The Unpolished Princess

Start:War Spur Shelter (AT mi 669.4). Stop: Peter’s Mountain Trailhead (AT mi 657). Today’s miles: 12.4 miles. Total AT mileage: 1542.1 miles.

Y’all. I was supposed to hike 23.8 miles today. Instead I hardly hiked 12 before deciding to bail and praying my new plan would work out..

I started off well. I got up at 6:50 and rushed to pack and eat breakfast. Soundscape and Moose were already gone by then. I had my pack on and was walking out of camp by 7:35. Not too bad. The day started with a climb, like it seems to everyday, but I felt good and seemed to be going a bit quicker than normal. It was steep, I warmed up fast. There weren’t really any views. Just deep in the trees and greenery.

I climbed for what felt like a lifetime, then the trail meandered on top of the mountain for awhile. It started off nice, but then became a rocky jungle gym. Nothing like up in Maine, but more like Pennsylvania. Loose rocks all over the place. They weren’t hard to maneuver, they just hurt my feet and my ego. They slowed me down and I found it very irritating.

I started the downhill and parts were steep and slick, but overall just the same situation with making my feet ache with each step. I think it’s probably more the shoes and me hyper-focusing on them, but you try to tell yourself to quit thinking about something when all you’re doing is hiking through the woods and have no real distractions.. ha. It didn’t work very well.

I made my way down and ended up eating lunch on a small rock in the sunshine. I ate fast and was hardly sitting for 15 minutes all said and done. I started walking through a beautiful area near a rushing creek with gorgeous trees and tons of leaves covering the forest floor. It truly was lovely. As I walked along, I checked my app sometime around 1:30. I still had 11 miles to go.. that’s roughly 5.5 hours with my pace. So, I was looking at a 7pm arrival and that’s with no breaks or slowing down on the big climb still ahead of me.

I checked the next road crossing and made the decision to bail. I didn’t have service, so I messaged a hostel in town with my Garmin Inreach (man that thing is handy as hell). I told them where I was, that I didn’t have service, and that I wanted to be picked up, stay tonight and tomorrow night, and slackpack the 20 mile section from this point to Pearisburg. They said “hold tight, I’m on my way.” I was giddy!

I don’t know what came over me, but I just did not want to have to rush up that mountain and then trample over a rock studded mountain top to get to camp by dark, and more than likely be a bit late.. only to wake up and hike 8 miles to town anyway. Today was going to be 23.8 miles followed by 8.6 miles tomorrow. Now it’s 12.4 miles today, and 20 miles tomorrow (but without all my gear). TomAto-TomaTo.

Doc Peppa picked me up pretty quickly. I was expecting it to take over an hour and she had me picked up and checking into the hostel by 2:30.. mind you, the texting took about 25 minutes to go through on the Garmin.. so all in all, this was quick! I ended up picking a private room with a full sized cushy bed. The bunks looked nice, but I wasn’t risking those mattresses. If I’m paying money, I want comfort! I dropped my stuff, dug out my wallet, and then.. shockingly.. walked a quarter mile to a Mexican restaurant. And now we’ve determined the cause of my bail out today-apparently I wanted real food! Hahaha!

So, I got to La Barranca and promptly ordered cheese dip, a margarita, 2 enchiladas, rice and beans.. oh, and a water. I am here to tell you I devoured everything on that table. I think the waiter was either in shock or highly impressed. I scraped the plate clean, I used the very last chip in the bowl to get the last eensy weensy bit of cheese dip left (again, I considered licking the bowl, but stopped myself). It was so good.

A little stuffed and with a visible pooch belly, I waddled myself down the street to the food lion to get my resupply for the few days after Pearisburg, and for lunch and snacks for tomorrow’s slack pack. Once all loaded down with groceries, I made my way back to the hostel. I put away and organized my food, got my slack pack ready for tomorrow, and then went to shower.

