Hiking Dude Blog

I walked 49431 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 21 miles today.
Left the comfort of Stanimals this morning for another day of hiking. It was forecast to be pretty hot today and the next few, but didn't get too bad today. That turned out to be important late in the hike. After lunch on humpback mountain (honest), the guide books listed 5 water sources over the next 10 miles, but they were all dry. We got to Maupin Field shelter and were so excited to see a tiny trickle running behind the building! Twix has joined our little band today and we saw Barred slackpacking - I expect to see him again. Tomorrow brings me to 'The Priest' - a 3000 foot climb with no flat or down.

I walked 37177 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 15 miles today.
Today was full of UPs and downs, but not the normal trail kind. Vanilla Thunder's feet finally became too much pain so he has decided to leave the trail. Very sad. He's been fighting the pain since I joined him and I've been very impressed with what he's endured. We were going into a town to resupply anyway so, as we were sitting at the trailhead deciding how to proceed, a young lady we had meet two days earlier drove up. She is section hiking with her dad and have is a ride into town. In town, Buena Vista, at Lewis grocery, a good guy named Neil offered an idea - VT could skip ahead 5 days and rest while A-town and I hike to him. Hopefully, his feet will be better and he can continue when we catch him. And then, Neil drove us back to the trail and took VT 50 miles to his rest place. How friendly and helpful is that? So, here we are at a shelter with a Washington & Lee backpacking group, looking forward to a nice trail tomorrow and listening to dogs howling on a bear chase off in the distance. Notice their Hiking Dude stickers?

On top of The Priest! Ow.oh.ouch. That was a hard climb! Met this university group out on a 5 day backpacking trip.

I walked 52132 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 20 miles today.
This was probably the longest 20 miles I've ever hiked. Tenting outside the shelter tonight with hopes it will be cool and quiet. The morning was tough - I got stung on my left knee by a yellow jacket, but it seems to be fine. Then, getting water, I slipped and cracked my left shin on a sharp boulder, but not much blood. I still hiked 12 miles since then so we're good to go. Passed through two wilderness areas today.

Saw a snake - copperhead

I walked 51922 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 22 miles today.
Hiked pretty much alone all day, meeting up with A-town on top of a mountain for lunch. Covered many miles but it got terribly hot this afternoon followed by a sudden rainstorm that caught me just 1 mile from the shelter. If you're the praying type, a little healing for Vanilla Thunder's feet would be appreciated. Hopefully, he's testing up and we'll see him in a few days.

I walked 52176 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 23 miles today.
We hiked under The Guillotine today! A suspended rock over the trail. I chatted with yet another W&L group - every one has been just great. They are friendly, courteous, and following Leave No Trace principles. I also saw a garter snake but that's the only wildlife. Plenty of climbing though. Tomorrow will be even a couple miles longer to stage a short hike into town on Saturday. Looking forward to a shower and more food - I'm almost out.

Here's the guillotine.

I walked 59384 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 27 miles today.
Met a bunch of day hikers on the trail. Many (most) of the water sources are just mud since the area has had little rain. A bird watcher from hawkcount.org (I think) and a motorcyclist gave me water which was very helpful since it was over 80 in the shade. I managed to get stung in the back of the head by a ninja yellow jacket - just walking down the trail and BAM. Ouch. After the heat of the day, a lightning storm came up and dumped tons of rain - so water might be better at some point. But, just 1 second from setting the flash to hearing the thunder is a bit closer for me. Unfortunately, not much for pictures today. Here's a herron fishing.

We got some pizza for lunch then resupplied food for 4 days at the grocery. I got waaay more than I probably need, but I now have my stove and need to stay stronger. After that, I went to a local outfitter (not terribly helpful) and bought this nice, light pair of merrill shoes and some thicker socks - the hope being better support will help my foot pain. I've been eating fruit and sandwiches all afternoon and evening as well as drinking lots of water and chocolate milk. The chills have subsided finally but I've still not had to use the restroom (tmi) so I continue to drink water. The shoes were quite expensive but feel nice so I have high hopes that tomorrow goes well. I'm hoping we do a short day, but VT Is stir crazy having been here waiting 4 days. It's just super that they have let me hike with them. I've discovered that I am really not a solo hiker - I need other people around or it's not even a little enjoyable. So, there we are. New shoes, food, and we'll see what the next couple days bring. If I'm not better in the morning, I'll stay another day, otherwise it's back on the trail. By the way, these were three most tame shoes - some wild colors out there!