A little AT jaded

After doing huge miles in New Jersey and New York I started getting a little jaded with the trail after crossing into Connecticut and Massachusetts. I know some of it was due to being exhausted, and some of it because I hadn't really seen anyone familiar.  Yet, most of it is because step after step has been mostly the same lately with diminishing views because of heavy foliage... of course that is my perspective.

After crossing into Vermont the sentiments I was feeling got worse.  My second day in Vermont was nothing but dark forest, rock scrambles, and muddy trail.  As I was laying in my tent on the second night I could hear vehicles close by.  Knowing that I was 15 trail miles from a package drop in town, dreading more mud, and thinking the road those vehicles were on must connect to a paved road ... I decided to check google maps on my phone.  Sure enough, that mountain road connected to a road leading into Bennington VT.  The best part, it was a direct ten mile walk and didn't require a five mile hitch into town like the trail would.

I started off the next morning and quickly found the road.  Let me tell you, that road was rough.  It was rocky, uneven, and large portions of it had water flowing down it.  Eventually, I got to the main road.  While walking down the road into town I could see mountains, streams, and beautiful farm land everywhere.  I even walked by two turkeys running through a field (picture below).  It was then that I realized I wanted to bicycle some more because just simply walking down the country road brought a smile to my face.

After picking up my winter clothes in town and staying in the worst motel in the North East I moved across town to a nice little place close to the Walmart.  Unfortunately, this wally-world was small so my bike choices were limited.  It came down to a cheap hybrid road bike and a cheap mountain bike.  I decided on the mountain bike because of the added suspension and more upright posture (carrying my backpack).

The next morning around noon I set off.  Luckily, the hills I hit on the way to Manchester had equal downhills.  But, it didn't take long for anything in contact with the seat to start hurting.  Yet, the beautiful weather and awesome scenery made the discomfort worth it.  It also helps that I knocked out 20 miles in a few hours.  Quickly I reached Manchester (ski town).  I decided I had plenty of time to do another 30-40 miles if the terrain wasn't hilly so I kept on.  Unfortunately, right outside of town I had a huge uphill and to make things worse the chain came off the front sprocket (bike doesn't like the lowest gears).

After fixing the chain and making it to the top of the hill it wasn't long before I made it to Ludlow VT.  It helps that I hit a couple 50mph downhills.  I stayed in Ludlow for the night and set off again at 11am the next morning.  The whole day was amazing.  I got to ride along a river for miles.  I sat and ate with an older bicycling couple from Florida at a small dairy bar in Weathersfield.  And I got to ride through some nice farm land and small towns along highway 12A into New Hampshire.

I feel reenergized after my bicycle blaze.  I'm ready to tackle the Whites.  Furthermore, I don't feel so rushed after so many miles covered so quickly.  The next 400 miles as I'm told are the most beautiful and hardest parts of the trail.  I look forward to soaking up the best the AT has to offer.  And eventually summiting Katahdin with a bottle of Jack Daniels single barrel.

Best day with a worst day ending!

There I awoke on August 2, 2013 to the most lovely sound God could bless a man on a mountain trail.  Women's voices!  Not one, not two, but a whole flock!  Instead of sleeping another hour or two I sprung to my feet ready to strut this sexy beast of a mountain man before these Amazonian women.  As climbed outside my tent and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes I was hit by a tidal wave of defeat.  One of those amazonian voices I heard in the distance mentioned Harry Potter.  Then, another voice shot back with something about Hunger Games.  Finally, I was TKO'd by a Justin Bieber comment.

Teeneeboppers! Why God! Why!!!!!

Then I realized why he tricked me in such I vial way.  It was sunny, perfectly clear, and a cool 70 degrees.  The best hiking weather I've seen yet.  A blessing in disguise... oh the trickery!

I quickly packed my stuff up and hit the trail.  Within about four miles I hit Rattlesnake Mountain and had an awesome view of the valley below for about 100 miles (pic below).  I hung out there for about an hour enjoying the view, making phone calls, having second breakfast (ya we do that), and drying out my gear from the previous days land hurricane.  I finally got off my duff and walked about one-hundred yards and ran into a cool 20 year old couple.  They were picking blue berries to mix in with the pancakes they were making.  I sat and visited with them for a bit.  They were very inquisitive of the trail.  They wanted to know things like: What's it cost? How many miles per day? How much food? How heavy is my pack? And how do you get a cool name like Shake-N-Bake?  I gave them the knowledge they sought and wished them a good day.

