An end of an era

That's right folks...we've got a few more days in VA before we breeze through West Virginia, Maryland, and enter Pennsylvania. So far all is well, and we just finished Shenandoah national park. We've seen tons of deer and even had a few bear encounters in the last few days, making our stay in the park a wild one. Andrew jumped ship in Waynesboro after about 170 miles of rugged trail, but he was fortunate enough to witness an acurate cross-section of daily life on the trail. While he was with us Jess nearly stepped on a huge copperhead, and I was the victim of the first recorded animal attack of the season. Yes there have been wild boar, bears, and even the elusive mountain lion in our vicinity, but I was nearly mauled by the lowly grouse. I was hiking near the Blue Ridge parkway when an extremely pissed off momma grouse flared her feathers and charged me. So far, so good. After a brief charge, the winged beast took flight and attempted to remove my eyeballs. After screaming like a girl and executing a combination spin move/commando roll, I evaded the monster while Jess nearly soiled herself laughing. Anyway, we survived the incident to hike another day. Tonight we are posted up at the ritzy Pioneer roach motel in Front Royal, and we will be hitting the dusty trail bright and maybe even early. We will dearly miss Speedbump and the lack of open container laws within the Shenandoahs. We can't wait to see the Hancocks in PA, and we love and miss you all. Next time you hear from us, we'll be in Yankeeland and past the halfway point of our journey!

Daleville, VA

Hey everybody! We've reached the 1/3 mark of the AT, and we are right on track for finishing sometime in mid August. Andrew is slowly gaining his "trail legs," and the terrain has been excellent, even when the weather wasn't. The last few days have included several long and rocky ridgewalks with nice views from the Dragon's Tooth, McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs. We are all holding up well with the exception of a few pesky blisters, and we hope to be out of Virginia in a few more weeks. I know it has been a while since our last post, and I don't know if you have seen it on the news, but we were almost unfortunate enough to meet Randall Lee Smith back near Pearisburg. We here he's a real nice guy when he's not shooting hikers or fisherman. Anyway, this hotel has a time limit on the internet so anything else will have to wait. We hope everything at home is going as well as it is here. We love and miss you all!
~Stomp, Shuffles, and Speedbump

Bland is bland

Welcome to Bland...unless you're a hiker. Tonight we are staying in Bland, VA because we are out of stove fuel and rock salt for the water purifier, and the hardware store isn't open on Sundays. This is by far the least hiker friendly town we've been through; we couldn't get a hitch so we had to road walk 3.5 miles, and the motel actually charges more if you are a hiker. It sure is good to see that discrimination is still alive and well in the South...hicks. Anyway, we are making good time, and the weather has been great. We should be in Pearisburg by Wednesday and Catawba about a week after that. Andrew should be joining us soon, and we are excited to have a familiar face hiking with us. Jess and I are holding up pretty well physically, but we are glad to rest up in a real bed...even if we had to do our laundry in the bath tub. Are we complaining too much? Tomorrow we will be back on the trail and living amoung the shelter mice again. Wish us luck and never go to Bland; it lacks flavor.

Ground control to Major Tom

Yes, we're still alive and well. We've been in Virginia for a while without any coverage to post. We are at the 525 mile mark in Marion. Two days ago we crossed Grayson Highlands in two inches of snow and temps in the low twenties. We got close enough to pet some of the wild ponies and their foals...awesome. We hope all is well at home and miss you all. Apparently we picked a good time to leave Louisville between the flood and the quake...hang tough villebillies.
Love,
Stomp and Shuffles