Dan and Kara Hike the Appalachian Trail: May 2013

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Update 760+ Miles 5-28-13

Pigpen and Kara are back on the trail as of last Monday and doing well. As Dan reported in his last update, he had been having shin splint pain and took several days off the trail. Trail Days in Damascus and Kaity's brother's wedding occurred during this same time so that gave him a few extra days off. He seems to be doing ok for now with the pain. He was fortunate to have left Damascus when he did last weekend. He had intended to be in the hiker parade at Trail Days but a change in plans caused him to leave just before the parade. As many of you know there was a bad accident during the parade when a driver lost control of his car and hit dozens of hikers injuring 50-60 and a few seriously. I am pretty sure all the hikers are expected to make a full recovery, but we were happy to know Dan had already left.

During the past week he reached McAfee Knob which is one of the most photographed spots on the A.T. He also passed by the Keiffer Oak (largest oak on the A.T. in the south at over 18' around and over 300 years old), and the Audie Murphy Monument (the most decorated soldier in WW II - fitting since it was close to Memorial Day ).

He had his first encounter with a bear! A big one that scrambled up a tree and bear hugged it while he and Kara slipped by. He also received some great trail magic when a hiker friendly family picked him up as he was walking into a town. They gave him a lift, fed him, and invited him to spend the night in their home. These are the experiences that make a thru hike so great!

Also, a big Thanks! to Jeff and Cheryl Gilbert and Granny Susie for their "mailbox trail magic" which helps sponsor Dan's hike.

Dan should be passing by the 800 mile point in the next couple of days and hitting the half way mark in about 2 weeks.

Here are some photo's Dan has sent me from the trail this week:

The Captain's Place

Captain's Place Camping Area

Zip Line used to access the Captain's Place

Bear!

Audie Murphy Monument

Eastern Continental Divide

Kara Bouldering

Keiffer Oak 300 years old

McAfee Knob

Trail goes through beautiful pastures

Copperhead!

Kara enjoying a rest with a nice view

Trail Magic Host Home

Bryant Ridge Shelter (20 person)

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Big Miles>Shin Splints>Home Time

Hey Guys,
After I left Damascus I started doing more miles a day, averaging 22-23 for a week straight. I caught up to some old trail friends that I met back in GA, and ended up forming a group with about 5 other younger folks since we all ended up doing the same mileage for about 5 days in a row. It was fun to get to know those folks better and it made the rainy days more enjoyable. For the past few days we had rain almost every day. Wednesday was one of the rainiest days I've had so far, but we made it to a cool spot called Woods Hole Hostel at the end of the 21+ mile day. Woods Hole was the coolest place I've stayed at so far. It is a log cabin style farmhouse with an additional cabin that serves as a bunkhouse. It is run by a girl named Neville and her husband Michael, who focus on organic and sustainable ways of living. They have a big organic garden any free range animals including goats, pigs, and chickens. We shared communal meals and it was a very refreshing experience similar to Buffalo Cove, the place where I've spent the last three summers.
On Tuesday I began experiencing some slight pain in my left shin, probably from overcompensation due to the pain in my right knee (which is better now). On Wednesday the pain in my shin was worse, but I pushed on knowing the hostel was my destination and I wanted to get out of the rain. By Thursday morning, I was limping around and knew the 10 or 12 miles to Pearisburg, VA was going to be tough. I limped into P-burg with a lot of pain, shared a motel room with some of my knew hiking companions and knew that at least a few zero days were in my future. After talking to dad, he convinced me to come home and I agreed since it is Mother's Day weekend and my last opportunity to come home for the remainder of my hike. So I am back in GA once more, hoping to heal up this injury and be back on the trail healthy for a while. This is also allowing me to do one last gear switch as I have lightened my pack weight and needed to change out a few things. I am also going to bring Kara back out after giving her a week or so of rest.

Due to rainy and cold conditions, I simply did not have the energy/patience/feeling in my hands to take many pictures, but here are the latest ones that I did manage to take.

Kalamity Jane carrying a cow skull she found

This is what a shelter looks like on a rainy day

One of about 20 of these stream crossings I had to face on Wednesday

Woods Hole Hostel

Bunkhouse (left) and farmhouse

This was back in Grayson Highlands, taken by Bobby

who helped me find the trail after I got lost in the fog

Hopefully my next post will not include any injury notifications. It is frustrating to work so hard to cover a lot of mileage and then having it be negated by an injury that keeps me from hiking. Thanks for all of your support, it keeps me motivated when I face tough times. I am doing this hike for myself, but it is nice knowing that I will eventually get to post pictures from the top of Mt. Katahdin for you guys. Can't wait to continue "The Trial of Miles, Miles of Trials" (as described by Quention Cassidy in the fictional book, Once a Runner).

-Pigpen

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Trail Magic Thank You!

Dan received some very generous trail magic today from Tim and Theresa Campbell and family.

