he handed out handsome patches. That was all we were exspecting and would have been plenty but then he gave out shirts, hats, and about half a dozen cling stickers. In the end we all made off with a pretty good haul for only 6 hours work.
Then I spent another night at Kinkora but this time I hung my hammock to give a spot for someone inside. The temp is dropping again though so I suspect I will have another cold night. If that happens I think may bounce my hammock forward until the nightime temps warm up.

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5/19 Trail Days 2

0 hiked today, 955.2 miles N, 1218.8 Damsacus, VA

I spent much of today in a haze. I don't why but I have been feeling lonely in a city of thousands of hikers. It is self imposed becuase I have dozens of friends here but I don't want to see them. I think is because I am in a town. I have noticed after being in town a day or so I get headaches and feel general sluggush and iratable. I think my body has adapted to the trail and it really is hard on my system to be in such a noisy busy place. I long for the woods and the hard work but simple predictable life and clear focus.
Enough of my rant. I did do some fun things today. "The Place" hostel in town was where I stayed last time I was here and back then I was annoyed that their kitchen sink didn't have a nozzel. This time I did something about it. I picked one up at the hardware store and now it is fixed.
After that there was a big parade through the center of town. The tradition is that the hikers all group into their respective classes/years and march through the center of town. The locals proceed to try to soak the hikers with hoses, squirt guns, water ballons, buckets, etc. Us hikers are at a distinct disadvantage in that we can only carry so much water so usually we end up with us getting pretty darn soaked. I had heard about this and left all I could at the hostel so it wouldn't get soaked but in the end I stayed pretty dry. The only serious water I ran into was when someone tried to throw a bucket of water at me. I ducked just in time but I only got wet on my back from some splatter. Also during the parade Mount Roger Outfitters was tossing free hiker socks into the crowd. I got a pair of Darn Tough Vermont socks. They aren't my size but I think they may fit Dana.
The rest of the day was spent mostly wandering. I am hitting the sack early and looking forward to breaking out of this funk.

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5/18 Traildays 1

0 hiked today, 955.2 miles N, 1218.8 Damsacus, VA

Today was my first really big day at Trail Days. It started out with Wingheart making blueberry pancakes for breakfast. I got a few of these in me before Caveman and I ran off to get in line for "Hardcore". Hardcore is where a hiker can volunteer two do trail work for two days and return they get a nice patch and ride back to wherever they left off on the trail. That makes my logistics much easier and I like the idea of helping improve the trail I have been using.
I got a slot and so now I have my ride back to the trail.
Most of the rest of the day was evenly split between meeting the people who designed or make the gear I use and meeting up with people who I haven't seen in a while because they or I have gotten ahead.
Some noteworthy experiances is that Gossamera gear fixed my old backpack and Priceton Tec fixed my broken headlamp. Many other manufactures also had people out here helping people get their gear back into trail shape.
I also bought a bunch of small stuff. I got some 200 lbs rope and a small sleeping pad from Ron Bell of Mountain Laurel Designs for $5 each which is a killer deal. Another booth was selling Enertia hiker dinners for $1 each. From Gossamear get a got two super light ground cloths for $6.
Captain, the man I met just before Pearisburg, is here with a booth selling photos he takes to fund his hiking. He has a lot of very nice shots it seems like he doing OK.
I ate some of the leftover thai food for lunch today, yum.
That all was great but even better Dana got a job offer from University of Arizona! It looks like I am likely to be living in Tucsan. We a both really excited.

