picture time!!

I finally had some time and the resources to put some pictures up. Click on picture to view a larger version. ENJOY!


Iceman at Doll Flats, the final NC-TN border crossing, with Jade, Sarge's pooch (mile 385.2)


Cattywampus (Caroline) and Iceman at the TN-VA border (mile 459.3).


Iceman and Cattywampus in the 'Magic Bus' (mile ~511)


First Rattler (mile ~558)


Cattywampus in rhododendron thicket (mile ~580)


Iceman and Cattywampus at El Ranchero, Pearisburg, VA (mile 625.9)


Cattywampus and box turtle on Cattywampus's 23rd birthday (mile ~676)


Iceman on McAfee Knob (mile 702.5)


"Watch Out for Hikers!" Iceman crossing the street in Daleville, VA (mile 718.6)


Iceman at the 1/3-of-the-way mark! (mile 726)


Another fat rattler! (mile ~775)


Iceman escaping the bugs on top of The Priest! (mile 818.4)


Iceman trapped in a tree (mile ~841)

Pearisburg, VA to Daleville, VA

(3 new posts follow)

So here we are in Daleville, VA after two leisurely days of hiking on achy feet; 6 days after leaving Pearisburg. Mile 718.6!

Day 53, 14 June: Pearisburg, VA - Pine Swamp Branch Shelter [645.2], 19.3 mi / 4200ft gain (mentally hard day getting back on the trail after our zero day in P-burg)
Day 54, 15 June: Pine Swamp - Laurel Creek Shelter [663.7], 18.5 mi / 4300ft gain
Day 55, 16 June: Laurel Creek - Niday Shelter [676.1], 12.4 mi / 2700ft gain (rain is back!)
Day 56, 17 June: Niday - Dragon's Tooth - Catawba, VA resupply - Johns Spring Shelter [699.8], 23.7 mi /7330ft gain (Caroline's 23rd birthday challenge - 23+ miles)(saw a box turtle right off the bat - Caroline's favorite animal - a good omen)(rain all day so no views, really tough terrain, no respite from the weather, heaps of up and down, all around tough day!!)
Day 57, 18 June: Johns Spring - McAfee Knob (views finally!) - Tinker Cliffs (more views) - Lamberts Meadow Shelter [709.2], 9.4 mi / 2500ft gain (good weather and great views finally! feet are reeling from blisters)
Day 58, 19 June: Lambert Meadow - Daleville, VA [718.6], 9.4 mi / 1400ft gain (limped into town, Caroline treated me to hotel)


'Birthday Challenge'
A couple weeks ago Caroline suggested hiking 23 miles on her 23rd birthday. It was planned and accomplished with GREAT SUCCESS. Next challenge is to hike 31 miles on my 31st birthday. We are hoping for easier terrain and better weather on 5 July....

I'd like to write more but I've already spent to much time here and Caroline is standing over my shoulder analyzing what I'm writing and complaining that I'm not using her trail name, 'Cattywampus'. so good bye for now.

Damascus, VA to Pearisburg, VA

Okay, I'm using the hotel's 'business center' computer so I'll try to update what I can.


After doing all of our town errands that morning, we got a late start - 4:30 PM - out of Damascus, VA [total trail miles: 463.0] on Wednesday, 3 June....

Day 42, 3 June: Damascus, VA - Saunders Shelter [472.4], 9.4 mi / 2400ft gain
Day 43, 4 June: Saunders - Whitetop Mtn - Thomas Knob Shelter [491.0], 18.6 mi / 4900ft gain (rain most of the day, no views, and walked through thick fields of poison ivy!)
Day 44, 5 June: Thomas Knob - 500-mile mark!!! - Hurricane Mtn Shelter [507.0], 16.0 mi / 2600ft gain (cold, nasty rain all day again)
Day 45, 6 June: Hurricane Mtn - Partnership Shelter [526.7], 19.7 mi / 3200ft gain (delivered pizza and hot shower at shelter!)
Day 46, 7 June: Partnership - Atkins, VA - Davis Path camping [541.0], 14.3 mi / 2700ft gain (hitched from Atkins to Marion, VA to resupply, shower and laundry at hotel, then hike out! first day w/o rain in a while)
Day 47, 8 June: Davis Path - Chestnut Knob Shelter [561.3], 20.3 mi / 5600ft gain (now 1/4 of AT complete!)(saw fat rattle snake on trail this afternoon; saved by Caroline's bravery)
Day 48, 9 June: Chestnut Knob - shitty camping site [576.2], 14.9 mi / 2400ft gain (saw a bear high up in a tree just off the trail this day!)
Day 49, 10 June: camping - Jenny Knob Shelter [595.1], 18.9 mi / 3500ft gain (saw baby deer on trail, then a turkey with ~8 chicks scared the bejesus out of us, then we saw our first Box Turtle, Caroline's favorite animal)
Day 50, 11 June: Jenny Knob - Sugar Run Gap/Woodshole Hostel [615.5], 20.4 mi / 4600ft gain (tough, rainy day. awesome hostel in old farmstead)(50th night on the trail!)
Day 51, 12 June: Sugar Run Gap - Pearisburg, VA [625.9], 10.4 mi / 2000ft gain

Day 52, 13 June: Zero Day 8: Pearisburg, VA (walked all over town on our zero day doing errands, went to community pool, tough hike out in the morning)

Next post will be Pearisburg, VA to Daleville, VA where I am today (Friday, 19 June)plus some funny stories and anecdotes.

