Day #76 - AT Hike

Wednesday, May 27 - Day #76 - AT Hike

Miles Hiked Today - 14.2
Total Miles Hiked on AT - 1016.8/2,193 (46.37%)

Sam Moore Shelter (1002.6) to David Lesser Memorial Shelter (1016.8) - tent at David Lesser Memorial Shelter

Total ascent - 3,415’
Total descent - 2,926’

Total States Completed - 3/14

**No rain - cooler day today vs yesterday. It remained overcast with a slight breeze. Ideal hiking conditions

————-

Last night in Virginia!!!  I just checked - I entered Virginia on Day #32 - it’s now Day #76 - that’s a really long time. Can I say I’ve lived in Virginia for a month+ of my life?  By the way - I’m going to go back and update the blog entry names to include when I started each state. This will make it way easier for me in the future if I want to go back and look up something (plus hopefully easier for you guys as well)

Today went really smooth - much better than yesterday for me. The first 8 miles was tough - but the last half of the day was more relaxing. I got into the shelter at 2:30pm. Empty Space decided to go for Harpers Ferry today to get some added rest for his trip to the Smokey’s.

This shelter is one of the coolest ones on the whole AT. At the shelter itself - it has a deck with chairs and benches. In addition to the shelter, it has a pavilion with a picnic table and a swing. I put up my tent right away once I arrived and then got water. After those chores were completed - I sat on the swing for a couple hours - eating snacks and just relaxing. It was awesome!!  I ran into one of the couples from last night - Jenna & Nick - at a water break today. I knew they were coming to the same shelter as me tonight - so when I was swinging - I really didn’t feel isolated at all - it was kind of nice.

Jenna & Nick got into the shelter around 4:45pm. This is Day #4 for them on the AT. They’re doing great. They have hopes of doing the hike in 4 months (where I’m trying to complete in 5). 4 months is super quick. It’s sort of funny to get their reactions of the hills and the course - I think a bit more difficult than they had bargained for.  We had some great discussion over dinner. They were going to stay in the shelter until the head of a copperhead poked out from under one of the benches in the shelter. Man - that freaked me out. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to sleep in a shelter after seeing that (glad I stayed in a couple in the Smokey’s to get a bit of exposure). I just think sleeping in the completely exposed shelter in the heart of summer is asking for problems - with snakes, bees, mosquitoes, etc. I’ll take my chances in my tent.

So I ended up writing a list of stuff I want to accomplish on my upcoming Nero-Zero. I’ve been waiting to Harpers Ferry for a few tasks. A few of these are:  (1) Send back a few warm weather clothes. (2) take a look at my finances (3). Get either new shoes or different inserts.

I’m getting serious about this “shoe thing”. There’s way too many miles left to have my heels (and feet in general) hurt like this. The Superfeet inserts and heel lifts have helped the heels quite a bit - but the pain is still there.  If I could completely rid the foot pain - I think I could be dangerous out there. More miles could be had for sure. I’m basically my own personal guinea pig. If I keep trying enough stuff - maybe something will eventually work!

Goodnight from Virginia!  Tomorrow- Mr John Denver will bring us to our next state on this journey. Have a great night!

Nice shelter

Neat view today

Everything is green now

Trail to scenic lookout

Nice chair on deck of shelter

Pavilion and swing

I sat here for 2 hours

Cool sign

If you look hard - that’s the copperhead

Afternoon trail