Well, it’s been a while and I’ve covered a lot of ground since my last post. Replacing a phone while on the move is logistically complicated. But, thanks to a ton of help from my brother, I am now back in the 21st century!

The last things my phone saw before it died were:

…the delicious breakfast at Mountain Harbour,

…a waterfall (the name of which I cannot remember)

…and this blurry BigFoot-esque turkey hen.

I’m actually quite sad my waterproof phone case leads to such poor quaity photos since this hen had about a dozen young poults with her and I somehow didn’t manage to capture a single good shot! Oh well.

I had left Mountain Harbour for another long, cold day in the rain. At Moreland Gap Shelter (Mile 412.1), my phone inexplicably died. I initially suspected that it had succumbed to the relentless rain, despite my borderline paranoid efforts to protect it. However, a subsequent autopsy revealed an electrical short in the chrarging port was to blame.

The last message I had sent was, “I couldn’t possibly be more miserable.” The AT doesn’t tolerate melodrama, so I was kind of asking for some karmic comeuppance there. I borrowed another hiker’s paper guidebook to locate the nearest hostel with a computer. Fortunately, I was very close to Black Bear Resort (Mile 418.5). I ordered a replacement phone and then spent the day resupplying in Hampton, TN and avoiding the rain with the other hikers.

I was determined to get to Damascus, VA by Saturday so that I would have a chance to use the public library computer to check on the status of my phone. This required two long 24-mile days in the rain, first to Iron Mountain Shelter (Mile 442.9), and then to a campsite just past the TN/VA border (Mile 465.3).

I was able to use the Damascus library during its limited hours on Saturday morning, then spend the day at Woodchuck Hostel. The AT actually goes straight through the main street of Damascus, which is very cool. I was also interested to learn that Damascus is a hub for cyclists as well as hikers. The famous Virginia Creeper Trail runs through town, with many local businesses devoted to shuttling cyclists to the trailheads. I also met two cyclists at the hostel who were attempting the TransAmerica Trail, a 4,228 mile bicycle route across the U.S.

It finally stopped raining the day I left Damascus. I hiked to Lost Mountain Shelter (Mile 485.0), just before Mount Rogers, the highest mountain in Virginia. The following morning, I tackled the long climb up Mt. Rogers (Elev. 5,728′) and entered the Grayson Highlands. This stretch of trail has a reputation for being among the most scenic of the entire AT, with the added bonus of feral ponies (if you are into that sort of thing). I am terribly sorry to have not had a working phone, and consequently no photos to show you. 

You’ll have to take my word for it that the Grayson Highlands area is stunningly beautiful and there are indeed ponies everywhere. I would highly recommend this area as a section hike, with the caviat you should expect to be held hostage along the trail by pushy food-seeking ponies on several occasions (so adjust your mileage plans to include time for negotiating with the equine mafia). The entrance into Grayson Highlands State Park is also the 500-mile mark, which I celebrated by belting my favorite hiking song (“I’m Gonna Be,” by The Proclaimers— you know the song I’m talking about) and undoubtedly frightening day-hikers and ponies alike. But that’s ok; I’m sure it happens all the time. I camped with a large group of hikers at mile 506.2, just outside the State Park boundary.

Since I wanted to be in Marion, VA to pick up my phone as soon as it arrived, I cranked out a long day to Partnership Shelter (Mile 532.4), just outside of Marion. This huge two-story shelter features showers and the ability to have pizza delivered (which I did not indulge in, though several other hikers did so… and I gladly ate their leftovers). Marion has a wonderful public transit system, which made it very easy to retrieve my phone, visit the library, and resupply. As I boarded the bus that would take me back to the trail in the morning, I ran into Forrest and Apache, whom I hadn’t seen since everyone left for Trail Days and I stayed in Erwin with norovirus.

I enjoyed a beautiful sunny day of rolling hills and cow pastures, exactly as I had imagined the trail in Virginia would look. The trail crosses private land frequently, often passing through or over fence stiles.

I never thought I’d be so excited about a grassy meadow.

A thru-hiker’s only upper body workout: fence crossings.

Why are hills so much easier to climb when they’re through a meadow?

Mile 550. 25% of the AT completed!

We all ended up camping together at Crawfish Creek (Mile 550.9). Forrest and I left camp at the same time, and hiked together for most of the day. It was great to hear about Trail Days, though I was sad to learn that the rest of our trail family had fallen behind us by about 100 miles. We tackled a few challenging climbs, culminating in Chestnut Knob (Elev. 4,406). Our reward for the tough ascent was a great view from the grassy summit, as well as the picturesque Chestnut Knob Shelter (Mile 568.1).

View from Chestnut Knob

Chestnut Knob Shelter is one of the rare four-walled stone shelters on the southern portion of the AT.

Sunrise from Chestnut Knob

We left at sunrise, anticipating a high-mileage day with easy ridgeline walking. Unfortunately, the 7-mile stretch of ridgeline after descending from Chestnut Knob was a total rock farm, slowing our pace considerably. Good trick, Virginia! It was a welcome relief to reach the relatively clear trail later in the day. Forrest and Apache stopped in Bland, VA to pick up a maildrop, while I continued on to Helvey’s Mill Shelter (Mile 592.3). Although I still prefer my tent, I did stay in the shelter since storms were expected overnight.

Indeed, I left the shelter in the pouring rain the next morning and continued to hike in the rain the entire day to Wapiti Shelter (616.5).

24 miles in the rain is no picnic, but it’s still great to be out on the trail!

Mile 600

After a long rainy day it feels great to be in my tent! Home sweet tent.

The next morning started with an immediate long climb up Sugar Run Mountain (Elev. 4,022; Mile 621.3). It was here that the soles of my trail runners finally gave out, requiring some trail-side shoe surgery.

Uh-oh.

Should be good for another 100 miles, right?

I used my knife to cut a few small holes near the edge of the sole, through which I added zipties to create a series of small loops. I then threaded some paracord through the ziptie loops an attached it to the main shoe laces, tightening the cord to secure the loose sole against the bottom of the shoe. [UPDATE: This actually worked surprisingly well! The position of the ziptie loops isn’t exposed to much wear when walking, except when I stub my toes on a protruding rock. Although I did have to replace the zipties several times over the subsequent rocky sections, the shoes made it another 108 miles to Daleville, where my replacement shoes were waiting in a maildrop.]

With my newly Macgyver-ed shoes, I continued towards Pearisburg. The variety of azaleas on Sugar Run Mtn was incredible!

One of several color variations of azaleas on Sugar Run Mtn.

In the early afternoon, I reached Angel’s Rest (Mile 632.5), a popular day-hike destination with a view of Pearisburg.

I CAN SEE THE DAIRY QUEEN!!!!!!!!!

I enjoyed a zero day in Pearisburg, VA (Mile 635.3) for my birthday. Much Dairy Queen was consumed. I also treated myself to a long-anticipated haircut (and not a moment too soon, as 90+ degree temperatures are upon us)!

Trail life is much easier and more comfortable with short hair!! If you’re not a fan, well… “it will grow back” 😛