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5/17 Jumping back 500 miles

0 hiked today, 955.2 miles N, 1218.8 miles left
Damascus, VA

Today I got up early to meet Caveman and Wingheart for the ride to trail days. I was up til 2 last night with packing and nervous energy that towns seem to give me. The pick up was easy with us spoting each other easily by the highway. The ride down was comfy. We got to Damascus late afternoon and Caveman and I helped Wingheart set up his RV. Then I got a lift from Caveman and Lisa, his girl frind who met us along the way, to the "Tent City". It was a mile away from the town center and I had no luck setting up. First I tried to hang a hammock but the woods were packed with Poison Oak and Ivy. After a couple tries of that I decided to tarp in the grassy clearing which turned out to be just as hard. Whenever I found a spot with good drainage and started to set up I would get a couple stakes in the rock hard ground some one would come by a say "you know there is a bon fire they are going to be building there" or "people are going to throwing things from that tent in your direct!
ion tonight". Finally after this happening to me three times I was pretty angry. In a field that was mostly empty the only spot someone wouldn't bug me about was next to the porta johns which is where I ended up. After that I decided to walk around and into town to see who might meet. Everyone is here, I have seen at least 30 people I know. I went back to "The Place" the town hostel and found surprisingly they had a bunk open. I got someone else in my bunk room to put their backpack down on my spot and I walked back to my tarp and pulled up stakes and moved into the Hostel. It is a lot closer to everything and I suspect it will be a quieter place to sleep.
While out and about after that I ran into Caveman and Lisa and they gave me a lift back to Wingheart's RV where I got to cook a real meal for the first time in months. I made Thai Drunken noodles which came out OK. The ingredients had to be improvised in some cases. :( It just a pleasure to saute again! I am spending the night here at the RV because Caveman and I are going into the exhibitor's area early to sign up for Hardcore, a trail buiding project they do every year right after trail days. This year the slots are limited and we want to be sure to get one. It is fortunte I am indoors too since it is pouring outside. I would have stayed dry but it is not fun having to do so.

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5/16 Reflections on Shenandoah

13.4 hiked today, 955.2 miles N, 1218.8 miles left
Front Royal Hampton Inn

I had a easy hike into town today. It was only 13 miles of very warm hiking. While I was making breakfast I saw a deer playing around in the shelter water source. I took that as a good sign I should add iodine to my water today. The trail to town did have some serious assents and decsents, 1000' and 500', but the trail construction was so well graded that I hardly noticed them. I saw more dogwoods and columbin near the trail.
Since I have left Shenandoah National Park I thought I should write my reflections. Earlier I wrote "Shenandoah is for Drivers" and I think this was a perfect the statement. Skyline Drive is the main focus of the park and the AT a seond class resident. Rarely did the trail have that immersive natural solitude since the road polluted some much of the areas audio and visual. That being said for people who are not setting out for long hikes this is proably a perfect spot. There are hundreds of miles of trail and one can have a wounderful day hike all over. Lots of places provide stunning summits are just a 30-60 minute hike from the road. In addition there are many places have awsome outlooks where one doesn't need to even get out of their car and I hear one can spot lots of wildlife from their car too.
It was another tough hitch into Front Royal but I finally got to a shopping mall in town. There I picked up lunch and the fixings for Thai Drunken Noddles. Wingheart's RV has a kitchen and plan on taking advatage of that! I got a taxi to the post office to pick up some of my forwarded mail and then to the hotel where I am getting picked up tomrrow. Unfortunatly the hotel, Hampton Inn, cost $120 for smoking room but I sucked it up as it would cost me a lot to get a cab ride back and forth to this spot in this spead out town. My room is very nice even if it is a smoking room. I opened the boxes I picked up and again was reminded my friends rock! I got a great beer from Allison which I I have been lounging around sipping while cleaning up and packing. Thanks!

