Hiking the Good Hike

4/13 Day 41 Partnership Shelter to campsite at mile 548 - 17.9 miles

We were up and moving early to get a jump on the crowd. After hiking several miles in the forest we started hiking through farms and pastures. As we hiked we noticed little flowers blooming all over the place. The trees were just beginning to leave. It's nice to slow down and take the time to notice the subtle changes.

We continued hiking through fields and farmland and eventually came to a sign just before a road crossing stating, "Go to the Barn- AYCE." We saw the barn restaurant down the road and walked that way. AYCE met us at the door introducing us to his girlfriend who was celebrating her birthday. We were happy to see AYCE and meet Maria. The rest of our group was there and so was Nomad. We hung out there for a while before parting ways with AYCE and Nomad. AYCE was zeroing and would catch us later and Nomad was heading south to do some trail magic.

We planned to hike six more miles to a listed campsite. As we hiked Camaro decided she was feeling good and would like to continue to the next shelter making a 25 mile day. We were worn out and told her we didn't want to move on but she insisted on hiking further. Her and Chevy took off and we stayed behind. We set up camp with the rest of our group. We also met a couple of section hikers from Columbus enjoying the AT for the first time. As we cooked dinner the other group started to roll in turning our campsite once more into a tent village.


4/14 Day 42 campsite to Jenkins Shelter - 26.7 miles

Long day. The hikers from Columbus wanted to get rid of some food so they brought over a bag of their extra stuff. We quickly took care of the poptarts and oatmeal cream pies. The hike started with some climbing and then more hiking through farmland. At a road crossing we found two coolers filled with Sam's Cola and Little Debbies. As we ate and rested we met Lumbermack who was responsible for this trail magic. He had thru hiked previously and had since bought land in the area and was working on opening a hostel.

We took a break for lunch at Knot Maul Branch shelter. We took another break at Lick Creek to go swimming. The water was cold but felt nice. After the swim break we had a 2000 foot climb to Chestnut Knob Shelter. This was a really nice shelter. It was four-walled and fully enclosed with a door. We decided to cook our dinner and move on. We wanted to put some miles between the two large groups to make camping and sheltering easier. We left the shelter at 6:30. It was ten miles to the next shelter. The guide made the terrain look easy but it was very rocky with many ups and downs. The sun set and we realized we had picked a terrible section to night hike. As we continued stumbling up and over rocks in the dark it began to rain. It was a long ten miles. We finally got to the shelter a few minutes before 11:00. We set up camp, ate a snack, and went to bed. Hoping for a shorter day tomorrow.


4/15 Day 43 Jenkins Shelter to Helveys Mill Shelter - 14 miles

Nice easier day to follow yesterday. We had a slow start packing up our wet gear but the first five miles were easy. At the Laurel Creek road crossing there was a man offering to take us to a church for breakfast. He told us this church serves breakfast on Mondays during thru hiker season and today was the first day. There's no way we could turn down an offer like that. We piled in his truck and away we went to the church (which I sadly did not write down the name of). We were warmly greeted as we walked in and they served breakfast casserole, pancakes with local maple syrup, grits, toast, coffee, juice, and milk. They called themselves ATOM (Appalachian Trail Outreach Ministry). After filling our bellies they insisted we take bags of homemade cookies to go. We didn't argue. They're generosity was amazing and really made our day. The kindness of people on and along the trail continues to impress me. They shuttled us back to the trail in groups and off we went up the mountain.

At this point we had only nine miles to go. Many of these miles were not so enjoyable. We had to do some road walking as we crossed I-77 and then we had a steep uphill climb before finally arriving at the shelter. We chose to grab a spot in the shelter to hang out with our buddies. As we were hanging out in the shelter laughing and telling stories we heard a familiar voice asking, "Does anyone have a cell phone I can borrow?" (a kind of punch line to an inside joke we have). It was AYCE. He had hiked 33
miles to catch us. We were all happy to see him and made room to squeeze him into the shelter. It was a good end to our already good day.

4/9 Day 37 Damascus to Lost Mountain Shelter - 15.6 miles

The day after a zero is an interesting day of mixed emotions; happy to be getting back on the trail but sad to be leaving town. We wanted to really take our time so we planned to stay at least until lunch and hike out only ten miles to a campsite listed in the AWOL guide. We took our time packing our bags and took a walk over to the post office to mail a couple things home. By far the best post office in Damascus. After packing our bags we hung out on the patio with Nomad and some others before lunch. We finally began to motivate and headed to the Dairy King for lunch with Nomad, Shutterbug, and Chickadee. As we ate, the rest of the gang showed up for milkshakes.