I charged down the hill past a shelter, a south-bounder, a cool swamp (pic below), and a large snake.  In no time I made it to town.  The guide book didn't say anything about businesses being right off the trail but, I could see a few establishments that might have the object of my desire.  A Pepsi!  Sure enough, there was a fishing store towards the end that had a freezer full of stuff.  I grabbed a water, Gatorade, and my illustrious Pepsi like I was Gollum from Lord of the Rings.  Of course in this story the ring (Pepsi) was swallowed and consumed in a matter of seconds.  No trilogy, and no bloody fingers necessary.

As I headed back to the trail, trail magic número two happened.  An older gentleman named Snores offered me a ride, coke, and beer to the next shelter (2 miles ahead).  You should know by now that I'm no trail nazi... so I hopped in and a few minutes later was drinking some Budweiser, relaxing, and telling my story. After about an hour I packed up, thanked Snores, and hit the road again.

As luck would have it, at the very next shelter I ran into a men's only church retreat.  Down south we call them Mancations!  I got the impression that a lot of these guys had turned some really bad times into good by accepting Jesus into their lives.  One fellow in particular named John, chatted with me for about an hour.  We talked about the trail, the government, the bible, God, his church, and a lot of other things.  Then, they offered me and a south-bounder spaghetti.  Good conversation and good food ... well that's double trail magic in my book for total of four.

Eventually, I said good bye to the church group and was on my way. I had this idea in my head that I was going to hike all night.  However, I rolled my ankle three times (an omen in my book) and decided to call it a night when I reached a wooden platform (24 mile day) in High Point State Park that overlooks the tree canopy for miles.  I debated setting up my tent on this platform because the skies were clear, the stars were out, and it would be kind of tacky if someone came by in the morning.  I had never cowboy camped before but, this was the perfect night and a really great spot.  After star gazing for a bit I eventually fell asleep.

Then...

About 2 hours later I awoke to water droplets landing on my face.  It took me few seconds to realize what was going on, and then I noticed some dark shadows in the sky.  Too late! The heavens bursted open and the winds picked up something fierce.  I jumped to my feet and scrambled for my footprint, poles, and rain fly. I got the first two setup easy enough, but the guylines on my rain fly were all tangled.  Furthermore, the wind was blowing the rain fly and everything else around like crazy.  Eventually, I got the fly on and also managed to tie it down using a post, my backpack, and hiking pole.  Unfortunately, my sleeping bag, my mattress, my pillow, footprint, and me were soaked.  So what genius thing did I do next to fix that?...

Absolutely nothing! Ain't no dryers around here!  I climbed into my wet sleeping bag, and maybe got an hour of sleep as it poured with the wind thrashing my tent around into the morning.

Touché... Touché!

It's all about de shoes!

What's the most important item on the trail?  Shoes, shoes, and shoes.  Oh ya, did I say... SHOES!?!?

After a bajillionish miles on the trail I get a little twitch in my eye when I walk into shoe stores now and talk to the sales associates.  You hear all kinds of nonsense like stabilization, arch support, ankle support, pronation, etc.  Its nonsense because most of the people don't have a clue what they're talking about.  In fact, I've only talked to one guy at a store that knew what he was talking about and that was about 800 miles ago. He used to make orthotics for people.  Furthermore, he hit the nail on the head with regards to my foot problems. However, the solution was much simpler than both of us suspected.

I started out with Brooks Cascade shoes.  They worked great the first week and a half but then the balls of my feet started killing me.  Being the ignorant shoe person I was I thought, "Must be the lack of padding and all the rocks I've been stepping on."  So I did what any hiker would do... I got new shoes in Franklin, NC.

I picked up a pair of Vasques that had ankle support, Gortex (waterproofing), and a stiff sole.  They ran about 200 dollars if I remember right.  I remember telling the sales guy, "I need something with stiff soles because the rocks are killing the balls of my feet!"  I walked out of that store thinking my problems were solved.  Well it didn't take long for me to realize they weren't.  By the time I walked another 100 miles or more to the Nantahala Outdoor Center I was in pain once again.  This time my fellow hikers had convinced me to get some insoles called Super Feet.  I was told they were expensive but, they would surely fix my problem.

