We left the hotel around 11 am and got back on the trail. It was a fairly easy day as far as the terrain went. Still, it was a fairly slow day - El Dorado's knee is still sore from the fall off of Dragon's tooth. My feet still aren't doing well either, the high... Continue Reading →
Day 68 – End Game
Last night sleeping in the shelter wasn't a great sleep. It was warm enough to not need a blanket but buggy enough to absolutely need a blanket. I was sweating all night and kept waking up thinking that I'd overslept my 4 am alarm. When we finally did get up it was a quick transition... Continue Reading →
Day 67 – Back on the Trail
I slept so well in my hammock last night, probably my best sleep on the trail so far. I only woke up twice, and once was to use the bathroom. No limbs were tingling from lack of blood flow and nothing was sore when I work up. It'll still take some getting used to but... Continue Reading →
Day 66 – Winding Down
There were folks at the Fiddle up talking all night long. It wasn't until sunrise that the voices finally stopped, so it must've been a pretty good night for them. Kacy and I had a few drinks and slept decently well through the party. After breakfast at Mojo's Cafe we packed up the tent and... Continue Reading →
Day 65 – Trail Days
The birds woke us up unfortunately early. The morning was reserved for running errands before the fun of the afternoon. I started by emptying my pack to sort out what was getting sent home and what I should keep, it felt really good to purge my cold weather gear. I think I dropped ~4-6 lb... Continue Reading →
Day 64 – Back to Damascus
Since Kacy didn't land until ~ 3pm it was a fairly lazy day at Four Pines. There was a local hiking group that made a lot of noise around 5 am, waking everyone up so that they could get out and hit the trail. By 9 am they called the hostel shuttle to "rescue" them... Continue Reading →
Day 63 – Dragon’s Tooth
For a change I woke El Dorado up this morning, around 8:15 am, guess he needed the rest. The five miles up to Dragon's Tooth were difficult and slow going, but we did cross the 700 mile marker. The view from the tooth was amazing so we stopped for lunch and relaxed a bit. Turnip... Continue Reading →
Day 62 – Eastern Continental Divide
El Dorado wandered through camp around 9 am. I was taking my time breaking down and nowhere close to being ready when he walked in, so he took a break. He'd hurt his knee on the rocks yesterday and was going fairly slow. The first couple of miles today meandered through some gorgeous meadows. We... Continue Reading →
Day 61 – The First Casualty
Today was generally a mixed bag. We woke up to rain and so we delayed breaking down camp. Finally got on the trail around 10 am and it was windy and a lot colder than it should have been. The first climb of the day left us on a ridge that was best described as... Continue Reading →
Day 60 – Get Gone
I got out of the hotel around 11 am and caught a hitch back to the trail head. Everyone else decided to stay one more night in Pearisburg and commit to doing big days all week. Pearisburg Super 8 View El Dorado and Prarie Dog said they'd catch up to me by Friday to ride... Continue Reading →