We were finally on the trail just after 1:00 in the heat of the day. We walked along the Virginia Creeper for a short while before climbing for quite some time only to end up parallel with the Virginia Creeper later that hike. As we hiked, we were passed by pretty much the whole crew. We passed on the first shelter because it was a bit off the trail and continued on to our pond campsite. The pond was kind of a bust, not much camping opportunity so we assumed the rest of our group had continued on to either a different campsite or maybe the next shelter. We decided to continue. We hiked into the evening making it to the very full shelter just before dark. None of our friends were there and we had no idea where they could be. I'm not great at making friends so I was worried they had abandoned us. There were probably 30 people at the shelter and/or camped at the site. We set up camp and ate our dinner and Camaro arrived just after dark. Camaro told us we had missed everyone by skipping the last shelter and they were going to camp a few miles back. We were bummed we had missed them, but relieved that they hadn't abandoned us. The crowd at the shelter is fairly loud but we're tired so sleeping shouldn't be a problem. We need to put some miles between these groups; 30 people is too many for one shelter.


4/10 Day 38 Lost Mountain Shelter to Wise Shelter 17.4 miles

We slept in hoping some of the crowd would move on and also to give our friends some time to catch up. Nomad had planned to do some hiking with us in the Grayson Highlands area so we were looking forward to meeting up with him around lunch time. We hiked up to Buzzard's Rock and while we took a short snack break we saw in the distance the orange shirt and green shorts of Witch Doctor. Not far behind was Passover, Ember, Long Spoon, Tail Lights and finally Laser Death Kill. We were happy they had caught us and we were back with our group and we were all excited to move on and hike with Nomad later.

A few more miles and we were to the road crossing where we had planned to meet Nomad. Nomad was set up with his team of injured hikers with snacks and drinks. After hanging out for an hour or two we hiked on with Nomad and the injured hikers were left with to care for Vanimal (Nomad's van). It was a blast to have Nomad hiking with us again. He lead the train as we hiked up into the highlands searching for wild ponies. The ponies are semi-wild introduced to the area to maintain the highlands. They are popular among both thru hikers and tourists. Finally, just before reaching the Mt. Rogers side trail we encountered the ponies. We may or may not have taken time to pet the ponies and we certainly did not feed them. We discovered ponies to enjoy licking our arms, we assumed they liked the salt. Everyone was pretty thrilled to see the ponies, they had doubted me when I told them we would definitely see the ponies.

After our time with the ponies we met up with Camaro at Thomas Knob Shelter. She wasn't crazy about the idea of moving on but Nomad wanted to move on to Wise Shelter to reduced the miles he would have to hike tomorrow. The hike from Thomas Knob to Wise is one of my favorite sections thus far. We really enjoyed hiking this section in the evening as the sun was beginning to set. We ended up camping just past Wise Shelter where camping was not prohibited. The shelter was full and there were about ten tents set up win the camping restricted vicinity. Just after dark the rest of our crew showed up and set up camp. Wise shelter marks 500 miles on  the trail.

4/11 Day 39 Wise Shelter to Camping at mile 517.6 - 17.5 miles

Another great day today. Cassandra took off with Nomad leaving me behind with some of the others. I hiked with Long Spoon and LDK (Laser Death Kill) for much of the morning before catching Cassandra and Nomad at the Scales. The three of us hiked together passing Old Orchard Shelter and stopping for a lunch break at the VA 600 road crossing where Nomad would be getting off the trail. Nomad's injured hiker crew was supposed to be there but when we arrived there was no van. We all joked about where the van could be. Could there have been a mutiny? Eventually Nomad found Zach and Chickadee at a camping area down the road and learned the van had been taken to get ice. Shortly thereafter the van arrived with snacks and drinks in the usual Nomad fashion. We hung out for quite some time as hikers came and went before finally strapping on our packs and hitting the trail again.

Our plan at this point was to either hike to a campsite 10 miles away or a shelter 13 miles away. We had assumed the other large group would go to the shelter and camping would be limited so we opted for the campsite. It was a  campsite with a spring, picnic table and even a creepy privy but for some reason there were very few spots to pitch tents. We did the best with what we had knowing rain was coming. At dark we were in our tents and listening once more to Long Spoon's narration of The Princess Bride.