With a potential solution in mind I walked into the outfitter the next day.  This was my lucky day because the guy working the shoe section was a retired foot orthotics specialist.  I told him what I was looking for and he pulled out my shoe insoles to take a look.  After looking at the insoles that came with my Vasques he asked me if I was having ball of foot pain.  Surprised that he knew, I responded with an inquisitive, "Yes...".  He showed me that within a few days I had smashed that part of the insole to nothing.  He told me Super Feet would help but what I also needed was metatarsal pads. The pads are suppose to reposition the balls of your feet so that your toes do more work.  Unfortunately, they didn't sell metatarsal pads. However, I did find a Walgreens with something similar and he helped me rig them up with my duct tape (it was the best we could do).  Unfortunately, within hours of walking that duct tape came off and turned into a mess so I had to chunk the pads.  But, they did seem to be working.

I spent the next billion miles trying different insoles and placing my own pads but nothing seemed to work all that great.  No insoles offer pads because everyone's foot is different.  Furthermore, placing pads yourself is next to impossible because your own feet are different.  You pretty much need a specialist to help get it right.

It wasn't until I walked into a shoe store midway through my river float and saw a pair of 4-Finger Filas Barefoot shoes on clearance that I had an epiphany.  I thought I was just going to use them as camp shoes and/or strolling around but i began to notice that my toes were being engaged in my foot movement a lot more.  Curiously, I tried my Vasques for a few days and noticed that my toes did little work and that the balls of my feet did all the work.  Therefore, I hatched a plan.  I decided to wear the barefoot shoes through 20 miles of the rockiest part of the trail.

As my test began I started getting interesting results.  I thought because these shoes had so little padding that I was going to feel every rock.  I was wrong.  I noticed my foot curving to fit multiple rocks, fitting between gaps that my shoes couldn't, gripping to rocks that normal shoes can't, and allowing my toes to function properly.  After 20 miles my feet were tired but, they weren't sore and painful to walk on.  The irony of the barefoot shoes is that walking on concrete is painful after a while unless you're slightly jogging or running.

I eventually traded my Vasques and Filas for Nike Free's and Vibram 5-Fingers.  I chose the Free's because they were really flexible like the barefoot shoes and they had little heel support.  I didn't want heel support because I think it raises the heel up thereby putting more pressure on the ball of the foot.  The other plus with the Free's is they're light weight.  After wearing both shoes the last 30 miles I can honestly say my feet feel better than ever.

Here is my cliff notes on shoes:

1. They aren't a big deal unless you're standing all day, walking/running all day, an athlete, or supporting a specific task.

2. Shoes with a lot of heel support (which are almost all shoes) raise your heel up forcing pressure at the balls of your feet.

3. Shoes with stiff soles disengage your toes forcing you to push off with the balls of your feet.

4. Shoes with thick soles make rolling your ankle more likely uneven terrain.

5. Shoes with thick soles and ankle support lessen the risk of rolling your ankle but increase the risk of hurting your knees.

6. Waterproof shoes just make your feet sweat and become wet anyways.

Finally, I realized how ridiculous the situation was.  I buy shoes to protect my feet.  They almost all come with crappy insoles therefore I buy new insoles.  The shoes prevent my feet from working naturally (ball of foot pain) so I have to get pads to correct it.  Its a fix for a fix for a fix.  What else could be wrong?  Inner & outer knee pain because my stance is all jacked up?  Maybe lower back pain too? How would you know without going to a specialist?  Or you could buy into the shoe nonsense... "You need this one because it has great heel and arch support!"

River Magic

I started writing a blog about the river experience but it was way to detailed.  Instead, I decided to just do bullet points.

- Some people were wondering why rafts.  The big reason was no outfitter would sell you a raft for the entire trip.  The second reason which relates to the above was the expense... 2-300 dollars for a partial trip.  Another reason would be the hassle of coordinating with different outfitters and people.  Finally, to our knowledge it had never been done.  Some people have tried but their rafts fell apart.

- The rafts were built using the thickest plywood we could find, dump truck inner tubes (5 in the beginning), and large zip ties.  We had help gathering supplies by two trail angels: Santas Helper and Miss Janet.  We built the rafts in the parking lot outside our hotel room with our bare hands and a drill borrowed from the maintenance guy.