In Daleville, VA

Just a quick update now but hopefully I'll have a chance for a full update later tonight. We just arrived in Daleville, VA this afternoon. On Wednesday, 17 June - to celebrate Cattywampus's (aka Caroline) 23rd birthday - we hiked 23.7 miles over some pretty tough terrain through rain all day with no views and no respite from the weather. I was running my altimeter log and at the end of the day we had over 7300 vertical feet of elevation gain. I was monitoring it throughout the day so I know it was accurate! I literally limped into camp that night after a 13+ hour day.

Now we are wishing for rain as its freaking hot and humid out right now. Caroline has treated me to a hotel room for the night so I'm living large. Doing laundry, lounging by the pool, and eating some food are planned for this afternoon. We will limp out of town tomorrow morning after the free breakfast.

Hampton, TN to Boone, NC to Damascus, VA

(3 new posts follow)
Back in Hampton, TN on Friday (29 May), Caroline and I spent the day recovering from our respective aliments. Not sure if I had poison ivy or not but I was sure glad to get into town for a shower and laundry. Caroline is very good at spotting poison ivy and she has been keeping me out of a lot of trouble. :-) The Braemar Castle hostel in Hampton was very relaxing and we met up with a couple of old hiker friends who were also recovering. Since we were planning to spend the day on Watauga Lake on Sunday with heaps of folks, we decided hiking for one day on Saturday didn't make much sense. So on Saturday we hitched over to Caroline's hometown of Boone, NC and spent the day around town getting the local's tour of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the surrounds. The next day (Sunday) we spent the day on Lake Watauga on a couple of rented party barges with about 25 people total. It was heaps of fun but too much to go into here (nut shell: rope swings, bridge jumping, dancing, swimming, yelling, singing, partying, lots of cold refreshing beverages, etc). We were then back on the trail the next day (albeit a bit sluggish).

Just to stay consistent.....
Day 37, 29 May: Zero Day 5 - Backtrack from Watauga Lake Shelter to Hampton, TN & Braemar Castle hostel
Day 38, 30 May: Zero Day 6 - Hitched from Hampton, TN to Boone, NC and got the local's tour (Blue Ridge Parkway, etc).
Day 39, 31 May: Zero Day 7 - Watauga Lake boat party

And the details once we were back on the AT:
Day 40, 1 June: Boone, NC - Watauga Lake - Iron Mtn Shelter, 13.6 mi (net) / 4200ft gain (Now 1/5 of the way to Katahdin)(nice weather this day!)
Day 41, 2 June: Iron Mtn - TN/VA state line - Damascus, VA, 26.1 mi / 3300ft gain (longest day yet, 3 states complete!)
Day 42, 3 June: Damascus, VA - since we just had 3 zero days we aren't staying around Damascus. Hiking out of here this afternoon.

'I think its cheating'
Caroline and I did a lot of hitching during the past week. I think hitching with an attractive, young girl and both wearing backpacks on is kind of cheating as we never waited more than 10 minutes for a ride and it was usually closer to 2 or 3 minutes! A couple of times it was like 30 seconds.

Erwin, TN - Hampton, TN - details

Another late start out of Erwin, TN brought us to a hot, steep climb back out of yet another valley.

Day 31, 23 May: Erwin, TN - Beauty Spot - Deep Gap camping, 12.1 mi / 3500ft gain (great camping and fire with Two Sticks and Bryce)
Day 32, 24 May: Deep Gap - Unaka Mtn - Clyde Smith Shelter, 14.1 mi / 3500ft gain (Now 1/6 of the way to Katahdin!)(a little rain for the first time since leaving Hot Springs, NC)
Day 33, 25 May: Clyde Smith - Roan High Knob & Highlands - Overmountain Shelter, 12.9 mi / 4000ft gain (lots of rain this day and no views; stayed in a cool converted barn shelter)
Day 34, 26 May: Overmountain - Hump Mtn - NC/TN line - Jones Falls - Mountaineer Shelter, 18.0 mi / 3500ft gain (Done with North Carolina)(rain in the AM, cool shelter)
Day 35, 27 May: Mountaineer Shelter - Kincora hostel near Hampton, TN, 15.6 mi / 3200ft gain (great hostel; slept in treehouse!)(rain in AM again)
Day 36, 28 May: Kincora - Pond Flats Mtn - Watauga Lake Shelter, 10.7 mi / 2000 ft gain (hard climb for being called 'Pond Flats' and a hot day!)(rain all night and full shelter)

We woke up on Friday (29 May) morning to find Caroline ('Two Sticks') sick. I was also feeling very itchy and feared I had poison ivy, so Caroline and I decided to hike 1.8 miles back to the last highway we crossed and hitch into Hampton, TN which was close by and had a nice hostel. Bryce decided to continue on north. Apparently nearly everyone who stayed at the Kincora hostel had gotten sick. We could count 4 hikers out of maybe 20 that didn't get sick, me and Bryce being two of those.

Hot Springs, NC to Erwin, TN - details

Okay time to fully update my blog with details....

After a late start - 3 PM - leaving Hot Springs, NC I was back on the trail after 4 zero days.

Day 26, 18 May: Hot Springs, NC - Rich Mtn Fire Tower - Spring Mtn Shelter, 11.0 mi / 4000ft gain (Now 1/8 of the way to Katahdin!)(cold night!)
Day 27, 19 May: Spring Mtn - Jerry Cabin Shelter, 15.4 mi / 4200ft gain (cool ridge walk and views this day)(another cold night but had fire in shelter)
Day 28, 20 May: Jerry Cabin - Big Butt - Hogback Ridge Shelter, 14.7 mi / 3500ft gain (last cool night)
Day 29, 21 May: Hogback Ridge - Big Bald - Spivey Gap camping, 15.7 mi / 3800ft gain (nice campsite by stream)
Day 30, 22 May: Spivey Gap - Erwin, TN & Uncle Johnnys hostel, 11.3 mi / 1700ft gain (great place to stay!)