4/12 Day 40 Campsite to Partnership Shelter - 13 miles

Last night was very rainy. The rain was so loud on the tent it made sleeping difficult. The rain continued through morning. We packed up in the rain and hiked our first several miles in the rain. Early in the day Man Child who had chosen to take an additional zero in Damascus caught up to us. The hiking was easy and the weather slowly turned from rainy and cool to sunny and warm. At Partnership Shelter we found a lot of gear, Camaro, and a table full of food left as trail magic by Hoosier and Sparks. Just passed the shelter is the Mount Rogers area visitor center where hikers can order pizza. Camaro told us there were several hikers attempting unsuccessfully to hitch hike into town to resupply.

As we all contemplated a plan on how to get to town Nomad pulled up in the Vanimal. AYCE walked over to the shelter surprising Cassandra and I with a Mountain Dew for each of us. Nomad had picked AYCE up in Atkins to come hang out while he waited for his girlfriend to arrive for the weekend. Everyone piled into Vanimal for a ride into Marion but Cassandra and I stayed behind choosing to find another way to town. While I was in the bathroom Cassandra made friends with a former thru hiker who offered to give us a ride to town in his truck. We hopped in and away we went down the mountain in a hurry. He dropped us off at the edge of town and we walked the rest of the way to the Taco Bell/KFC where the rest or our friends were. We walked a bit further to the Arby's and the grocery store to resupply. Nomad took AYCE back to Atkins and shuttled many hikers back to the shelter where we hung out the rest of the evening. Later that night we did take advantage of the opportunity to order pizza at the shelter and had second dinner. There is a huge crowd at the shelter tonight, probably 30-40 people. I thought we would avoid crowds this size starting early March. Oh well.


We're still having the time of our lives. So much fun, in fact, it remains difficult for me to keep this blog updated. Life in the mountains is great. You'll hear no complaints from me. I find myself saying, "Wow, what a day!" pretty much everyday. We are now hiking with a great group of people we've been with for over a month now. It's amazing how we all come together from all over the country (and outside of) and become such close friends so quickly. Cassandra and I are doing great. We have no injuries to speak of and we are healthy both physically and mentally. Thanks to everyone for reading and for the continued support.

Chris (aka Moose)

4/3 Day 31 Overmountain Shelter to Mountaineer Shelter - 18 miles

After a good nights sleep in the barn we were on the move again. The hike this morning through the Roan Highlands was beautiful. We climbed up and down balds for about the first four miles and then hiked mostly down hill to a road crossing. We toyed with the idea of hitching to town for a meal but decided to move on instead. We hiked through some sort of golden warbler rehabitation project that looked more like habitat destruction. We took a short side trail to Laurel Falls which was definitely worth the time.

We arrived at the shelter fairly early. There were three people there but with the 20 people coming from the last shelter we knew it would fill quickly. We chose to grab a spot in the three level shelter as it was going to rain. The shelter did fill past recommended capacity quickly and then we had to deal with hikers whining about not getting a spot in the shelter and trying to squeeze in. Some people really love shelters. There are really a large number of people here but hopefully the crowd will separate as days pass.

4/4 Day 32 Mountaineer Shelter to Hampton, TN (Braemar Castle Hostel) - 18.3 miles

I had a surprisingly decent sleep in the overfilled shelter. It was cloudy when we woke and the rain began just as we started our walk. The rain wasn't unpleasant as it was relatively warm. The rain seemed to be becoming less pleasant and colder and as we approached the first shelter for lunch it began freezing. Freezing rain seems worse to me than snow or rain; you get wet and you're freezing. We continued on unsure of what our plan would be. Originally we planned to camp but with our cold and frozen gear we were considering other options.

We hiked on becoming more miserable as we went until we arrived at a road crossing where we saw Nomad's van. Inside was Long Spoon (Tom), Laser Death Kill (Jack), Witch Doctor (Jarryd), Tail Lights (Skyler), and of course Nomad and Shutterbug. We ate some snacks as we warmed up in the van trying to plan our next move. Nomad suggested we slackpack the next four miles (and 1 mile side trail) to town and find lodging there. We were agreeable. We left our packs and took off in the rain. This section of the hike was really nice. We arrived at the local saloon to meet Nomad and dried off there while enjoying pizza and good company.

We ended up at the Braemar Castle Hostel. This was a large stone building that was both a hostel and bed and breakfast. After settling in and changing into dry clothes we went to Arby's and for a resupply. The rest of the night we just hung out and relaxed enjoying being warm and dry.


