848.1 Miles Down, 1326.5 To Come

Virginia is a really big state, especially from our perspective, as we try to walk from end to end, at the very widest part.

Over a quarter of the Appalachian Trail is located in this state, and we've been here a month, with a couple hundred miles still left to go. After hiking over 800 miles, we have a sort of healthy glow, exuding the confidence of people who have been living without most of the creature comforts of modern American life, and found it to be not that bad. We've come this far without serious injury, and having survived some of the most rugged and difficult parts of the trail, are confident that we can do this. We can finish this thru-hike. If only we....


...can get out of Virginia. Yesterday, we hiked into Waynesboro - which is one of the friendliest towns we have encountered so far. When we got to the Rockfish Gap visitor center, the staff called a volunteer who picked us up and drove us the five miles into town. We wanted to stay for the weekend, but unfortunately, the graduation ceremonies for several local universities had filled up all the motels in Nelson and Albemarle Counties (read, everywhere we could possibily get to by cab or kind-hearted trail angel). Luckily, we were only 20 miles from Charlottesville, and my Aunt Mary offered to come and pick us up and bring us back to her house. So, we're going to spend another couple of days off trail, resting our legs and eating lots of fresh vegetables. Sadie, the absolutely adorable puppy that Aunt Mary adopted a few months ago, seemed pretty excited to see us again, and we can stretch our legs by taking her on a walk.

M is planning to write in more detail about some of the exciting things from the trail during the past couple of days...but I will let you know that it includes the sighting of an uncommon wildflower, among other things.