- Miss Janet transported us to the Port Republic put in.  Before we even launched the rafts Tinkerbell had to rescue a kid from drowning... the kids parents couldn't swim.  Why they brought their son to a swimming hole is beyond my understanding.  Eventually we launched the rafts and did a few miles.  We were able to stand up, walk around, jump, dive, lay completely flat, and store all of our gear on the rafts.  They worked better than expected.

- Here are some of the things we had on the rafts: tire pump, duct tape, patch kits, spare tires, hiking bags inside trash compactor bags, 15 foot golf ball retriever (for poling), a tarp, umbrella, oars, bungee cords, life jackets (butt pads), and beer.

- Eventually both rafts had their first pop. The problem was quickly solved with some patch kits and a spare tire.  The zip ties made swapping and repairing easy (yes you can unzip a zip tie).

- Many people helped us out on this expedition.  Without my parents there would of been no float at all (thanks).  Miss Janet helped with transportation.  Santas Helper got us tubes, gave us soda, transportation, and various assistance.  A guy named Lee helped us portage around a dam.  A hispanic guy helped us portage around another dam.  Various people gave us hitches into town.

- I want to give a shout out to Stacey, Megan, and Tye.  The invited us to their home, cooked us dinner and breakfast, gave us beer, let us sleep on their porch, and were all-around awesome company. Can't forget Tye for wearing us down with BB guns, football, and soccer.  The kid is gonna be a sports star some day.

- We saw a lot of creatures.  Tons if weird bugs I've never seen before.  I think they were aliens... .  Saw a lot of cranes, bald eagles, dragon flies, and huge spiders that could run across water and liked to hide on the underside of our rafts.

- We conquered many sketchy class I rapids.  Some we had to walk because of shallow water.  We nailed every class II perfectly.  Survived a few huge downpours.  Didn't lose any gear.  Could of definitely conquered some class III rapids.

- Worst part of the trip: Low back pain.

- Best part of the trip:  Not walking and letting my feet heal.

- What i learned: Reading and navigating rapids.  There is something vindicating about looking behind you after going through a class II and realizing that you went down the only channel possible.

- Total distance travelled was about 150 miles.  Shortest day was 2 miles.  Longest day was around 16 miles.  Took us exactly 3 weeks.

Now for some pictures.

It ain't easy

It definitely hit me a few days ago.  I was pushing to do fifty miles in two days (after 150 miles in about 9 days with constant rain) and for the first time felt frustrated and annoyed as I was struggling to get to Daleville.  The day before I started in the rain and had to cross about two miles of rocky, steep, slippery ridge line early in the morning about 40 miles before Daleville.  The rain, soggy feet, the fact that I fell a few times, and the unsafe route through the ridge line started my frustration.  I started thinking to myself, "Is it not enough that us hikers are doing 2200 miles?  Why the need to make us rock scramble a very unsafe ridge line? Honestly, you could slide right off one of these rocks.  For what? A little view?"  Honestly, I think it would be best if they made alternate routes around some of these ridges as I'm certain many hikers have gotten unnecessarily hurt walking them.

After the morning fun I made it down the ridge line, across the valley, and up to the Audie Murphy monument.  For those unaware, he was the most decorated American soldier in WWII.  As a kid I was a fan of Audie Murphy and had seen a few of his movies.  Yet, I wasn't sure why he had a monument in Virginia when he was a Texan.  However, as I climbed the mountain I remembered he had died in a plane crash.  Consequently, I figured this monument had something to do with that.  It was a nice little monument, complete with a flag pole, view, and benches to sit on.  As I took a lunch break and quietly thanked Murphy for his service, various weekenders started showing up.  I chatted with most of them and one was kind enough to give me a peanut butter and honey sandwich. After drying out some of my gear I hit the trail again.

I walked across another valley and finally showed up near the dragons tooth.  After an exhausting up hill, lots of rocks, and some scrambling I came to a view on a cliff side.  It was big enough for me to stretch out and eat some dinner.  This day was quickly coming to an end and I was certainly feeling it but I still hadn't made it to the dragon tooth side trail (half a mile off the AT).  After packing up my gear I started heading up the trail.  As I thought, I wasn't but a quarter mile from the dragons tooth trail.  I decided to bypass it and just head down the mountain.  Well, that was easier said than done.  The path down was harder and riskier than the early morning cliffs.  For the next half a mile I had to walk along one foot wide rock walls, slide down some of them, and others were such a drop that metal rungs were bolted to the wall to help with the process.  Again my frustration picked up as I thought this path was unnecessarily dangerous too.  After making it down this mountain and through another valley darkness slowly came.  Earlier in the day I thought about walking all night, but, I decided to turn in around 11pm in what seemed to be someone's backyard.  In hindsight, I should of just kept going because I didn't get any sleep.