The bathhouse is separate from the trailer my private room is in.. but man, it’s nice! That hot water is even more appreciated now that it’s chilly outside. I scrubbed up and stayed under the hot water until my fingertips turned pruny. Back at the room, I laid out in bed and began typing this up.. and I’ve caught up with friends and my mom some. I also made sure to message Soundscape earlier so he wouldn’t be worried when I didn’t appear at camp. He and Moose pushed on and made it to the shelter after the campsite, for a 25.2 mile day. I would probably still be hiking right now if I was trying to get there!

It looks like I’m going to have to get over my want for sleeping in and make myself get up earlier and get the day started sooner to make my mileage before night fall. It just is what it is, and as much as I hate it.. I’ll hate falling behind and being required to still be hiking this trail come December even more. I had hopes that this trek would turn me into a morning person. It hasn’t. I don’t think it ever will.. so, I’ll just have to force it for now to meet my goals. Which is ok. Hiking in the morning is usually the most enjoyable, once I actually get over the irritation of being awake.

I leave out of here tomorrow at 7, so it looks like it’s already my bedtime. I think I’ll be sleeping good tonight! Sweet dreams, y’all!

Start: Peter’s Mountain Trailhead (AT mi 657). Stop: Pearisburg, VA (AT mi 637). Today’s miles: 20 miles. Total AT mileage: 1554.5 miles.

I slept so so good! I think it was a combination of the full belly and the incredible mattress. When my watch alarm started it’s vibrating, it took all of my willpower to ignore it, and I mean all of it.
I got out of bed at 6:20, grabbed my toiletry ditty bag and walked over to the bathhouse. I handled business, brushed my teeth and hair, then came back to my private room to quickly dress and load up my day pack, which I love by the way, it’s one of my favorite and most useful purchases!

What I took: my umbrella, rain jacket, a liter of water, a large Gatorade, my water filter and the liter collapsible bag (not the cnoc and not as good as the cnoc, when it doesn’t have holes in it-but this little bag works for now), toilet paper, my kula cloth (hooked to the outside of the day pack, this is the little pee cloth thing, the TP is just for number 2s these days), headlamp, Garmin Inreach, an egg salad sandwich, and some pickle slices. Ha. What a combination.

Doc drove me through the Hardee’s drive thru-I got 2 egg and cheese biscuits, she didn’t want anything. And then we carried on to the trailhead she picked me up from yesterday. I got started right at 7:30. By 7:40 I passed a shelter.. I could see the couple, The Praise Team, inside their tent, and a couple other people at the shelter that I didn’t recognize. I threw up a wave and carried on.

The trail swiftly started climbing, most of which was switchbacks. I was grateful, not only for the ease switchbacks create, but also for the heart pumping the climb was creating-warming immediately up. It was chilly! I think the temperatures over night were in the high 40s, so it was maybe 50 degrees by now. While it was cold when I stopped moving, I was also extremely excited over the lack of bugs and spider webs!

The climb seemed to fly by. Once at the top the trail continued along the ridgeline, all of which seemed to be under tree cover. I passed several campsites that seemed less than desirable, and then the trail became overgrown with briars, huge flower stalks (which I liked but also hated tearing through and damaging), and then for fun there were boulders and ankle turning rocks thrown in.

It was pretty frustrating though that chunk of things, and I remember thinking how much worse this would have been yesterday after I was already tired and over it. I think I made the right call to bail yesterday. If I wasn’t completely convinced right then, it was most definitely confirmed by the time I reached the campsite I would have been aiming for yesterday.

Thankfully, there was some open fields with gorgeous views that I happily soaked in. I ate lunch sitting on a rock overlooking the cities below. A bit later, I crossed the campsite I was supposed to stay at yesterday. It was so covered with downed trees that I could barely figure out exactly where it was! In the daylight! And I never found the spring.. imagine if I had shown up there last night at 7:30, with the sun gone and my headlamp on. It would have been a disaster!

