Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -
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May 20, Village Motel - mile 530.4

Hard to believe I'm still on the trail --- I have a soft bed in a motel, my own bathroom, telephone & a Dairy Queen blizzard in my stomach. It feels pretty good, too!

Today was fairly short again, with a mild 12 mile hike in from Partnership. I got in by noon & was greeted by mounds of boxes & mail, which was fabulous.

I'm surrounded by all my food & summer gear, attempting to sort & re-pack everything. I need to send the remainder of my winter clothing home but I have a feeling that I won't be able to do it from this hotel. And I have no desire to spend the morning hitching into town to send a box, so I'll probably just carry this stuff to the next town & send it from there. It's extra weight, which I hate, but I also can't afford the time to go into town. I just realized a couple days ago that my original schedule would get me to Pearsburg on Sunday which would be OK if I could just hang out & get my mail on Monday. But suddenly I realized Monday is a holiday, which would force me to wait until Tuesday. So, I need to move a little faster this week if I plan to get there before Saturday noon.

Well, I'm all set to pull in Saturday & meet up with Erica, my old college roomee from our days in DC. It will be so fun to see her again! They live in West Virginia right now & the trail is skirting the WV border, so it's feasible for us to get together.

May 21, Knot Maul Branch Shelter - mile 544.7

Again there are so many new faces tonight at this shelter, which is packed. I guess we're in the midst of all the people who have already hiked this section between here & Damascus. So many of them got into Damascus early & then hitched to Athens & hiked south for 4-5 days in order to catch Trail Days. Now they've all returned here were they left off & are heading north again. I enjoy meeting most of them, but there's a few "interesting" characters, who I could live without.

Well, we woke up from an excellent night's sleep this morning, only to discover we had a mouse overnight. A mouse in a motel! Sheesh -- If I wanted to hang my food, I'd stayed in a shelter & saved myself the $40. Actually, I was perfectly happy with the accommodations despite their conditions, but a mouse who eats my breakfast left a bad taste in my mouth (no pun intended) about the whole experience. Since the office didn't open until 8:30, I just left a written request for a refund, although I'm not holding my breath. I've since learned that it's a common experience.

A lot of the hiking today reminded me of Tennessee. Straight up & down the steepest hills possible & around in circles through cow pastures. We had to climb a zillion stiles - wooden "ladders" of a sort that get hikers up & over the fences, without letting the animals through. For some reason. they are all built with the steps each a mile apart, which is excruciatingly painful on the knees to lug oneself up. Even my long legs give me very little advantage on them. Tonight my knees are very very sore & I hope that tomorrow is stile-free.