Goodbye Virginia

Hello world! Thank you Cold Feet for filling in and posting when I've been Soooo bad about it for quite some time. If it makes anyone feel any better (doubt it will), I hadn't written in my own journal since the night before Boiling Springs, PA! I've since decided to drop the journal - no since in carrying something I'm not going to use and it's only getting colder which makes writing at night before sleep all that much harder!

Lesseee, what to tell, what to tell. Already forgetting what Cold Feet has updated you guys on, but... The colors through most of VA have been AMAZING this year! Last year was so late and so quick in comparison, so it's been really very pretty - especially through the Shenandoah's and central VA.. even when the weather's not so hot (foggy/rainy) some of those leaves just seemed to glow they were so brightly colored.

Had a pretty good scare when I got stung by a bee of some sort at the base of my head.. first time I've ever noticed having an allergic reaction to a sting, but maybe the guys in that area are a little special - another friend was stung and had a bad reaction too. I experienced an itching sensation that traveled down from my head and finally into my feet, remaining for a good while. But the scarey part was a combination of a slightly asthmatic shortness of breath or wheezing with some chest pain.. the shortness of breath I'm somewhat used to dealing with as I have asthma, but the chest pain scared me a bit and made hiking a bit tough. I finally wrote the pain up to some bad indigestion or something which just happened to coincide with the sting - I'd just had lunch, and eaten a bit too quickly, shortly before then.. but so I decided to take a break at a nearby shelter and just sit things out to see how they played out - they didn't seem to be getting worse, so maybe a little time would be all that I needed. Was also thinking that hiker behind me might be a doctor which could be handy if they should catch up to me... Removing my shoes and socks I found welts (sp?) from my mid-lower leg down to the top of my feet. WEIRD!! So definitely a reaction... but chillin' out for a bit ended up being all I needed as things cleared up in about 30-60 minutes.. Definitely a scare though being out there alone.. and next time Mama, yeah, I'll pop a couple of Benadryl (sp?) as soon as I get stung. Not too worried though as with the cold weather I can't imagine running into too much more of that risk. Blah, blah, blah - ok enough of that.

AH! The last couple of days :) The Grayson Highlands and Mt. Rogers! A favorite highlight last year and perhaps even better this year! Last year I faced the worst weather on the trail here when it hailed/sleeted all night and snowed (wind sandblasting our faces at times) all the next day as I traversed Mt. Rogers with a couple other hikers. This year the forecast had me expecting rain the second day but with much milder temps (50's). Well the weather turned out to be grreat - nice and cool for hiking, with the first day being clear and the second being partly sunny. Ended up hiking a huge 30 mile day to get into the park hoping to see some of it before the rain - and it was sooo great to see it again as the day drew to a close (hit the park about the same time last year). Had the shelter to myself this time and slept great (comfortable temps, no sleet/hail being blown in on top of me helped ;). Got up early, happy to see that it wasn't raining and got off to an early start. Well the weather held out all day and more awesome views/terrain.. saw the ferral (sp?) ponies again and this time got close enough a couple of times to pet them!! I can't wait to get home to post some pics so that you guys can see just how beautiful this section of trail is... hated not getting pics when it was covered in snow, but I think it was probably prettier this year.. ... funny, last year I remember actually getting choked up as I began my hike through that place... I think the only reason I didn't quite this year was because I had my camera to keep me somewhat distracted from really being blown away this time... that and I'd been here before and was expecting it to be good - though sometimes it really is great not having such a great memory as I'd forgotten just how nice it is.

A friend had recently asked for my top 3 favorite sections of the trail. This is still very high up there at the top.

Got into the shelter (10 miles out of Damascus) just as it was getting dark... and as I went to get water it started sprinkling. The rain was good enough to hold off until we were all in the shelter cooking/eating/and turning in to sleep. As "my brother from another mother", E, would say, "Good times, good times." :)

But boy did the temps drop through the night!! Was too warm in my bag at the beginning of the night, but as morning rolled around, I was uncomfortably cold and wishing I'd worn more clothing to bed! Made the thought of hiking into town all the more inviting for sure. And I swear it only got colder as I hiked into town this morning. But it probably didn't help that I chose to bypass the AT for about 5 or so miles and take the Virginia Creeper trail into town. Decided that having already hiked this section of the AT last year, I'd choose a known alternative into town - a nice flat stroll along a river full of pretty rapids and over old railroad tressels/bridges. Very pretty and I'm so glad I did it. Even saw a heron of some sort sitting on a rock next to a rapid - waiting to snag a nice trout no doubt.

500+ miles of VA down, just 460 to go. Already hearing nasty rumors of 110mph winds and a good amount of snow in the Smokies!! hmmm... really hope that aint true, but this could get interesting pretty soon...

Fool