Quick recap

So I want to try to start posting more frequently but I am so far behind that I've been putting it off. So instead of skipping ahead im going to do a fast recap of everything.
So first day out from hardcore it was just the four of us again and we started at noon. By the time we hiked 3 miles it was raining pretty hard so we stopped short in a really nice shelter and tried to stay warm. I packed out a cheese danish and it made for a wonderful breakfast.
The next day we hiked a decently long day to get to the partnership shelter. It was pretty much right on the road and pizzahut delivered there. It was amazing!
The next day we had to go into town to resupply and we ended up getting a shuttle that cost 50 cents into town. The shuttle didn't go back to the trailhead till 3 so we got all you can eat chinese and hung out at the library on the internet. When we got back to the trail we just hiked 7 miles to the next shelter before dark.
The next day we hiked an 18 mile day but for some reason it took us forever to get their. We did spend a long time in a field drying out all our wet gear. But we still should have been able to make it sooner then we did. We didn't get into camp till around 8.
We hated getting in that late so we got up early and hiked. It was a hard day tho so it still took us a good amount of time. We hit a like bit of trail magic near the end of the day which was a spirit lifter (much needed). When we got to the shelter our friend english chatter was waiting for us. He had done hardcore with us but he was 10 miles ahead of us when we got back on and he had been doing slow days waiting for us to caught up. We all decided to make it official and inducted him as an official member of our group. So our group of four grew to a group of five.
The next morning was Austins birthday!!! It also happened to be gravity's birthday as well. We hiked 14 miles into Bland VA. And it definitely lived up to its name. But we were able to get DQ blizzards and pack out subway sandwiches. We decided to put the big birthday celebration off a few days until we could get into pearisburg.
The next day after bland we planned on doing a 24 mile day. So me and austin got up as early as we could and hiked hard for the morning. We were able to make it 17 miles before we stopped for lunch at a suspension bridge. The bridge made me think of my dad so I took a picture for him (see above). Despite our long break at the bridge we still made it to the shelter at a decent time feeling pretty good considering our hike.
Next day we hiked 17 miles into pearisburg. Austin and I were able to make it early enough to make it to the post office. It was a good thing we had reservations because the motel was fully booked. We got the last two rooms they had the perfect amount of beds for us. No one had to sleep on the floor like we had planned.
Pearisburg was a wonderful place to celebrate their birthdays. There was a great mexican food restaurant right across the street from our motel. And we had a big flat screen in our room (no one else did). Austin was in heaven. After taking a day off we stayed until 3:30 and then hiked out 7 miles to rice field shelter.
The next day we hiked out in the morning to do a 16 mile day. Right after we stopped for second breakfast it started to rain, so we packed up early and started hiking again. We stopped to take a break after doing 12 miles and the sun had come out. While we were hanging out in the shelter we saw a sign for a hiker feed the next day a mile and a half away. We also realized that we would be in Catawba on memorial day and we wouldn't be able to get our mail drops. So we needed to waste a day anyways. So we cut our day short and spent the next day at the hiker feed.
The hiker feed was an all day cook out at the captain's house. In order to get to his house you had to sit on a low hanging swing above the river and zip line across. It was awesome. Austin spent a good part of the day playing on it. They also had a bunch of contest for all the hikers. Our group won the water relay race and austin got second in the bear bag toss. In the evening they had a blue grass band come play. But we spent most of the night playing corn hole! Me and gravity played against these two guys until we finally beat them.
The next day we hiked 18 miles to laurel creek shelter which was beautiful cause it was hidden in among a bunch a blooming mountain laurels. There weren't many people there when we went to bed but a bunch of friends showed up at 11 after we had gone to bed.
The next day we got up early to hike a big 22.5 day but it was sooo hot. The heat index was over a 100 and we had a rough time. So we made it to a shelter for lunch and decided to wait out the hot part of the day. We took over a 3 hour lunch break just relaxing and reading in the shade. When we set out to do the last miles it was still really hot and we struggled going up the next big mountain. At the top was a memorial for the most decorated work war two vet (who happened to be from Texas) he died in a plane crash near the mountain. Since it was memorial day we thought it fitting to hike up and look at it. It was pretty cool. When we hiked down the mountain we made it to a road crossing near a creek with wonderful camping sites so we decided to stop there for the night cutting our day short by one mile.
The next day we hiked 8 miles into Catawba. The last section of it however was on a high rocky ridge called dragon's tooth. It was a really cool part of trail but also very difficult. It was pretty much a rock scramble all the way down. There were some portions we had to pretty much jump down. I had the most trouble cause of my short little legs. But it was still fun. When we made it to the road we went and stopped in at a hostel .3 off the trail. It was pretty much a 3 car garage with some couches and a few army cots to sleep on. It was way to hot to keep hiking so we stayed the night. We played alot of cards and had a great night.
The next day our gravity was worried that he might have gardia so we all took a zero to make sure he was ok. We were able to get a cheap shuttle into dalevile and get some food and hang out at the outfitter. Their was a Kroger right next door so me and chatter (also from cincinnati) made everyone try graeters icecream and we got the fixings for skyline chili dip and made it when we got back to the hostel. It was amazing!
The next day gravity was feeling much better so we hiked out. We hiked up mcafees nob by lunch time and took a 4 hour break because it was so wonderful up there. It was so beautiful (see picture number two) I had fun taking alot of photos while austin had fun climbing on the rocks. After our break we hiked another 5 miles to tinker cliffs. There we cooked dinner, played some cards, and watched the sunset. Then we hiked as fast as we could down another mile to the shelter. It was dark when we got there and no one was there so we ended up setting our tent up in the shelter so we wouldn't get attacked by bugs.
The next day we hiked 9 miles into dalevile. We planned on just resupplying and then hiking another 5 miles to the next shelter. But we were really hot and heard about a cheep hotel with a pool. So we made a reservation, but as we checked in found out the pool was closed.
The next day we hiked out and when we got to the next shelter found out it had a crazy water source. It was a cistern that collected ran water from the roof of the shelter. The water was yellow and smelled awful so we didn't drink it. But it was still cool. We also met 2 Amish women starting to hike the trail.
The next day we hiked 9 miles to an awesome swimming hole that we played around in for awhile. There we met a trail angel who told us there was a forest fire up the trail and they had that sectioned closed off and rerouted. We figured the reroute went on a near by road and none of us wanted to do that. We were joking that we wish we could just aqua blaze that part (aqua blaze= canoe the river near the trail). The trail angel said he knew of a place to do it and offered to take us into town. The canoe place even let us camp by the river for free.

Well that got me all caught up. Sorry it wasn't very detailed. But that's what we have been up to!

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