The next morning I got up as soon as the sun came up.  Quickly, I realized I hadn't gone as far as I had thought the previous day because of all the rock scrambles (slows you down a lot).  Since I was set on making it to Daleville that day it meant I had almost 28 more miles to do.  As I started walking my frustrations returned.  I started running into silk worm strands every 20 yards.  I spent the next 2 hours wiping what feels like spider webs off my arms and face.  Somehow, I managed to go 12 miles before 10am and make it to McAffee Knob.  What a view!  It's a cliff that over looks a valley about 15 miles outside of Roanoke.  I'd say there were about 40 people (mostly day hikers) sitting on the knob enjoying the view.  While the view was great, all I could think about was Daleville.  I enjoyed the view for another half hour then hit the trail again.  

The next six miles were easy hiking but the last few to the top of Tinker Cliffs is when I started to hit my first wall.  I was having to stop and catch my breath a every hundred yards, I was hungry, thirsty, and lethargic.  I finally made it to the cliffs and laid down.  This time all I was thinking about was a gallon of water and the meal replacement bar in my pocket. Of course to get the water I craved I needed to get to the next shelter.  Luckily, that shelter was downhill from where I was sprawled out.  After catching my breath I hauled ass to that next shelter.  When I got there I chugged what felt like two gallons of water and forced down that Met-Rx bar (its like 3x the size of a powerbar) I was thinking about. Like the day before, I thought I had gone further than I had... so naturally I thought the rest of the way to Daleville was going to be easy.  The first stretch was, but then the trail started uphill again. My frustration started again as I saw other trails leading around the hills when mine went up.  Then the trail started going up higher to power line views.  I started cursing out loud... "I don't need to see power lines!  I just want to get to Daleville!"  I finally got to the last power line and collapsed.  My hands were shaking (low blood sugar?), my body running on fumes, and my feet aching like crazy.  I sat for 15-20 minutes trying to rehydrate and compose myself mentally.  I didn't come 26 miles in one day to stop at 5pm two miles short of my destination.  I put my shoes back on and started slowly walking down the hill.  At some point I stepped oddly on a rock but didn't think much of it.  Eventually, I got down to the last mile but that's when my foot started to hurt and I started feeling a little nauseous.  That last mile was brutal because I had to constantly stop, put my hands on my knees, and catch my breath.  I thank the gods that the trail dumped out right next to the Howard Johnson Inn.

I went to the front desk and started the check in process.  However, I had to stop and sit down at one point because i was going to throw up / pass out.  Eventually, I finished the check in and hobbled to my room (my foot was hurting bad now).  I ordered a pizza, jumped in the bath, downed some fluids, and then just laid in bed.  I knew my body had gone the limit when my hands started to cramp while eating.  What a day I thought to myself.  Heck... what a week!

Mmmmm Pizza...

Six year southbound hiker

On my way up the mountains after leaving Pearisburg Virginia I met an amazing southbound hiker.  We got to talking and I found out that the last time he saw his friends and family was six years ago at a lake in Maine.  I asked the obvious question, "Why so long?"  He told me that he won't return home until he's done and they aren't accustomed to traveling long distances.

He seemed sad and looked a little green when talking about his friends and family so I tried steering the conversation in another direction.  I noticed he was traveling light and therefore wondered if he was working on and off as he hiked.  He told me that he doesn't, but he's been taking his time and living off the land.  I was impressed... I haven't bumped into anyone like that yet.  Supposedly he eats whatever nature provides and drinks his water straight from the streams unfiltered.  A true outdoors man in my book.

One thing I did notice is that he had a very unique shelter.  He told me he made it himself and that it was completely weather proof.  He said he was very protective of it because he made it himself, and it was about the only piece of gear he had.  A few times he's had to snap at people to keep them away from it.

The topic eventually switched to bears.  I told him that I'd only seen a small cub and never really had an issue.  He told me a huge bear came into his camp at night.  He supposedly tried to hide in his shelter but the bear flipped it over with him inside it.  However, the bear left him alone after that and both him and his shelter were unharmed.  That's definitely the craziest bear encounter I've heard yet out here.

