Sore feet and hot temperatures

On the 24th, we did 11 miles to Laurel Creek Shelter. On the 25th, we did 12.4 miles to Nilay Shelter. On the 26th, we did roughly 12.5 miles and camped two-ish miles past Pickle Branch Shelter. On the 27th, we did 6ish miles and camped a mile after route 624 despite taking a five hour break at a gas station that involved eating a lot of food and ice cream. On the 28th, we zeroed because it was insanely hot and instead spent the day exploring the stream we camped next to. On the 29th, we did 15.8 miles and camped .3 miles past Lamberts Meadow Shelter. The weather was better and we were feeling better, finally. On the 30th, we did 9.1 miles into Daleville and stayed at the Howard Johnson Express.

So the experiment of taking a few resting days basically backfired. After about 20 minutes of hiking my feet were killing me and my knees were more sore than they had been at any other time along the trail. After a very slow 4 miles I stopped to get some water and take some Vitamin I (Ibuprophen). This was only the third time so far I have felt like I had to use Vitamin I so not a great start to the day... We made it to the shelter and decided that we didn't feel up to doing any more. My feet and knees were sore and UV was feeling more tired than normal and her legs were not feeling good.

This feeling persisted for a few days and sort of tied in to an incredibly hot stretch of weather. I do not do well with that. I had always assumed I would have to start getting up early, hike a few hours, take an extended break, and finish up the day with some evening/night hiking. I hadn't anticipated making this shift until probably Pennsylvania though. The overall discomfort and tiredness of our bodies leading into this heat created a rough week to get through. On the up side, Virginia is supposed to be the most challenging state mentally and I still feel really upbeat and happy with the whole journey. All in all, I feel like we worked through the physical hardships we had and are starting to figure out a schedule for hiking in hot weather. Hopefully it cools off a bit and the schedule change isn't needed quite yet, but who knows.

The area we have been hiking through has been quite nice despite my discomfort. We saw Keiffer Oak which is the largest oak tree on the southern half of the trail (photo below with UV giving the tree some needed love). There has also been many more rocky outcroppings that allow for a nice view. While I am used to nice mountain views, it is nice to continue to get them; the previous week or two we had very few.

One of these views is called Dragon's Tooth. It is a stone monolith that stands at the top of a relatively steep climb. While it was moderately impressive (not great photo below) we saw an absolute ton of day hikers. On top there must have been a dozen and we passed another two dozen on the climb down. It reminded me that the days of the week actually matter somewhat. Normally I have almost no concept of what day of the week it is. Also, despite seeing so many people there was no trail magic. Bad day hikers in my opinion!

The most impressive view was McAfee Knob. It is the most photographed place on the AT and, while I don't think it compares to Katahdin, I understand why it is so photographed. It is a pretty easy 3.9 mile hike from a parking lot and it is relatively close to quite a few people; neither of those things can truthfully be said about Katahdin. Since I did McAfee on a weekday I didn't see too many day hikers so it still felt remote(ish). Since it is so photographed I obliged and am including quite a few with this post. I just realized that I don't think I have included a photo of me in my kilt yet so for those that are curious this should satiate that a bit.

From McAfee Knob you can see the Tinker Cliffs across the low land. The Tinker Cliffs are a .5 mile cliff walk with some great views. It was neat to get to the cliffs and look back at McAfee Knob and realize that I just walked from there in two hours. I included a photo from the cliffs but it is hard to tell where the Knob is. If you look closely there is a white spot on the top of the mountain, that's it. Most of the time I have a view I have no idea what mountains I am looking at and even less idea where I am headed. It was a nice change of pace.

So I finally arrived in Daleville and got my food shipments. It is always a great feeling tearing open the boxes. It is like Christmas and I know I am getting what I want more than anything else, FOOD! This is the first big shipment of dehydrated food that my mom has prepared so it should be interesting. All the meals looks great; hopefully the portions are properly sized after the small trial run last box.

I mentioned aqua blazing in my last post but did not explain what it is. As I go about organizing in my head how to explain it, I figure I might as well give a more thorough explanation of the different techniques of thru hikers and some of the debate around them. To start, there are two main groups--AT purists and AT non-purists. Obviously there are extremes and moderates in each of these groups. The extreme purist thinks that you are only a real thru hiker if you have walked every single inch of the AT. This means that if there are two trails leading to a shelter you have to make sure to take the same one back to the trail that you initially took to the shelter; the same goes if you go off trail for a view or any other reason. UV actually does this, even though I don't think she's quite an extreme purist. The extreme AT non-purist basically accepts any method of getting from Springer to Katahdin. Usually there has to be a vast majority of the miles done on the AT, but there can be some sections skipped via motorized vehicle or other trails. These common trail terms are used when discussing these viewpoints: blue blazing and yellow blazing. Blue blazing is taking side trails (usually marked with blue blazes) to cut miles or hard climbs out of the hike. This can also include road walking to go a more direct route than the AT takes. Yellow blazing is similar but involves getting a ride in some car or truck. Most commonly it involves getting picked up at a road crossing and getting taken to a town or hostel then getting a ride back to the trail at a road crossing further along the trail. Neither of these are rare occurrences on the trail, but people usually don't readily admit to using them. So far, I have done neither, not because I am an extreme purist but because I have enjoyed the trail. I do admit to taking different routes to and from shelters, though so, technically, UV has walked probably 200-500 more feet on the AT than I have.

With that as background, you might be able to guess what aqua blazing is. It is possible to rent a canoe or kayak and take it down river from roughly Waynesborough (mile 856.5) all the way to Harpers Ferry (mile 1017.3). You can do this for a day or two or for enough time to get the whole way. It is a rather unique opportunity for a thru hiker since there is no other long stretch that follows a river. I find it unfortunate that it cuts off the Shenandoah National Park since that seems interesting to hike but, oh well.

I guess that is enough rambling for one post. Yesterday I passed the 700 mile mark... 2/3rds left!