Virginia (Mile 469)

Day 36: April 26, 2015

Weather: morning showers, thick fog all day

Miles travelled: 23.5

Total miles on AT: 450.6

I woke up in the Koncora hostel to the smell of cats, smelly hikers, and freshly cooked pancakes made by the men who'd treated us to spaghetti and cake the night before. Two were thru-hikers and the three were very good friends who  just wanted to do some good and see happy hikers. After breakfast, Bob drove his truck (brimming full of hikers) to the lake and dropped some of us off, and the rest he took into town for groceries. 

The day started with light sprinkles and the whole day was pretty chill. The walk around the lake was gorgeous and I took my time admiring it and taking pictures. I was actually in front of Seth for once. I felt very slow and tired the whole day and I often wanted to stop, but was encouraging to know that somehow Seth was still behind me (I know, horrible). It was probably because his feet hurt more than mine.

About 3/4 of the way through, we started walking together and joking and imagining how we'd stop at the next campsite, or just walk straight through the night and get to Damascus at 2 in the morning, or some awesome trail magic at the next road. Somehow we were kind of right and there was trail magic! Just when I thought I couldn't walk another step, we came across a metal box with a cooler full of drinks and a box of snack cakes for hikers. A man was there refilling it, and he told us someone refilled it daily. We talked to him as we snacked and he told us he liked to see how happy such simple things made hikers, and it was true, we were overjoyed. We've been sort of hiking with this other German guy for the past couple days and he was there too, his name is Andreas.

After our long, lazy day, the shelter finally came into sight and it was totally empty! We got there around 6, which is pretty late, and no one else showed up. It was strange because so far it's been kind of a competition for shelter space and tent sites. Shelters are almost always full of snorers and late arrivals and early risers, but this time it was just the three of us. It was incredibly nice. We managed to build a fire out of all the wet branches lying around, and it spewed smoke into the shelter for several hours, making it difficult to see and breathe but warming us up nicely. 

Day 37: April 27, 2015

Weather: sunny and warm

Miles travelled: 18.7

Total miles on AT: 469.3

Seth and I were both feeling lazy and ended up getting started around 9, and walking pretty much together the whole day. The milles went slowly for me and I was feeling really discouraged and thinking about how nice it would be to just... not walk. 

But we crossed the border into Virginia! It's a big state and the trail is in it longer than any other state, so I'm going to be here for probably another month if I walk at a good pace. 

We made it into town and Seth's grandparents picked us up, since they are even closer now than they were in Erwin. It was just as nice to see them as it was last time. Seth's grandfather is funny and has really good stories and his grandmother is just the sweetest southern lady you could imagine.

Day 38: April 28, 2015

Weather: sunny and warm

Miles travelled: 0!!

Total miles on AT: 469.3

I took a day off! I hung around, playing cards and organizing my things and talking with Seth and his grandparents until about 3, when Seth drove me back to Damascus and I got a room in a hostel. He is taking another day off and it was better for me to come back today. It was sad to see him go because it's been nice to have someone to motivate and be motivated and pushed by, so it'll be interesting to hike on my own again.

I'm staying at a hostel called Dave's Place, and as soon as I got here I started talking to a guy from New Mexico (I forget his name) and Andreas from Germany, and a couple who started in early March and are going pretty slowly. Dave helped me for about an hour in finding the hole in my sleeping pad and patching it. He's a really nice guy but I didn't talk to him much. I walked half a mile to the grocery store for grapes.

I have a package that was supposed to be here but it isn't yet, so fingers crossed it's here in the morning so I can start hiking with ease!