Hiking Dude Blog

A hiker named Barred the Changeling killed a huge rat in the shelter last night! Very exciting battle.

Check out my current location on the map. I ran into Jeff and Gracie the Amazing Hiking Dog on the trail. They were out doing trail maintenance and are Scouters from Charlottesville. We had a nice chat and walk, and he gave me a coke. Thanks for the snack and all your efforts for the trail community!

I walked 50580 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 21 miles today.
Well, this was a wonderful, eventful day. Bears on the trail, many nice miles, new hiker friends, and a great place to sleep tonight. This is Stanimals hostel in Waynesboro and it's a wonderful escape from the trail for a night (or two). There are 6 guys here tonight and it's been great fun hearing all their stories. Dana made us a super spaghetti dinner and there's a selection of movies. Now I'm just hoping the bed is as comfortable as it looks. I finished the shenandoah park so we'll see how the trail changes. But, tomorrow is a zero day to resupply and rest.

I traveled about 0 miles today.
Just a slow, relaxing Saturday to rest the body for the coming week. We visited the local outfitter where some guys picked up a few needed items. Then, a long leisurely lunch at Ming's Chinese restaurant followed by a grocery stop for food for the next few days. Now, I'm just watching movies with my feet up looking forward to continuing on tomorrow. I just weighed my pack and it appears to be about 22 pounds with the new food. That seems to be on the low side, but I've been very comfortable and don't feel that I'm missing anything.

I walked 49431 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 21 miles today.
Left the comfort of Stanimals this morning for another day of hiking. It was forecast to be pretty hot today and the next few, but didn't get too bad today. That turned out to be important late in the hike. After lunch on humpback mountain (honest), the guide books listed 5 water sources over the next 10 miles, but they were all dry. We got to Maupin Field shelter and were so excited to see a tiny trickle running behind the building! Twix has joined our little band today and we saw Barred slackpacking - I expect to see him again. Tomorrow brings me to 'The Priest' - a 3000 foot climb with no flat or down.

I walked 37177 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 15 miles today.
Today was full of UPs and downs, but not the normal trail kind. Vanilla Thunder's feet finally became too much pain so he has decided to leave the trail. Very sad. He's been fighting the pain since I joined him and I've been very impressed with what he's endured. We were going into a town to resupply anyway so, as we were sitting at the trailhead deciding how to proceed, a young lady we had meet two days earlier drove up. She is section hiking with her dad and have is a ride into town. In town, Buena Vista, at Lewis grocery, a good guy named Neil offered an idea - VT could skip ahead 5 days and rest while A-town and I hike to him. Hopefully, his feet will be better and he can continue when we catch him. And then, Neil drove us back to the trail and took VT 50 miles to his rest place. How friendly and helpful is that? So, here we are at a shelter with a Washington & Lee backpacking group, looking forward to a nice trail tomorrow and listening to dogs howling on a bear chase off in the distance. Notice their Hiking Dude stickers?

On top of The Priest! Ow.oh.ouch. That was a hard climb! Met this university group out on a 5 day backpacking trip.

I walked 52132 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 20 miles today.
This was probably the longest 20 miles I've ever hiked. Tenting outside the shelter tonight with hopes it will be cool and quiet. The morning was tough - I got stung on my left knee by a yellow jacket, but it seems to be fine. Then, getting water, I slipped and cracked my left shin on a sharp boulder, but not much blood. I still hiked 12 miles since then so we're good to go. Passed through two wilderness areas today.

Saw a snake - copperhead

I walked 51922 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 22 miles today.
Hiked pretty much alone all day, meeting up with A-town on top of a mountain for lunch. Covered many miles but it got terribly hot this afternoon followed by a sudden rainstorm that caught me just 1 mile from the shelter. If you're the praying type, a little healing for Vanilla Thunder's feet would be appreciated. Hopefully, he's testing up and we'll see him in a few days.