Daleville/Troutdale to Pearisburg, VA

Of all the months, October was the one made for hiking!

The leaves are golden and bright, the sky is so richly blue and the breeze is gentle. Buster and I are getting really excited about the Gathering, a long-distance hiker festival in Pipestem, WV (near Pearisburg), where there'll be workshops, music, dancing and BBQ. Hopefully we'll run into a few other southbounders there as well as all kinds of interesting hikers from all over.

I have been home still this week seeing various doctors about my knees. A physical therapist offered the best information attributing my pain to a shifted knee cap due to a knot in my quad muscle. In addition he found that my arches have collapsed, likely due to me compensating because of my hurting knees. All in all he said I can keep hiking (a big relief) and showed me how to tape my knee, gave me new Montrail insoles with a supportive, fitted arch and showed me how I can massage my leg muscles so the knots go away. It was a great visit.

Buster, on the other hand, has been doing a little hiking. Last weekend after our time off the two of us hiked a one-day section of trail that included the beautiful Tinker Cliffs and McAfee Knob. The next day I was picked up by my parents and Buster hiked 22 miles on his own starting at 4pm! He then did a 19 and a 30 to get into Pearisburg much earlier than anyone was expecting on Wed. night. He'll hang out there until tomorrow (Friday) when my parents are taking me to meet him and then dropping us off in Pipestem.

We'll be back on the trail on Sunday heading on to Atkins and then Damascus for our last two mail drops in Virginia!

bluebird and buster

Waynesboro, VA to Glasgow, VA

We are now at my(bluebird's) house in Martinsville taking a few earlier-than-expected days resting away from the trail. We have come 1400 miles this far.

We had planned to come to my house when we got to Daleville, which is slightly closer (only an hour, not an hour forty five) than Glasgow. But I've been having quite a bit of knee pain over the last few days (I think it was brought on this time by the cold weather) and coming down the last descent into the James River valley where Glasgow is I had a new pain in my right knee that was unbearable. We decided it was best at that point to come home and rest it. Coming home early was a hard decision in some ways because we can't really afford to be behind 4 days. But it was really important that I use these days to see a doctor and rest so that finishing the rest of the trip is even possible. So in that light, we have decided to re-enter the trail in a few days at Daleville and keep to our original schedule. We will hike the 60 miles between Daleville and Glasgow sometime after we make it to Georgia. Since the section is so close to my house it will be pretty convenient to hike it at another time.

Being in a house, especially one so familiar and comfortable, is really nice. We've watched movies and baked an apple pie among other things that are relaxing. we're going to watch apple butter being made on Saturday (a good country fall tradition). We plan on doing a few day hikes on Sunday and Monday so that we can get some miles done on the trail without our packs and still be able to come to a home at night.

I guess that's all the news for right now. Warm thoughts to all,

Bluebird and Buster