Ignoring advice (Day 55)

It was a stormy night, but there was no time to waste time, because for the first time in a long time we will leave a little early and start walking at 7:00 a.m., instead of the usual 9:00 a.m.

It is getting hotter during the day and water is more scarce than ever. We decided it would be smarter to start earlier, to avoid the worst heat of the day. Dreamcatcher will start a little later as he stayed at a friend’s house last night. PK will wait for her.

Yesterday we made a small mistake again: refueling while you’re hungry. The backpack feels heavy! It also doesn’t help that we have a 12 mile water shuttle, so we’ll pack some extra water.

Trail Entertainment

The logbooks at the shelters are my favorite things to read on the trail. You can see who is in front of you and at what distance, but some people leave entire novels there. Lately we get really excited every time a logbook appears. There is a hiker called “the macaroni man”, who always writes his unfiltered and… let’s call him unorthodox thoughts in books. It’s like we’re following a slightly crazy story, with new episodes dropping every day. I guess you have to do something to entertain yourself.

Here come the rocks

Young Blood, the Sobo hiker we met yesterday, gave us a heads up for the next leg. Apparently it’s very rocky, even worse than Pennsylvania, he said. We have 20.6 miles in mind, but he even recommended splitting it into two days of 7 and 14 miles. I appreciate the advice! But we’ve already been taking it easy the last few days. It’s time to cover some miles!

After a couple of miles, I saw a big rock scramble…okay…it’s happening…14 more miles of this…

But is it over after 100 yards? After this it was back to a nice flat trail. Overgrown, but nothing too challenging. I’m glad we didn’t change our plans for this.

Although hiking is relatively easy nowadays, the feeling of being in nature is a bit missing. Virginia has, more than any other state so far, many more power lines running through forests, meadows, road crossings, etc., so it feels less wild.

The last 7 miles were what Young Blood warned us about. The rocks are constantly churned up and everything is overgrown. These parts aren’t the most fun, but it’s just a matter of turning your mind off and just putting one foot in front of the other.

Does hunger become poetic?

I walked alone for a while, wondering about the poems. It’s not the topic that usually occupies my mind, but Ferdinand and Dreamcatcher are interested. It’s never appealed to me, but at Woods Hole Dreamcatcher they asked me to come up with a theme. Then I said Ferdinand’s cool new sunglasses he found the day before. It’s not the deepest feeling topic, but he still made a very interesting poem about it.

Since I’ve been here, I’ve had a «yes» attitude about almost everything. Simply to discover the culture and country as best you can, from root beers to restaurants to farmers markets. And I have to say that this attitude gives me enormous joy. So maybe it’s time to try writing a poem about this crazy adventure. Just as a fun little side activity.

Well, let’s go to sleep, I guess!

I arrived at camp pretty early! I finished all my tasks before 7 pm. What do I do now? Simply doing nothing tires me out. So, I guess I’ll go to bed early!

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using links in articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!

For more information, visit the About page of this site.