Alot has happened!!

First off, I must apologize for waiting so long to post a blog entry. I see people typing theirs on their phones several times a week, and we haven't even been bloggin while in town. If we have another long period with no blogging, and you are dying to know what is happening, please check our Facebook page. It has been a bit easier for us to post quick updates there. The address is, http://www.facebook.com/appalachiantrail. We have posted a ton of pictures and some videos there that are worth looking at. Now for some blogging about our hike.

For me (Japhy) as well as for Journey, it has been tough to stay motivated all of the time. It is sometimes very hard to leave a town with restaurants and hotels. Because of this we have spent more money than expected by this point and are a bit behind where we potentially could be. (We still have enough money and time to finish though.)What I have found to motivate us the most, is staying with a good group of people. For the past couple of days we have been with a group that has been dubbed the Baker's Dirty Dozen (13 of us). We all seem to have the same attitude about this trip. We are here to have fun, to meet great people, and to have an amazing experience. (Insert cheesy quote.) It's about the smiles, not the miles! We have had plenty of smiles lately too. We are all thinking about the miles as well though. I think now that we are fairly close to Harper's Fairy, we are more motivated to get moving. We expect to be there in a little over 2 weeks. Hopefully by July 1 we will finally be out of Virginia. No more Virginia Blues.

Let's talk about the Virginia Blues. I don't want to steal from the Good Badger's Blog, but I do agree with him about this topic. The Virginia Blues have nothing to do with the state of Virginia. We have enjoyed much of this state. The fact is, by the time you get to Virginia you have hiked over 400 miles. Many people are warn out, miss their families, and are tired of sleeping in the woods. By the time you get done with Virginia, 550 miles later, not much has changed. This state is 25% of the trail. The terrain is all very similar, the views are sometimes lacking because the trees are now green. If you stick in there though, you get to experience some amazing things. McAfee Knob is awesome! The views are spectacular. We spent about 3 hours on the knob taking pictures, shooting videos, and relaxing with friends. One of the best days yet.

Purists will probably stop following our blog soon:
While in Virginia, the phrase "fun blazing" has been coined (I think by Timber). Fun blazing is doing the AT whatever way is fun. FUN! We all have hiked alot by now. For the past two days we decided to "Aqua Blaze". This means completing a portion of the trail on the water. We did the section from Buchanan to Glasgow via the James River. The Baker's Dirty Dozen had 2 rafts, 2 Canoes, and 3 Kayaks going up the river. It wasn't as easy a trip as we expected. It took us much longer than we were told it would, but it was FUN! We took what we thought would be a break at about 6pm yesterday evening to get out of the rain a bit. We stopped under a huge Maple Tree on the bank of the river. After about 20 minutes of rain, we heard a huge snap. Half of the tree broke off and was falling toward us. Luckily no one was hurt. Unfortunately Chuck Town had his hat and sunglasses knocked off and was unable to recover the sunglasses. By the time it stopped raining we were all getting cold and we knew the sun would not be out to warm us up so we set up camp. We had an awesome spot where we cooked hamburgers and hot dogs, and listed to trains go by all night. Oh yeah, the train tracks were about 100 feet away. We set out this morning and made it in to the checkpoint around 2:30. These past two days were the most fun that we have had the entire trip.

Before this experience, the most fun we've had also envolved Hitching to a restaurant. A little over a week ago, we were rushing down the trail trying to make it to Catawba, VA before 6pm on Sunday. (Catawba has a legendary restaurant, The Home Place, that is only open Thur - Sun.) We were not going quite fast enough to do so. About mid day on Saturday we came in contact with a group of hikers that we knew. When they asked how far we were going, I said that we were thinking of hitching to Catawba at the next road crossing so we would make it on time. They were doing the same. There was a total of 7 of us that made it to the road crossing at the same time. We knew it was going to be hard for a large group to hitch out 33 miles, all at the same time, and were willing to go a few at a time. We got a ride after about 45 minutes on the road. It was a flat bed pickup that had room for all of us. He took us about 8 miles down the road to a convenience store. (To us a beer store)We sat there for only 10 minutes when another man in a truck pulled over for us. After we had all loaded up, he told us he thought there were only 2 of us when he stopped. We weren't intentionally hiding, but I'm glad it worked. He toos us another 10 miles or so. We were then in a small town sitting outside a store looking rough. A man in a truck with a landscaping trailer pulled over. He had room for 3 up front and the rest sat in the trailer with his lawn equipment. He took us the rest of the way. This was by far the best restaurant on the trail. It was Family style and all you could eat. It was so good that we took a zero day there the next day and ate again.

So much has happened since the last post that I can't mention it all (There is a time limit at this library). Please go to our facebook page to see more. We are having a blast right now, and plan to continue.