AT - 1113 - Mount Holly Springs, PA

I hitched a ride into Mount Holly Springs this afternoon. I'm at a library with a keyboard for the first time this hike. It's nice.

Today I passed the halfway mark for mileage. I have a couple stories to tell but I want to mention some trail slang first. I didn't make any of these up and people use them all the time.

white blaze - White blazes are painted on trees to show the AT.

blue blaze - They show the way to things like alternate routes, overlooks, water or shelters.

yellow blaze - The road, for instance if someone skips miles hitchhiking. 

pink blaze - Following women on the trail.

aqua blaze - Using a boat to skip miles.

slackpack - Using a small pack for the day. Usually a hostel will shuttle people so they carry less weight.

tramily - Trail family, group of people you hang out with. 

wa wa - Water. I can't stand this one, luckily it's not used too often

hiker trash - A smelly hiker who has been in the woods a while. Usually looking for a ride to town and an outlet to plug their phone in. 

trail magic - Free stuff like food or drinks people hand out on road crossings.

trail angels - People who help out hikers.

Some of the guys I hiked with leaving Daleville were Push, 2 Steaks, Flavor Packet, and Skywalker. Flavor Packet got his name because he thought the oxygen absorber packet in Mountain House meals was a flavor packet. People get strange names out here. 

I lost most of those guys after a little while. I stayed with Skywalker a longer. One day I was ahead of Skywalker and trying to hitch a ride to a small store in Virginia. I tried for 45 minutes with no luck. He showed up, sat down, said 'what you looking for a ride?', stuck out his thumb and a car going the other direction flipped around and pulled up within seconds. I was annoyed but pumped to get going.

I had my longest day hiking to Seely-Woodworth Shelter. I hiked 34 miles and had to use my headlight for the end. I could hear coyotes yelping and didn't want to look around with my headlamp to see their eyes. I was tired getting to the shelter, but luckily I had it to myself.

After leaving Stanimal's Hostel in Waynesboro I was with a small group and my friend OD. OD (Overdose) started the same day as me and we'd hung out a bit but hadn't hiked together for more than a few days up to this point. OD's goal is to finish the AT in 90 days. The group we hiked with for a day were really fast. One of the guys hiked 20 miles by noon with a full pack, which I wouldn't have believed but I saw it. 

Overdose and I traveled together through the Shenandoahs. The hiking was mellow and there were waysides throughout the mountains. It was easy to pick up food for resupplies and there were lots of hikers around. 

After the Shenandoahs OD and I rented a car to drive down to Tail Days in Damascus. On the way we stayed at his family's property to shower and do laundry. Trail Days was a good time. There were vendors, a tent city, music, free food and a ton of hikers. We stayed for one of three nights because OD needed to get back and the car had to be back by noon on Saturday. Our tents were set up in a big open field, part of tent city. Then there was another part that was back in the trees. Different tramilies had camps all over. Many of them offered free booze and food. People even name their tramilies like; Riff Raff, Ridge Runs, or 20 milers. People are really into this stuff. There was a drum circle going on all night.

OD and I left Trail Days at 7am on Saturday and made it back to Enterprise just 10 minutes late. Luckily the assistant manager was still there. After that we walked through some busy intersections to Walmart and then a trail angel gave us a ride back to Keys Gap. Then we walked the 6 miles on the AT to Harper's Ferry.

We stayed at the Town Inn in Harper's Ferry. It's a 200 year old building. I thought the town was great and full of history. 

A couple days ago OD and I split. He's going to push hard to get done as soon as possible. I decided to slow down a bit and take it easier. It was great traveling with him and maybe I'll see him down the trail.

The trail has been far less busy lately. I had a shelter to myself last night. Some locals told me I'm a about two weeks ahead of the bubble. It's nice that I don't have to scavenge for a campsite anymore.

Now the library is closing and I need to figure out how to get back to the trail. It's around 3 miles, hopefully I can get a ride. 

AT - 730 - Daleville, VA

The weather has been warmer lately. A few days ago the temperature was in the 80s for two days. The trees haven’t fully formed the canopy, referred to as the “green tunnel”, so the warm weather was exhausting. It’s been nice lately.

A lot has happened since Irwin but I’ll try to summarize some highlights. I’d been waiting for a computer with a keyboard to use, but every hotel’s guest computer has been broken and I haven’t been able to get to a library. So this is all done via texting.

Near the road 19E I had a strange time. There was a tent next to a busy road. I thought that’s weird, it’s so loud. I kept walking. Later someone told me the guy staying there was firing off rounds in the night and someone called the cops. So I went through the area as quick as possible. After that I stayed at a donation based hostel called Kincora. I showed up an no one was there. Later a couple more hikers showed up and the owner. I think the hostel started in 1997. It is one of the older hostels. A bit run down but an awesome place to stay. The owner, Bob Peoples, is kind of a legend.

Fifty miles after Kincora I stayed in Damascus. The trail goes right through town. I stayed at a cool hostel called Broken Fiddle. In a couple weeks Damascus will host Trail Days, which is a huge hiker party. The entire town will fill up with tents in every park. Damascus also had a nice diner that was filled with hikers in the morning. The town is about 1/4 way from the start of the trail as I entered Virginia.

I went through Grayson Highlands during a snowstorm. I had already sent my rain pants home so I did it in shorts. It was cold the entire day and I went through quick. There were wild ponies all over the mountains. It was really cool. Unfortunately my hands were so cold I didn’t take many pictures. I passed the 500 mile marker that day.

After Grayson Highlands I spent a night at Partnership Shelter. We ordered pizza delivery because it was close enough to town. I heard that was the only shelter you could get delivery on the trail, which made it a good stop.

I had to get to Wytheville from the trail to get to a Walmart a few days ago. It was off the trail about 15 miles. I walked passed the road I needed so I hitched back. Some guys picked me up in a truck and offered me a beer. They couldn’t drive me all the way because they’d been drinking but they dropped me in a better location. I got a shuttle and made it to town and back. I also got to meet up with a couple trail friends in Wytheville and had enough points for a free Holiday Inn stay.

Yesterday was one of the nicest hikes I’ve had yet. I did around 26 miles through amazing cliffs overlooking rolling hills and pastures. I split a room last night at the Howard Johnson last night with another hiker.

I took the name Steady, so that’s what people call me out here. I’ve been doing around 20 miles a day more or less lately. There are more and more people doing similar mileage so I’ve seen a lot of familiar faces. 

At this point I’m used to hiking everyday. It’s become my normal day to day life. Every three to five days I stay in town or at hostels for a shower and laundry. I sleep either in my tent or a shelter depending on how crowded places are. People are more spread out lately and the ones still thru hiking are more serious than they were a few hundred miles ago. I’m nearly 1/3 done now. I’ve found a good comfortable pace, which is quick but as they say out here “hike your own hike.” My shoes are falling apart. They are still my first pair but I ordered new ones and had they shipped to a hostel 80 miles away. 

Today I’m taking it easy. I told my buddy I’d wait here and eat lunch with him. After that I’ll probably try to get some miles in. It’s supposed to rain for a few days coming up. Hopefully it’s not too bad and I don’t think it’ll be cold.