I continued past it, continuously thanking God that whatever came over me yesterday did, and that I listened to that voice telling me it was ok to get a ride to town. Almost 2 miles after that, across another gorgeous field, I came to a shelter with an incredible campsite overlooking the city below. It was STUNNING! This is where Moose and Soundscape pushed to last night. I can’t imagine have been able to go 2 more miles as late as I would have been hiking. Both of those guys are faster than me though, so I’m sure they got the full beauty of this site before the sun left the sky. I can only imagine how incredible that sunset and sunrise had to be.

The next 8.6 miles was basically downhill. Parts were steep, parts required me to jog down a bit. All of it was fast moving and very refreshing! There was some bridge crossings over the New River, which looked beautiful from above. I finally made it to the pick up parking lot at 3pm. 20 miles by 3pm. Hell. Yes. Doc came and got me. I have to tell you, I quite like this lady. She’s wonderful!

When we arrived back at the hostel, Cactus was there! She introduced me to the folks she was hiking with/around.. Bones, Zebra, HappyFeet, Sunshine, Mash, and MashedPotatoes. LongShot zeroed today, so he was still here along with his friend (I forget his name). I showered, did laundry, and a group of us went to Mexican. It was just as good today as it was yesterday, although today I wasn’t nearly as ravenous. The company made today that much better, though.

After dinner, most of us quickly went to the grocery store. Many did their resupply, I just had to pick up stuff for tomorrow’s slackpack. When I realized how quick I was doing the 20 miles today, I had text Doc and told her I wanted to do the 26.8 mile slack pack tomorrow. I decided originally thinking that it would put me with Lizard the following day-but I quickly realized even with the big day I was a full day behind her. Dammit. BUT, I decided to do it anyway so I’d ONLY be a day behind her and not 2!

Once back at the hostel, LongShot made a campfire and most of us sat around it for awhile. When I started getting sleepy I decided to say goodnight and head to my room.. to write this all up so I can now say goodnight to you, too. Tomorrow will be a long day! Here’s to sleeping well in this comfy bed!! Sweet Dreams!

Start: VA 606 (AT mi 610.2). Stop: Pearisburg, VA (AT mi 637). Today’s miles: 26.8 miles. Total AT mileage: 1574.5 miles.

I got ready much like yesterday, ready to leave right at 7am. As I was in the living room getting my shoes on, I chatted with Cactus and Groovin who came in for coffee. I was drinking an energy drink, so I didn’t get any for myself. But I’m starting to miss the warmth of coffee in the morning, so I think that’s going to be making a return real soon..

Groovin took me through Hardee’s drive thru. I got 4 egg and cheese biscuits, 2 for now, 2 for lunch. We drove the 35 minutes to the trailhead, passing pastures, cows, and farms almost the entire way. I got out and started hiking northbound at 7:45.. it was quite chilly.

I started moving pretty quick, even for me, simply because of being cold. My fingers were getting numb and I was trying to pull my long sleeves down over my hands.. and then I moved as fast as I possibly could without actually running. The trail was smooth and easy going for miles and miles.

Sometime mid morning, I got to thinking about my house and I got hyper focused on the addition I want built on the back. I got so detailed in my head that I got excited and called my Uncle Keith once I realized I had service. He and I talked for almost an hour before I lost connection and never really got it back for long during my hike.. we talked about the addition and then absolutely everything else under the sun. I miss him so much. Part of me wishes I was already done with this adventure just so I can be at home and surround myself with the folks I love.. Uncle Keith being real high on that list.

While we were chatting away, the trail started going uphill.. I was sucking air and at one point choked on a spider that was in a web that went across my face. That was not enjoyable and my throat was itchy the rest of the day from the way I freaked out and coughed so hard making sure it wasn’t stuck.. so gross. Can you imagine that conversation? “So, Courtney, why did you get off trail?” “I got injured.” “How?” “Oh you know, choked on a spider, and then fell hard when I passed out trying to cough it up..” sheesh Louise.

