Damascus, VA to Daleville/Troutville/Cloverdale VAs

First off, there's no real way for me to sum up a given day for you. In one sense it's a pretty boring thing to talk about (I am seriously walking for about 10 hours a day) and I figure enough has probably been written about the Trail by others to make it silly for me to describe the history of the AT and all that. So I've decided that I'll just tell you what's been on my mind.

Food. You think about food constantly. It is the cause of and solution to all woes on the trail. It is the heaviest thing you carry out here, but you're also constantly trying to keep your pack weight down. Essentially you end up with a Hiker Appetite which means you end up needing to eat about 5000 calories a day every day. It's very hard to do. Everything tastes good, but especially salads and fresh fruits and veggies. Remember, I wasn't really eating any prepared foods before coming out here, so the transition to this was a little rough. It's difficult to prepare a meal of good fresh foods because there aren't any. You think about the next meal all day and are constantly trying to come up with new ideas about how to relieve the monotony of your diet. I will never eat a Ramen out here. I cooked that stuff in a coffee maker in college. I doubt I could even choke it down. Even after going 700 miles there are some people who still eat that stuff. I could choke it down if I had to.

For my part, I'm going low-sodium. I can't believe how much sodium there is in anything. I think heart surgeons sneak into out food suppliers' factories and stuff it with salt. That and all that High Fructose Corn Syrup is everywhere. I'm avoiding that, too. It's not perfect yet, but it's almost all gone out of the diet. It seems to me that we'd be much much better off without that stuff anywhere near our food, but you can all do what you want. Also, there's no caffeine anymore except when I'm in town. That stuff's a bad habit, too. It just makes you tired later on, it seems. It's just not necessary out here. So on the trail I'm eating great and trying to eat healthy. I'm even taking onions and peppers to add to my meal at night to try to get fresh veggies in there for the first two days. The pasta is Whole Wheat, too.

But in town it's another story. We hit town and go nuts. For example, yesterday we rolled into the Interchange at Daleville and ended up at a bbq joint. I haven't had bbq the entire trip (long story) and decided that even though it's not cheap it's an OK thing to do. Besides, Carolina (a hiking buddy) has to hop off the trail for a week to do her Army training stuff and so her mom was there to pick her up and give us a ride to wherever we wanted. Also another hiker, Grace, is from New Zealand and hasn't had proper bbq in her life, so I consider it my duty as an American to make sure this happens.

We are all very very dirty. It's finally gotten hot here in Central Virginia as it's been in the mid 80s and the tree cover hasn't filled in yet so we're hiking in direct sun for most of the day. For some reason Carolina refused to clean herself up at all for the past 5 days and she looked pitiful. Dirt crusted up and down her legs. You become immune to each other's stench, too, but we are fairly certain that we smell pretty bad. Our hair hasn't been washed, and our shirts and shorts have salt rings from where our pack straps sit on our shoulders. It's awful, but this is the condition that we are in when Carolina's mother picks us up at the Pizza Hut and carts us up the way to the 3 Little Pigs bbq. We get hush puppies and beer and I get the hungry man pork dinner (I don't have Swine Flu but I do have the Swine Fever, I say!) with curly fries, slaw and more hush puppies. For $4 you can add a bbq sandwich to a dinner so I do that, too. For dessert I had peach cobbler with cinammon ice cream. I was stuffed.

There's a thing called Trail Magic out here. It's when someone leaves treats on the trail for hikers. Sometimes it's oranges and candy bars, sometimes it's Gatorade, but it's always sweet of whoever's doing it. One time these people had us in and fed us off of a menu of goodies like lemonade, soup, and a variety of homemade desserts, all of which we could have as much as we want. That was awesome. Sometimes there's an angle (like church or something) but in the end it's always appreciated and heartfelt. So you can imagine me and the Kiwi's suprise when, after eating ourselves sick, Carolina's mom picks up the tab at the bbq joint. Unbelievable. If you dwell on things at all it's food and you economics and she so sweetly took that one off our shoulders. What can you do for her? You are sincerely grateful and try to stay out of her olfactory's. Of course she's happy to see her daughter happy and healthy and enjoying her life with these strange people she's met. Perhaps to her it's a bit of magic back. I don't know and I feel it's silly to project. At any rate, Thanks!

After that me and the Kiwi (that means New Zealander...) end up at the Kroger's waiting to get picked up by a hiker-friend's dad who's willing to put us up for the night. He and his wife are longtime hiker's and maintain this section of the AT, so it's fun for them to be of help to hikers. The last thing I was expecting that day was for him to foot the bill for the Pizza Hut. If only the whole world was full of this kind of thing! But just maybe it is and all I ever needed to do was just pay better attention.

Jonathan

P.S. You should know that there are photos to be developed, but no one actually does 24 hour photo development anymore. At least not in Virginia. I have pictures of wild ponies, deer, snakes, rabbits and humans. You will have to wait.