4/5 Day Hampton, TN to Campsite at mile 437.8 - 18.6 miles

Nomad and Cassandra cooked a delicious breakfast for all at the hostel this morning. While they cooked, Laser Death Kill and I walked over to Brown's Grocery to pick up a couple things and settle up for our night at the hostel. We took our time packing up and even talked with Mom and Dad on FaceTime. We got on the trail at about 11:30 planning to hike about 16 miles. Our first seven miles were up and over a mountain in the fog. We broke for lunch at a lake and some went for a swim.

After lunch we hiked along the lake for a while before climbing again. It really seemed to take forever to get to the shelter where we planned to stop. When we got to the shelter we decided to move on another 3.7 miles to a campsite. We hiked as the sun was setting hoping to make it to our campsite before dark. We arrived just at dark and quickly set up and cooked before heading to bed. Tonight, Long Spoon (Tom) has begun reading The Princess Bride out loud to our group. It seems everyone else had fallen asleep as the first chapter is very boring. We're hoping to hike about 20 miles tomorrow to set up for an easy 10 to Damascus.


4/6 Day 34 campsite to Abington Gap Shelter - 18.9 miles

Today was a good day. We hiked our first several miles with Long Spoon (Tom) and Laser Death Kill (Jack) which made the miles go quickly. We visited the Nick Grindstaff monument which was inscribed "Lived alone, suffered alone, and died alone." That reminded us of the six word story contest Jack had told me about. We began brainstorming some six word stories of our own. We continued on to find Nomad parked at a road crossing. He had snacks and drinks for us. We hung out a while and he told us he had planned to be at the next road crossing that day with lunch. Double trail magic. We hiked on and then spent another hour or two hanging out with Nomad at the van as hikers came and went. Just before dark we moved on to the shelter where we all tented. We're left with just ten miles to Damascus tomorrow; we should make it in for lunch.


4/7 Day 35 Abington Gap Shelter to Damascus, VA - 10.4 miles

We were up early and hiking to get to town by lunch time. Town days seem to make us hike faster. The hike was super easy. We all hiked in a big train reciting our six word stories. As we approached the town we could see Nomad's van in the distance. He was waiting to eat lunch with us in town. We went to Pizza Plus for the all you can eat buffet and Nomad left and came back with AYCE. We weren't expecting to see him for several more days but there was a mix up with his mail drop causing him to have to zero. We got our money's worth at the Pizza Plus and then continued into town. We stopped at Mount Rogers Outfitters to pick up our mail drop and a couple items.

We ended up at Hiker's Inn for the night which was a really nice hostel/bed and breakfast in town. Damascus is super hiker friendly as the trail travels directly through town. Everything is within walking distance (I guess this phrase loses some of its meaning when you've walked over 500 miles) so it makes it a really cool place to hang out. After showering we did some laundry and finally ended up at the Blue Blaze Cafe for dinner. The place was filled with hikers. Our whole group of roughly ten was there as well as many other hikers we had been seeing since we left Erwin. Damascus has been good to us so far, we're looking forward to our zero here tomorrow.


4/8 Day 36 Zero in Damascus

After sleeping in (maybe until 8:00) we went to Cowboy's to have breakfast with AYCE and the rest of our crew. AYCE was getting back on the trail and had some big miles to cover to meet his girlfriend in a few days but we planned to meet up trail in several days. We had a great breakfast at Cowboy's and met some nice locals.

After breakfast we looked into some other lodging options but ended up arranging for another night at the Hiker's Inn because we had really enjoyed our time there. We went to the local coffee shop and each outfitter again just killing time. We sat on the porch and watched people walk by and talked to hikers as they passed (the road is also the trail in this section). There were many hikers in town today. Passover and Ember, who we had hiked with on and off since the Smokies, made it in.

Nomad had made friends with the locals we met at breakfast. It turns out they were from Texas (like Nomad) and had offered their yard for us to cook out and have a place to hang out for the evening. After grocery shopping and resupplying we all walked to their place to take them up on the offer. They were so kind to allow ten loud and smelly hikers to spend the evening on their lawn. Nomad grilled the hotdogs and burgers we had picked up at the store and we entertained with stories from the trail. Dot Com and Fidget shared with us some of their own stories from their hike last year. It was really a nice evening. At dark we all returned to our homes for the night. It was a great day. Damascus is a very friendly town and someplace I look forward to visiting again. I would like to stay longer but I'm also anxious to get back on the trail. Town days are something we look forward to and pass by quickly. Leaving town is usually mixed emotions; happy to be back on the trail but sad to be leaving a nice town, sad to be carrying so much food weight but happy to have a pack full of snacks. Tomorrow we'll spend half the day hanging out and get back on trail for a short day.