Anyway. Once up the hill and connection lost, I hiked along the wooded ridge line and didn’t really see any views. I counted all of the people I passed going the opposite direction, there was 18 total: Smash, MashedPotatoes, HappyFeet, Moose, a section hiker, 5 guys I didn’t recognize, Cactus, Bones, Zebra, Sunshine, 2 hikers I didn’t recognize, and 2 men that looked like day hikers. Somehow I missed Soundscape.. he must have been at a shelter eating or a viewpoint or something when I went past. Also, LongShot and his friend were on trail too, but they got to their destination before I could pass them.

The top end of the mountain closest to the downhill ended up having some gorgeous views. I paused briefly at them all, snapped some pictures. I did sit at a shelter picnic table for 10 minutes to rest my feet and eat my biscuit. I sat on a rock at the Angel’s Rest view point, but other wise, I was moving all day. I think I may have stopped for a total of 15-20 minutes-and that includes pee breaks! I was cruising!

Then that downhill came. It was steep switchbacks all the way down. I would jog down the steepest ones, then speed walk the flatter chunks before jogging again. I felt unstoppable! I text Doc at 5:05 and told her I’d be at the parking lot in 30 minutes.. I literally crossed the road to get to the truck at 5:35:58. Ha! Just on time! But not a second early! Lol

I got driven back to the hostel by a hostel worker I hadn’t met yet. He was an older gentleman and very polite. Then, when we arrived, I was greeted by Butterfingers, TwoHats, and Bookworm! We talked all about my slack and how well it went, all in all 26.8 miles in 9 hours and 50 minutes. I was super impressed with myself.. and Butterfingers decided that’s what his plan was for tomorrow since it went so well for me today.

The 4 of us went to eat.. at the Mexican restaurant.. right after I changed out of my hiking shoes. I really love that place. It’s so filling! We all chatted and ate and enjoyed each other’s company. I’m now ahead by a big chunk, tomorrow Butterfingers will be a day behind me, but quite a bit farther than TwoHats and Bookworm. It’s so easy for hikers to get separated! It was nice to enjoy each other while we were all still in the same place.

We walked back from dinner and I headed to shower. I’ve officially used each of the 3 showers in the bathhouse now. They’re all equally awesome as far as cleanliness, water pressure, and hot water.. but I like the middle one best because the rug and shower curtain are purple. Such a girl sometimes, and so far from girlie other times.

I headed back to my room to organize and pack for tomorrow. The Praise Team were eating dinner in the kitchen, so I chatted with them a bit before handling business in my disaster of a room. They are seriously so nice! When I could delay the inevitable no longer, I set to work with my gear. I had to pack up my tent and ground cloth that I had been leaving draped over the chair and spread out on the floor beside the bed-I like my gear to air out and not stay stuffed in bags, just in case they were damp or something. Then I set to work on the food bag. It’s so stupidly heavy.

Finally, when I had everything packed that could be, I laid down to type this up. As I’m laying here, my eyelids have been fighting me.. I’m so absolutely worn out from today. But even still, my shuttle leaves at 7am again tomorrow.. and I’m excited about that because once we drop off Butterfingers, Groovin will drive me the half mile down the road to another hostel-Weary Feet-that Lizard and Finch are currently at! I’ll drop my pack off with the hostel and share the shuttle to Bland with them!! I’ll get to spend a whole car ride with my friends and I’m so ridiculously excited about it! Then, once they’re dropped off, I’ll get driven to the post office to grab my new shoes and then I’ll be brought back to the same trailhead-to hike the opposite way of Lizard and Finch, back to the hostel.

If none of that makes sense, maybe it will by tomorrow when I detail how the day went 🙂 Hopefully, anyway. My eyelids are starting to win this game I think, goodnight y’all.