Pass Mountain VA

Yesterday brought my third day of rain in a row as I hiked 13.4 miles and climbed 3000 feet in altitude. It as a very difficult day to say the least! Today brought me sunshine as I have been hiking 13.1 miles to the Pass Mtn. Shelter. Hopefully I can get my things dry soon! While the fall foliage is nice, I won't be able to enjoy it properly until I'm dry!

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Front Royal VA

Today was an interesting day. First, it hasn't stopped raining since yesterday, which has grown old pretty quickly. Second, I was greeted by a crazy local as I was leaving camp, who decided to walk with me for a mile or so and tell me everything about bears that I didn't want to hear. Later on the trail, I ran across an AT volunteer, Sharon, who was looking for an injured hiker, Seeker. I offered to watch out for him and got her cell number and continued my hike. Believe it or not, I found Seeker about two miles down the trail, where he had been stuck for two days, and ended up helping him carry his stuff out to the nearest road where Sharon took him to a free hiker loft where he could heal up. During the whole process, Sharon offered to shuttle me to the loft after I was done for the day and I readily accepted the offer. So I am sitting inside a house with a load of clothes in the
laundry, enjoying the sound of rain from behind a window pane!

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Manassas Gap Shelter VA

I'm back on the trail! And it's raining! I did my first major hike in the rain, totalling 9.2 very wet miles. Fortunately, my new boots held up nicely and my rain gear did what it's supposed to. Despite the rain, I am still happy to be back in nature (being in a shelter helps a lot). Hopefully the next few days won't be the same!

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VA, MD, WI, and TN in a week!!

Hi everybody! As I am sure some of you have noticed, I have been negligent in updating my travelogue lately. For that I am sorry, but I haven't exactly been hiking... which may excuse me, right? Well, maybe not.

I headed to Belleville, WI, on Thursday, the 11th to see Jessica for a long weekend. Simply put, it was great! She had a full agenda planned out for us, so we kept busy the entire weekend doing everything from navigating a corn maze, seeing a play, hanging out with her family, to shaving off my beard! Yes it is true, she made me shave! Actually, I owe her a thanks for doing me such a service. Thank You Jessica!

As after any good weekend, I was left feeling miserable! I had caught a cold somehow, and was left feeling sorry for myself without the ability to get back on the trail. Then, my mom made a brilliant suggestion: that we should head to Tennessee, to see family for a long weekend! I thought that this was perfect, so we packed up our stuff, tied up my little sister, loaded everything/everybody in the car, and headed south!

We had a great weekend, at least I did! I got to catch up with my grandparents (on my mom's side) and my Aunt Barb & Uncle Scott (who are pretty cool except the whole NASCAR thing). We watched the new Elizabeth movie, walked around SAU's campus, and stayed up way past our bedtimes! Also, I must say that one of the best parts of the weekend was the food... I ate like a king! Cheers to the wonderful chefs in our family! It was very nice to be able to see them in the middle of my trek...

Now, I am ready to hit the trail again!