Thank You Campbell family! I'll make sure it gets in Dan's next drop box.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Pig Pen Tracker: Mile 575, near Bastian, VA

Pig Pen has been moving along well since he dropped his parachute (me) last Wednesday. We also brought Kara home for a while to give her paws a rest. They were wearing thin spots and need to callus up some. He has hiked 108 miles over the past 5 days and is now well past the 25% mark. He resupplied himself at Marion, VA and we mailed him a drop box to Pearisburg, VA which he will pick up on Thur. We will put him one in the mail tomorrow to Daleville, VA and that will get him through "Trail Days." Trail Days is the big hiker festival in Damascus, VA May 17-19 where hundreds of thru hikers will convene to enjoy concerts, auctions, vendor sales, etc. It is timed by Damascus so that most of the thru hikers will be somewhere within reach of a local ride up or back to the festival. Afterwards the hikers will get a ride back to where they left off and continue on with their hike.

Here are a few micellaneous photos's he has emailed me recently. The ones of the school house are of Lindamood School at the Settlers Museum in Atkins, VA. Robin and I visited there a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it.

Steer in Grayson Highlands S.P.

Trail Magic!

Lindamood School at the Settlers Museum

Saturday, May 4, 2013

My Week with Pig Pen by Brian (aka Hammer Time)

Just got back from spending a great week on the trail with Dan. I hiked 6 days with him and then Robin and I provided"slack pack" service for a day. We covered 72 miles from Roan Mountain TN to Damascus VA during the 6 days I hiked with him - not much by his standards but A LOT by mine. He was a good sport and backed his mileage down so I could keep up. I got to meet many of his fellow hikers that he has spoken of including Fifty - Fifty, Big Brother, Little Brother, the Buzzard Boys, Blackhawk Bob, Rocket, Bomber, Crasher, Rocky, Stumbles, Blue Bird, Smokes, Smiley Virgin, Bahala Na, and several others. The first thing anyone says when you meet them is "What's your name?" , so I had to quickly adopt a trail name. I adopted the name "Hammer Time" because of the blacksmithing / truck driving connection so that will be my trail name from now on. Here's a brief recap of the week:

Thur, 4-25, Robin and I drove up to Roan Mtn. where Pig Pen was waiting on us. We took him to eat a big breakfast and then he spent a couple of hours sorting out his gear and resupplying his food out of the stuff we brought up. We got on the trail about 2:30 and did 9 miles winding up at the Vango/Abby memorial Hostel. I think that is the only night so far Dan has spent in a hostel. Jones Falls was the highlight of the day, and Dan passed the 400 mile mark.

Fri, 4-26, we hiked 14.2 miles and stayed at Laurel Fork shelter. Sat, 4-27, we hiked 9.1 miles and camped by Watauga Lake. We had intended to stay at the Watauga Lake shelter, but it was full when we got there. 9 miles is a very short day for Dan, so he made a side trip into Hampton TN in search of food and met me later in the day at the camp. I spent the day thinking about the sub sandwich or hamburger he would be bringing, but all he could find was some stale doughnuts that tasted like chemicals. One bite, had to spit it out.

On Sunday, we woke up to steady rain. We waited and waited and finally had to break camp in the rain around 10:30. We hiked 6.5 miles in the rain to the next shelter. There was only one person in it so we (I) decided 6.5 was enough for the day. We stayed holed up in the shelter the rest of that day. The other hiker was a nice guy named Bahala Na. He explained his name meant "whatever may come" in native New Guinea. We hiked near Bahala Na for the rest of the way into Damascus.

On Monday we hike 13.6 miles and tent camped. One of the high points for that day were getting my first trail magic. A local church maintains a trail magic box of ice cold soft drinks and little debbie snacks. They were awesome and helped me make the last few miles. We also got to hike about 1.5 miles through a big pasture and had cows judging us. The hiking was so easy through the pasture that Dan forgot his trekking poles at the trail magic box and wound up doing an extra 1.5 miles to retrieve them.

Tuesday we hiked 14.4 miles to a dry campsite. We had to carry a lot of extra water the last few miles of that hike because there wasn't any for a few miles before and after the camp. Wednesday was the easy day, only having to hike about 5.5 miles into Damascus. We made it in by 10:00, ate a bag of doughnuts and waited on Robin to get there. Robin arrived about 11:00 and we went straight to the nearest mexican restaurant. We spent the night in a hotel, and the next morning dropped Dan off at 7:00 am for a day of slackpacking. He only had to carry his pack, raingear, food for the day and water. Robin and I spent the day in Abingdon and Damascus and then took him a pizza up to the designated meeting place. We also took Cokes, beer, and snacks for the other hikers that would be coming through. He hiked 23 miles in 8 hours and then hiked another 5 after the break.

Some of you may have seen the photo entitled "Our new friends from Germany" from the first post about trail magic. We ran into these hikers again in Damascus , over 400 miles north of the previous meeting, and got to provide some more trail magic to them. We gave "Smokes" and "Smiley Virgin" and ride to the grocery store and then they came through our trail magic station the following day.

Here's some pics from the trip: