It was rather late when Tom the newly appointed trail angel drove us to Pearisburg so we got a room at the local motel and crashed for the night. After breakfast and a last minute Walmart spree, I was back on the trail. I got turned around on the trail after looking at a cemetery and back tracked to the trail head where a plastic bag was hanging in a tree. I hadn’t looked in it the first time I went by but now I did and found some blister pads. I wanted to buy some at Walmart earlier in case my new shoes gave me problems and here they were hanging in a tree . As it turned out the only problem I had was when I slipped and fell on a moss covered rock trying to get water at the end of a 20 mile day. I fell on on of my poles and broke it. Again I didn’t want to go that far because of my late start but water is already becoming more scarce.
The new shoes and pack I got at trail days are working just fine. The shoes don’t have gortex so my feet get wet quicker . The shoe rep said that he prefers ventilated shoes in the east be a of the humidity and gortex works best out west. Makes sense , especially if you are trying to sell ventilated shoes at trail days . My new pack is awesome. No longer do my shoulders ache. Despite having a 5 day supply of food and full water bottles, my pack floats on my back . Getting a trail days 20% off special makes it even lighter.
I ended the day late but I had just enough light to set up my tent in the woods, make dinner and climb in. It was too dark to hang a bear bag so I’m hoping for a quiet night and another good day tomorrow . I still smile at the white blazes and every time I think about how I got to trail days .
Andy M Davidson 