Thursday, September 27, 2012

Erwin, TN

Had a great stretch of hiking after we crossed the TN boarder. We passed laurel and jones falls which were pretty huge waterfalls. Then we crossed into NC for the first time and went through the Roan Highlands (the trail crosses back and forth between NC and TN for the next 175 miles). The highlands were awesome, we took a short day so we could take in all the views from the balds. That night we stayed at roan high shelter which is the highest shelter on the AT, surprisingly I didn't freeze to death tenting because the shelter was full.

When we resupplied in The town of Roan Mtn I had the best burger on the trail at bob's dairy land. It was a true hiker burger called the holy cow. It had 3 patties, 6 slices of bacon, 3 slices of ham, Swiss & American cheese, 2 onion rings, and a scoop of chili on it. It was the monster burger thru hikers dream about.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Damascus, VA

The last few days have been really cold and wet. It rained hard for about 2 days straight. Luckily the weather cooperated yesterday as we went through grayson highlands state park. Surprisingly the wild ponies didn't harass us much (they're notorious for stealing food).

When we climbed up onto the ridge the park is on it was like someone flipped a switch from summer to fall. With the elevation gain We had night time temperatures in the mid 30's and the leaves are starting to change color. I'm going to have to pick up some warmer clothes because we pretty much keep gaining elevation from here on out. It's looking like we should hit the fall colors with perfect timing in the smokies.

My shoes also crapped out about 25 miles from town yesterday. It took a lot of duct tape to get them to Damascus.

Off into Tennessee tomorrow. Damascus is only about 3 miles from the state line. And with only 460 trail miles left its truly starting to feel like I'm getting into the home stretch.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Atkins Truck Stop, VA

Haven't updated this thing in awhile, the last few town stops have been pretty busy. We came over tinker cliffs and McAfees Knob, two cool spots near school that I never went to. Then we had gluttonfest at the Homeplace, my favorite restaurant ever, all you can eat family style country cooking.

Then I went into Blacksburg for the weekend where we started tailgating at 1 am, went to a football game and discharged some firearms.

Had the worst/most hilariously best resupply ever. The guidebooks list Atkins as a good resupply, all that's there is a truck stop. I'm going to be living off honey buns, chips, and candy bars until I get to Damascus on Thursday. Then onward into Tennessee.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Glasgow, VA

Stopped off in Glasgow yesterday. Had some great hiking over the last few days. Went through three peaks wilderness which had some awesome trail along the ridges. Then we climbed the Priest which was our first 4000 footer since Vermont. Also had some awesome 360 degree views off spy rock.

I'm pretty excited to head into Blacksburg next weekend for the football game. I can't wait!