Sore Feet & Heat

Since Damascus we've covered 164 miles in 8 days. We're in Pearisburg, Virginia holed up in a motel for the first time in weeks. Clean clothes are never to be taken for granted.

The heat here in Virginia is starting to turn up in the afternoons and it's most noticeable when the trail spits you out into a field of grazing cattle. The cow patties on the trail have time to bake in the midday sun and smell fantastic. We skirted the highest point in Virginia (Mount Rogers), walked though the Grayson-Highlands, had an all too close encounter with a rattlesnake that didn't greet me nicely, stung by a bee and had a afternoon dip in the Holston River.

Although the terrain is easier, VA is NOT flat! It still has 2000'+ climbs, rocks and mud that make your feet feel like a meat tenderizer at the end of the day. We've had some awesome weather the past week. We camped up on Whitetop Mountain and watched the sunset from Buzzard Rock. We took a detour on the VA creeper trail and stopped at a few trail side cafes and ate ice cream and BBQ sandwiches. Today we woke up amd high-tailed it out of camp to get off of the mountain before the storms rolled in. You should be able to see the clouds in some of the pictures.

All in all the Old Dominion state has been good to us. Here's too many more miles and some new shoes soon.
We're off for an AYCE Chinese buffet and resupply. Northern Virginia people be ready for a visit in a few weeks.