5/16 Saunders shelter 481, packed after trail days
5/17 camped at mile 500 in the grayson highlands with wild ponies
5/18 Trimpi Shelter 524 (longest day yet, finished hiking in at night)
5/19 Partnership shelter 534 after spending the day in Marion
5/20 crawfish tr camp 552 Just past the ¼ trail mark! Stopped by to see alpacas, crossed I-81
5/21 Walker gap camp 571
5/22 Helvey's mill shelter 594 and crossed I-77
First few spots were a bit crowded after trail days, but things have been stretching back out. The Grayson highlands threatened to be foggy, but the fog lifted and I was able to see the amazing terain. I got woken up on tuesday to a pony licking my tent, and the sounds of someone trying to keep them away from their breakfast. They were playful, but you could tell that some of them had been fed by day hikers and were conditioned to it.
Since the highlands, temperatures have been high. I sent home more of my winter clothes in Marion and spent most of my day on a park bench waiting for my phone/battery to charge in a walgreens. They were nice to hikers there, and had a powerstrip out and let me shave in the bathroom. Then a man saw us walking down the road and offered us a lift back to the partnership shelter. Its one of the few famed shelters that gets pizza delivery.
Now theres longer stretches between water as we ride the ridges of virginia. Easier miles, with fewer places to stop. I'm still loving the trail a quarter through, and it still feels like I'm just getting started. As I remarked to someone, for the first time in a long time I feel like time is going exactly on pace. Each day feels full, and I don't feel like weeks slip past in a blur, or drag on for eons. Maybe from watching the sun rise and fall each day?
No cicadas yet, but I know they'll be here soon enough.
Bridge was out
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