We talked about food for a while but his appetite I found kind of disgusting.  I asked if he ever went into town for some good o'l American food?  He said, "No. Never."  He mentioned that he finds crossing the street way to dangerous and that people treat him differently than everyone else.  I didn't want to dig into that one.

Before I hiked on I asked what his trail name was.  He said, "Michelangelo!"  Interesting name, so I asked him how he got that one.  He said, "We'll my favorite movie growing up was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Michelangelo was his favorite... plus I am pretty smart for having such a small head."  I laughed at that and then wished him a good safe hike.

Below is a picture of what Michelangelo looked like... pretty rugged dude if you ask me.

Rest, Sweat, & Pong

After staying in Marion for three days to rest my leg I moved a few miles down the road to Atkins and checked into the Comfort Inn for another two days.  Why? It was nicer, cheaper, and closer to the trail.  Wednesday I finally took to the trail with my leg feeling about 90%.  After walking down the shoulder for 3 miles (to get to the trail) I ran into No Name and Homeward Bound.  The three of us decided to get some burgers at a restaurant close to the trail that looks like a barn.  After a gallon of water, a burger, fries, and a salad I felt like a million dollars.

After the good lunch I hit the trail.  After a mile I detoured a bit to check out Davis Cemetery.  According to the sign it dates back to the early 1700s.  Being the history nerd I am I had to check it out.  Unfortunately, the oldest graves were very worn down but, I did get a picture of some others.  After the cemetery I bumped into Nothing Man and Night Train twelve miles down the trail at a pavilion.  Apparently, they had received trail magic a few hours earlier.  As luck would have it though, I woke up the next morning to a repeat.  Some very nice Methodists from various states and Pastor Alan cooked us some hot dogs and burgers.  Come to find out, the hiker Hardtack is part of their group.  After the good eat'in and company I finally hit the road at 12:30.

After a swim in a creek, a really long uphill, and 500 attacks by horse flies I made it to a beautiful bald and Chestnut Knob shelter.  The view from the bald was amazing.  Furthermore, the skies were clear and begging for some star gazing.  Therefore, I set my tent and waited for darkness (9pm).  Unfortunately, when I stuck my head out to check the view clouds had rolled in.  Another hiker (Ghost) that was cowboy camping had said that the clouds had dispersed an hour later.  However, I had passed out by 9:05 from exhaustion so I missed that show.

The next day I pumped out a brutal 15 miles.  Why brutal?  Because there were no good water sources for 9 miles and it was hot.  I eventually made it to the creek near Jenkins shelter, drank a gallon of water, ate, and laid down for an hour.  I tried to get a nap in but the horse flies wouldn't allow that.  So what does a hiker do when he can't sleep or eat?  He hikes... muhahaha.

After another grueling uphill and five miles I made it to Laurel Creek.  I fully intended to camp there but, a hiker right behind me (dog-e-daddy) had called a gentlemen in town and he happened to show up 10 minutes into my break.  His name was True Brit (yes he's British) and he had property close by which he was setting up as a wilderness survival school.  The guy was former SAS and really cool.  After talking about HALO jumping, pizza, and how Tinkerbell and Hump were camping there ... I was sold. The awesomeness didn't stop there... when we arrived at his place I found out that Roadkill, Bear Cloud, and Invictus were also there.  I fully didn't expect to catch them for a few more days.

So what do a bunch of hikers do when they are chill'en with an ex British special forces guy?  Eat pizza, drink beer, have bonfires, and play beer pong.  Now ill tell you... I can't play basketball worth a damn but, I got some mad beer pong shooting skills.  I took down all of the cups except the last two ... Hump bounced the ball in one for the two point clutch win.  Unfortunately, the beer pong tournament died after two games so I didn't get to stand on the podium and receive my medal.

The next morning True Brit cooked us some bacon, eggs, and pancakes then drove us back to where he picked us up. After about 8 miles I ended up at hwy 51 (it's part of the trail) with Biscuit, Righty-Tighty, and Dog-e-daddy and guess what???  Some college kids driving by stopped and gave us two cold Bud Lights each.  Trail magic!

After the beers I hiked up the trail another 7 miles and decided to make camp on a ridge top because my leg was annoying me again.  Somehow in the process I ticked off three bees therefore, I'm huddled in my tent hoping they don't call for reinforcements.  To end on a positive note, tomorrow I will hit 600 miles.

Whoooop