Change

All things that stagnate suffer.  People are no exception.  While most of us will do anything to prevent change or to protect our daily routine, our psyche begins to suffer; It starts desiring variety, adventure, the unknown, and excitement.   The paradox is, those emotions are met equally in the mind (the most ancient of battlefields) with fear, doubt, and worry.  The only way to certain victory is to strike swiftly and directly with a sword of courage. Only then are we free to grow without restraint and withering attachments.

So it's been wet out on the trail.  Feels like monsoon season actually.  It rained the week before trail days, all during trail days, and this whole week after.  However, everything has still been amazing.  We took the Virginia Creeper Trail out of Damascus until it caught back up with the AT.  It was definitely worth the detour.  The trail runs along the river for miles, there's beautiful green fields, great camping spots, swimming holes, and good food along the way. Towards the end we ran it to two 18 year old high school students from Colorado (Girl was Derby and the guy was Fudge Pack) that were doing a project for school.

Night Train, Nothing Man, and I decided to camp at Lost Mountain shelter.  The Coloradians did as well. Then, Hump and Tinkerbell showed up. We explained to the Colorado's that it was quite normal for hikers to sit around the campfire and talk about farting ... it's true.  We even demonstrated a few times.  We definitely left them with good info for their project.

After an intense thunderstorm that night I headed for Mt. Rogers the next morning. At the gap right before the climb I ran into Hardtack again.  His parents were there giving out KFC trail magic.  I missed the good stuff but was able to snag some coleslaw and coke.  Hey... it still brightened my day!  A half eaten Reese's Pieces is enough to put a big smile on a hikers face.

From the gap before Mt. Rogers we all started the ascent into pony land.  Unfortunately, the first pony we came across was a punk.  He tried to bite me and Nothing Man and attacked Night Train.  We had to chase it away with our hiking poles.  Apparently everyone else had similar encounters.  Luckily, the other ponies were a lot more friendly.

After making it to Mt. Rogers shelter in the rain I took a side trail to Old Orchard. The trail was a little rougher than the AT but the scenery was great.  There were some amazing rock outcroppings, calves, and long horns for some reason.  Unfortunately my camera ran out of juice so I missed some good pictures.  About 15 minutes after making it into camp Hump showed up (nobody else went the distance).  And then the rain came again muhahaha!

The next morning I intended to hike to Mt. Rogers visitor center but my shin pain came about half way up the next mountain.  I decided to go to the next gap and hitch into Marion VA.  I was impressed that I was able to do 10 miles in a few hours in a lot of pain.  I've come a long way since Georgia and doing 12 miles in 12 hours.  Towards the end of my hobbling that day I did hike past a really cool waterfall (picture below). It really got me thinking of our future aqua blazing endeavor.  100 miles in a kayak through the Shenandoah's... hell yes.

Not long after the waterfall I made it to the gap.  A hiker named Finn and I hitched a ride to the EconoLodge in Marion.  The next day I awoke to sex raptor scent outside.  Banjo, Hump, Roadkill, and Invictus were in town as well.  I'll end this post by saying we made a trip to the liquor store.

Canadian Club for me...