Virginia is for Mountain Lovers

Ponies & Ponytails

As you can see, we found the ponies and stayed safe from all of the hunters in the Grayson Highlands:

With that and an easy stroll on the Creeper trail, we finished our time in Virginia at Damascus. Fun fact: one quarter of the AT is in Virginia.

Another fun fact: the biggest party on trail happens during trail days in Damascus, and we just missed it by five months. So, we had our own flip-flop-bubble celebration, No Joke, Reset, Mice, Electro, Dr J, Bougie, and me, featuring Roman-style pasta:

Now for a day in the life of this AT hiker (slack pack style). The day starts out like this:

In the mid-morning, we spot a kettle of spiraling hawks, preparing for their migration:

At around 1 pm, Bougie & I take a lunch break:

Then the boys join us for lunch, but they have to sit on trail, not on the lookout:

The rest of the day looks like the start of it, with Bougie leading throughout because she is injured and slower at the moment. Actually, this partnership works great because we go almost exactly the same speed — she is faster on the uphill, I’m faster on the ridge and on the downhill; putting our strengths together, we set a really good pace. That pace, by the way, is that of a 3:24 marathon runner (Bougie’s PR) — “it’s not just under 3:30, it’s 3:24!”

Occasionally we snap a good photo or two:

And of course we listen to good progressive bluegrass: