Buster and Bluebird are back on trail! We resumed our hike on Rt. 42 near Ceres, VA on June 6th (a symbolic date by chance because that's when we started our hike up Katahdin last year). We already had a lot of our geat ready from last year. But as an early wedding present we got a Squal II Tarptent. That was a REALLY nice addition to our gear.
We started out with a couple of 17-mile days. Even though we were both sore we pushed on. It's hard to describe the energy we have right now to get this hike done. Sometimes I feel like I'm running on adrenaline. Each day we passed about 20 northbounders! I think we are somewhat of an anomily to them- looking experienced and moving fast... yet going the other direction.
The third day out we did 20 miles. But towards the end of the day after a large climb up to the 5,000 ft. range where the Grayson Highlands are, Garrett's sore calf muscle was getting much more severe. We had to take the last three miles really slow since we was mostly carryig himself with his arms and poles. This scared both of us a lot. We decided that the best thing to do would be to go to Damascus to let it rest for a couple days (thinking it was a pulled muscle).
The next morning we hiked down from Wise Shelter on a horse trail to the Grayson Highlands State Park and hitched a ride out. Damascus was only 33 trail miles away so we thought it wouldn't be hard to get a ride there. FOUR hitches and three hours later we got to Damascus! It was quite an adventure. It felt odd for us to be in Damascus, such an iconic little trail town, and not have hiked in and to also have a car there in the parking lot (we had left a car there when my dad shuttled us up to Ceres so we can come up to Winchester this weekend for a wedding). We met a lot of northbounders at The Place (Damascus' popular hiker hostel). The two days of rest helped Buster out a lot so we decided to head back to the Highlands on Monday. Getting back to where we left the trail was about as easy as getting to Damascus was. A shuttle from one of the outfitters would cost about $50 and an hour of hitching produced no hits. Eventually we ran into Bag O' Tricks, a famous bestoer of trail magic all up and down the trail with his buddies in Billville. We had seen him at the ALDHA Gathering and he very kindly offered to take us back up to the trail (about an hour's drive on curvy Rt. 58). He told us all kinds of great stories about trail legends and people. Thank you so much, Tricks!
Back on the trail, Buster's leg was still bothering him. We slowed our pace and only did 7 miles across the Grayson Highlands. This section was incredibly beautiful. It reminded us of the Whites, specifically Franconia Ridge, with wide open treeless ridges and plently of rocks. BUT there were wild ponies too! Dozens of them would come right up to you and lick your hands and even give you a little kiss. It was great fun.
We're now back in Damascus after a couple more days of hiking. Buster think's his calf/knee pain is caused by cramps that come and go. We're hopeful this is all it is and that it will end soon!
We'll leave the lovely state of Virginia tomorrow and do a short bit in Tennessee before heading up to Winchester for the weekend. Virginia was a great state, but we are very ready to be moving on.
happy trails to all!
Bluebird (and Buster)
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