yes, I am a big nerd. 😉 That’s 400 miles at a stream.

My friends, we have reached our fourth state…rather, commonwealth, of Virginia. We have 500+ miles to walk in this state and I am hoping for some better terrain in a few hundred miles. The rumors are that around Pearisburg things start to flatten out until somewhere in PA…and by flatten out I mean, not a lot of steep climbs—not Florida flat. Let’s see, when we left Erwin over a week ago I thought I’d get a chance to write again at the Kincora hiking hostel in Hampton, TN. No computer, so no writing. The climb out of Erwin wasn’t too bad, mostly pleasant along a nice stream and then up to…

Yesterday we pulled 20 miles to get into Temple Hill Gap so we could do 4 miles into Erwin this morning. We woke at 6:30 and rolled into Uncle Johnny’s hostel at almost 9am. Ahhh, we relaxed for a few hours, showering and doing laundry and then caught the lunch shuttle into Erwin. The trail doesn’t go through Erwin, it’s a few miles off and Erwin is also spread out, but we ate at a pizza joint on the outside of town and then walked through town, quaint cute houses that I imagined myself living in, and then into the old-tyme downtown and other areas. We had some Sonic for…

So far the best place to camp and with the best views. I recommend camping there if you can handle the wind…very, very windy. Some guys ‘cowboy camped’ in their sleeping bags under the stars.

*originally scheduled, didn’t post for some reason*

The best thing is coming up on Trail Magic. A hot dog or a hamburger, or even a coke. Ahhhh, it is so nice. These ladies were our first Trail Magic…hot dogs right after breakfast. Don’t pass up any Trail Magic! *originally scheduled for a few days ago, didn’t seem to post.*

We’re sitting in the library in Hot Springs, NC for the afternoon. Yesterday we did about 17 miles from Max Patch Bald summit, where we’d camped the night before (amazing, awesome, you should do it) and stayed about a mile or so before Hot Springs at a random campsite which was nice. This morning we rolled into the town by 8am for some breakfast at the Smoky Mountain Diner. Ahhhh, coffee (a rare treat for me) and a huge breakfast that we couldn’t finish. Yes, I know, we’re calorie starved and I couldn’t finish my meal. Since we’d stayed past the shelter we were some of the first to come…

Whew…five days in the Smokies. We decided to hit a hostel just outside the park today instead of staying at a campsite. Although, we are still camping anyway—we got here too late. But a shower is nice and we ran into a lot of people we’d been hiking with earlier last week. First, thank you for all your comments and thank you to my old work colleagues who have commented! I appreciate it and I hope you are all having fun with the upcoming Everglades Study! 😉 What can I say about the Smokies??? They weren’t as bad as I thought but there was a lot more snow than was…

Worth hiking up if you drop your back and go to the top.