Virginia

5/23/17

• Miles hiked: 15.3
• Shelter: Doc Knob Shelter

We trekked out of Dismal Falls and through the mud in the morning. 

And then hiked through a river that was the actual trail!

No where to go but through it. 

Despite our smiles it was a miserable and awful day. We traversed wet slippery rocks in the rain and it poured on us for hours at a time. 

We eventually made it to a shelter and thought certainly it's full with this weather. But we had to see if there was room for us. 

We came around the corner of the shelter and it was almost empty!!! We were so relieved. We couldn't have taken ten more minutes in the rain, or so we thought. 

We hopped in the shelter and introduced ourselves to the only guy in the shelter, Dana, and proceeded to make ourselves comfortable. We hung stuff to dry, we ate, and we changed out of our wet clothes. 

We talked to Dana for a while. It was so nice to meet him. He just graduated High School a week earlier and was out with some friends doing a section of the trail. The rain compromised his gear so while he was in the shelter, his friends were in tents just down the trail. 

We were all happy to be dry and warm in the shelter. 

5/24/17

• Miles hiked: 9.3
• Shelter: Plaza Motel in Pearisburg VA

When we woke, the sun was breaking through the clouds and we SMILED!!

When you hit a low, you keep hiking. The weather will change, eventually. 

We had our sights set on Pearisburg VA. We needed to dry out EVERYTHING and mentally recover. 

We passed Angels Rest Overlook before the steep descent into town. 

We hit the Hardees as we entered town and downed some milkshakes we had been dreaming about. 

5/25/17

ZERO MILES HIKED 

Showered and smiling, we enjoyed a day off the trail by sitting outside at the hotel, drying all our gear and soaking up some sun. 

We watched a home burn on the hill across from the hotel and the entire town try to put it out. ☹️😢

We ate lots of food and did loads laundry and typical zero stuff.