5/15 Nice Nero

19.8 hiked today, 941.8 miles N, 1232. 2miles left
Gravel Spring Hut

I got up early today which wasn't very hard to do. The wind constantly woke me up all night. After went to bed it got even stronger causing my tarp to violently crush down on me or if the wind changed direction a little causing my tarp to balloon and threaten to take off. I am frankly amazed my stakes held though the the night. The wind made me motivated to pack quickly as it was very chilling but very much slowed the packing of my tarp by whiping around and tangling the cords. The day went much mor smoothly once I got going though the wind kept me pretty cold for the first hour. For some reason today was the day of southbound section hikers. I saw at least 6 by 10AM. I got to the highway leding to Luray around noon. I needed to go to Luray to collect my mail and forward it to Front Royal. I was orginally going to resupply in Luray but I have pleanty of food to make it to Front Royal and after that I wouldn't need it for a week while at Trail Days. Hitching in was very tou!
gh but finally one of the NPS rangers picked me up and gave me a lift into town. Thank you! In town I first visted Evergreen Outfitters to get my packages and a replacement spoon for one I had lost. They were very excited to see me as I was their first thru hiking customer ever. They had opened last fall and were trying to build up a reputation and stock for the AT hiker community. They had lots of questions for me. I helped them out best I could. I hope I helped them get into the mind of the thru-hiker. They had three care packages but since I don't want to carry them to Front Royal I took them to the post office to forward. The outfitter gave me a spot to stash my pack while I took care of business. If you take a piority mail package to the post office unopened you can forward it for free. After I was done forwarding my mail I went to get lunch and to check out the Luray Caverans. The lunch was good and then on the way to caverns I realized I had left my camera with my pa!
ck back the outfitters. I decided that I didn't want to go without my
camera and didn't really want to hike the 4 mile road walk to see the caverns so I went back to the offitters to get my pack. It was surprisingly easy to get a ride back to the trail and I was back on the trail.
The next section of trail was pretty nice with easy grades and smooth surface but up and down. Along the way I came across two black rat snakes sunning themselves in the trail. They are hamless snakes and eventually I sacred the off the trail and went on. From one of the information signs I learned the pretty pink flowers I have been seeing are columbine.
My one big disaapointment of the day was getting to shelter. The trail to the shelter crosses a sampy section of trail. There are rocks you hope across to keep your feet dry. Less than 20 yards away from the shelter I slipped on a rock my left foot got soaked in sinky muck and my right leg splattered. Arg!
There are three section hikers in the shelter tonight. They all a very nice.
Tomorrow I will be heading to Front Royal for a long overdue shower and Damascus the next day for Trail Days.

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5/14 Getting a ride

20.1 hiked today, 922 miles N, 1252 miles left
Near Pinnacles Pinic Area

Today I had a fairly long day. I started out hiking with Captain Bly back to the road junction where he had parked his car. We met up with Postcard along the way and as a trio it was very pleasent hike. Great conversation and a easy pace to keep me from burning out too early. They stayed by his car and I pushed on looking forward to getting lunch at Big Medeow where there is a resturant. I got there at about noon and sat down and ordered my food. Then a man tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I could join him and his wife for lunch which I did. They, Jim and Jane, were a very nice couple from, if memory serves me, SC and where passing through the Shenandoah's on there way to a wedding. Jim had hiked part of the AT and was excited to talk about my experiances on the trail. Between he and his wife I barely managed to eat my lunch. They were a real pleasure but pursumably they had to get moving and so they left but not before kindly performing some trail magic by paying my check. Thank you! After that I gave Wingheart a call. I am planning on going to the Trail Days festival in Damascus VA, 500 miles back, and my previous ride, McGyver, had changed his mind about going. Wingheart offered to pick me up in Front Royal which was perfect because it was an easy 3 hiking days away. That will put me there the night before he will drive by on the nearby inter-state. The reast of the day was an easy hike will lots of views of the towns below. I decided to try to get to Front Royal early in the day so tonight I am camping out about halfway betweeh shelters. That trims about 6-7 miles from my remaining distance meaning I can get into Front Royal in the early afternoon. I am near a senic overlook and the trees are not providing much coverage from the wind. That wasn't a problem at 8 when I set up camp but now the wind is really howling. Inmy hammock I have a ground cloth under me to block the wind and a pad under my core. I hope I will stay warm in my ham!
mock.
I only have 34 miles left till my week of zeros for Trail Days.

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