Hello Everyone! I arrived in Damascus, Virginia this morning. Over the last few days, I have had some great times. I lost Antspants on Tuesday, he is ahead of me now, but have been hiking with 'The Griswolds' for the past few days. They are a young married couple from Ashville, NC and hike with their 5 year old Boxer named Otis. Since leaving Pearisburg on Sunday, we have had 4 days of rain. The socks had a tough time drying, and were never fully dry until I put them in the dryer. The Griswolds and I split a hotel room in Atkins on Thursday night. It was wet, and the room was great!! It is always nice to have a warm, dry place to sleep.
Saturday I hiked through the Grayson Highlands State Park. The highlands are similar to the grasslands of Montana (so they say). I had fantastic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains everywhere. We could also see into parts of Tennessee and North Carolina. I played a joke on some day hikers in the Highlands that was pretty good. Just before rounding a corner, I heard some people and turned around backwards. When I came up on them, I introduced myself as 'Rewind; the first person to thru hike the Appalachian Trail backwards.' They ate it up, and I never let them in on the joke. So if you hear a rumor of someone thru hiking backwards, you'll know who started it.
The last week has been great! Having rain from Sunday to Thursday has gotten the water flowing better. The terrain is still fairly easy, and I'm making good miles. I am currently at a family friend's relative's house (Thanks Mrs. Crabtree!!). I weighed myself here. It felt as though I lost weight, but I didn't think I had lost 14 lbs since September 8Th. I weigh 182 now; haven't weighed that much since high school. The weight loss isn't due to a lack of eating either. Since being in town, I've had Nacho's Grande, 12" Philly Cheese Steak, and a huge plate of spaghetti! Anyways, things are going really well here. I have hiked 1720 miles since starting, and have 460 miles left to go. Hitting the 500 mile mark was a great feeling!
Thank yall so much for following. I'm a little preoccupied tonight, so maybe more stories on a second post tomorrow. I have a phone interview tomorrow morning that I'm trying to prepare for. Thanks again, and I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather!
The Kid
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2 comments:
Good luck with your phone interview!
Had a great time hanging out with 'The Kid' at Saunder's Mountain Shelter on Saturday 10/2. He taught me a lot about packing properly for extended hikes. I'll be throwing away half my stuff to get my pack weight down. Thanks Sam and good luck with that phone interview! Safe Travels!
"Heavy Stick"
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