Off trail for the wedding! And other stuff!

Hi folks!

Today, I am writing to you all the way from Dickinson, North Dakota! That’s right, I made it out here for brother Deric and soon-to-be sister-in-law Claire’s wedding! It is great to see everybody! To get out here, I got off trail at Mike 710, just before Roanoke. A six hour train ride took me from Roanoke to Baltimore Washington airport, where I flew first to Denver? And then to Dickinson. Needless to say, I’m glad to be done traveling! We have an Air BNB for the week, and I’m really looking forward to a real bed for that time!

Before I go on, I’ve got to give a couple of major shout outs to folks that kindly sent me some stuff! First, a sincere thank you to Teresa Peters and the folks at Backroads Coffee for putting together a package of goodies and sending it along with my family! It was so thoughtful, thank you! As well, I was super excited to have a couple of frozen take and bake pizzas from Coop’s Pizza waiting for me here! What a delicious surprise! Thank you so much Deb, Sam, and the Coop’s crew! Those pizzas will be enjoyed tomorrow!

Speaking of trail magic, Memorial Day weekend brought all sorts of people to the trail, including loads of folks looking to feed us starving, weary hikers. It truly is a thing of beauty to emerge from the woods to somebody asking you if they can cook you eggs and bacon! These kindly people have all sorts of reasons to do the good that they do; maybe they hiked the trail at one point themselves and are looking to give back, maybe they’re out there to support a family member, or maybe they just like to spread some joy in the world. In any event, we are all grateful! Special thanks to Trail Angel Trish in Pearisburg, VA for shuttling me all over town for my resupply! And Stops, for a great breakfast. And so many more!

I think the award for favorite trail hostel has been usurped by Woods Hole Hostel. Neville and the folks working there have really built up a great place with everything a hiker could need, including some of the most delicious homemade food anywhere!

One particularly noteworthy day on trail this last stretch was a day I spent at Dismal Falls. I hiked 20 miles right away that day to end up at Dismal Falls by 1:30. I set up camp early, took a very cold swim in the pool below the falls, walked into town to get some hot food and a shower, and spent the evening watching the sunset over the falls. It made for a super relaxing, near perfect day.

You hear it often said that you should take shelter during severe thunderstorms. Recent experience has recently re-taught me how important that can be. I found myself out on the mountain near Dragon’s Tooth (a very impressive rock outcropping that makes up part of Virginia’s triple crown hikes) when I saw on the horizon some clouds so black that I was immediately inspired to GTFO. I, unfortunately, was not fast enough to get to proper shelter before the real storm hit. I was stricken by blinding rain and wind so strong I had to walk sideways against it. I later learned that a tornado had rolled through nearby, which struck me as no surprise considering I was literally dodging falling trees on the trail. I had to clamber through fallen trees to make it off trail as I became boxed in from the front and the rear. I eventually made it to Four Pines hostel, where I met up with all of the smarter, dryer hikers that had had the foresight to get off trail before a severe storm hit. The moral of the story is, perhaps you shouldn’t be out during very inclement weather. Any one of those trees could have fallen on me, so I consider myself lucky. I’ll be more careful in the future! I’m glad to say, too, that friends of mine that were also out in trail were reportedly unhurt.

I have fantastic news to share! I have retired my first pair of hiking shoes. My Hoka Speedgoats served me well for 710 miles, but I have to say that a trail running shoe is probably not meant for 700+ miles of abusive walking. Side by side photos show the difference between the old ones and the replacements. The replacement shoes are ones that I broke in with about 50 miles of walking prior to leaving for trail. Toward the end of the life of my shoes, I could feel every single rock and root on the trail.

Alright, I’m going to be accused of being antisocial if I continue typing much longer. I’ll be off trail for a little more than a week for this wedding and my travel back. I’ll check in in a bit!