Thanks for reading,

Chris

mag•ic - supernatural qualities or powers; giving a feeling of enchantment

I'd read that the trail could restore your faith in humanity. I guess I'd never really thought I'd lost it, my faith in mankind, but sometimes I do wonder. So I came on this trail, basically trying to still see the good in people yet having lived long enough to see between the lies, and am finding that kindness and hospitality does indeed still exist.

On the trail, acts of kindness/unexpected gifts have come to be known as trail magic. For those that have never heard of trail magic, it is the most amazing, appreciated sentiment in the entire world to a thru-hiker. I honestly don't know if I have the words to describe the overwhelming joy/relief/disbelief/thankfulness that overtakes me when I happen to be the recipient of such a gift.

Trail magic, like all gifts, can be exhibited in various ways. One method of trail magic is through an anonymous gift of food and/or drink left at the base of a tree near a trail head or a road crossing. Sometimes there is a note or a message from whom the gift is by i.e. a former thru-hiker or a local. Sometimes there's soda or beer just chilling in a nearby creek or a grocery bag full of goodies simply asking you to pack out your trash. Trail magic, no matter the source, is always a much anticipated surprise. I'm not going to lie, though, I've been known to check every ditch as I cross a road in hopes of finding a treat but I've been scolding myself for this act. I should be surprised by trail magic, not expecting or disappointed when it's not readily available at my every whim; besides, the surprise of it all is part of what makes it so fun and wonderful.

Another form of trail magic seen on the trail is an act performed by what we thru-hikers like to call trail angels. One of the most well known trail angels I've seen on the trail thus far is by a man named Fresh Ground. This man sets up camp for about a week at a time and simply feeds and serves an entire bubble of thru-hikers at a time. Fresh Ground puts signs up on trees and at shelters letting hikers know there's food and drink up ahead. He cooks up hotdogs, sets out salad, chicken noodle soup, hot chocolate, coffee, etc. Everybody loves to see Fresh Ground. He takes time out of his schedule to arrange various meeting places right off the trail and tells you, "all you can eat, all you can tote". He feeds us out of his own funds and when that runs out he works off of hiker donations. Fresh Ground will soon be taking some much deserved time off from feeding us hungry thru-hikers to hike a section of the trail himself; he has truly been a blessing, set up in just the right places to give us nourishment and energy when spirits and calories were running low.

Next we come to a trail angel very near and dear to my heart, a man I've come to know as Nomad. I first met Nomad in the Smokies; Nomad, Witch Doctor, Kinsey (now 12 oz), as well as myself, all had Arc'teryx coats and posed for pictures. Later we hiked through snow and ice, with many slips and falls, to get to safety and a food resupply in Gatlinburg, TN. Since then, we've shared many miles, meals, and conversations. With all the cold weather and snow drifts we'd fought through together, our group became like a mini family of sorts and you start to learn the hearts of men. Nomad's heart clearly belongs to the Lord and has the gift of giving and serving. He'd always say he lived in Texas so he had to do his trail magic on the trail, carrying extra food and Gatorade to give to fellow thru-hikers running on short supply. For a thru-hiker, carrying extra weight up miles of mountain is not particularly pleasant or intended. Long story short, one day just outside of Erwin, Nomad decided that it was selfish of him to keep hiking. He loves serving God and serving people and decided that he had the most fun and peace while serving hikers so that's what he was going to do. He bought a van (formerly named Gina, newly renamed the Vanimal) suited for a bunch of dirty hikers and plans on following this bubble all the way to Maine. Like Fresh Ground, he sets up camp at road crossings with spreads of fruit salad, sandwiches, chips, drinks, etc. On more than one occasion Nomad has met me at the base of the trail with a big hug and a Mountain Dew. I cannot thank him enough for his continued kindness and assistance along the trail.

Side Note: I'm carrying Nomad's fancy camera on the trail with me so he doesn't miss anything. Feel free to check out his blog for additional pictures and/or to follow along with his journey on the trail.

www.onthetrailwithgod.wordpress.com

Well, I think I've typed enough for now. Hopefully I've enlightened you, either a little or a lot, to the world of trail magic and all its wonder. As for an ending thought to ponder, and to possibly put into action, try to incorporate a little trail magic into your own daily lives; after all, magic isn't reserved for trails and fairy tales. Magic is little bits of love and kindness, disguised as a smile, wrapped in free, undeserved gestures and gifts that we can show everyday, catching our unsuspecting fellow man by surprise, leaving them with a feeling of awe and confused appreciation.

Love and prayers always,
Cassandra

"Be the change you want to see in the world." Gandhi