Waynesboro, VA - Mile 1325

NOTE: We will be arriving in Montebello, VA earlier than expected. Please let us know if you have sent anything there that will not arrive by Wednesday, November 4th.

You know we're south of the Mason-Dixon line when country music is on the radio everywhere, Half Full is routinely referred to as "mam," and biscuits are available as a common side. We did also meet a local hiker with a thick drawl who raised a bobcat on "buttermilk and cornbread" but that's another whole story... The good news is that we're solidly in Virginia and have begun counting down the miles (about 850 to go) rather than counting those we've covered.

This past week has been a full one. We hiked through the Shenandoahs at a fast pace, covering over 160 miles in the past 8 days. The heavy fog and several days of rain closed in many views, although we did have moments of sunshine to dry our gear and jumpstart our spirits. Our bodies are feeling the wear and combined with the cold, wet weather, I (Half Full) struggled to find the motivation to get out of a wet tent mid-week. Thankfully, Chomp and I are able to pull each other through our toughest moments and we increasingly are realizing the good fortune we have in having one another.

His company was particularly useful on Saturday night, when we arrived at a shelter to discover in the logbook (a notebook at each shelter where hikers sign in and share their thoughts) that a crafty resident raccoon had discovered how to get food down from the bear pole. We, along with Ody (a fellow southbounder), decided to instead hang our food in the shelter with us for the night. Around midnight, a loud noise startled me from my sleep as Chomp banged on the shelter floor. He awoke just moments earlier to see the raccoon, paws on Ody's hanging food bag, just feet from his head. Soon, the two boys (Chomp and Ody) took it upon themselves to have a midnight mission of permanently scaring away the raccoon. With childlike enthusiasm both collected an small arsenal of small rocks (this, in the rain mind you) to keep with them in the shelter. At each of the raccoon's returns, they threw a rock in its direction. Thankfully, the animal was scared off shortly thereafter and my fears of waking up with a raccoon on my face were alleviated. Perhaps this event, along with the giant mutant mice we had seen in a shelter earlier in the week, will illustrate why we usually prefer to tent!

We are spending a zero day in Waynesboro today where we're trying to gain some weight (the mountains have brought our appetites and weight loss back!) and relax at the local YMCA pool. We'll be back on the trail tomorrow--onward to Springer Mountain!