Day 55 - Wednesday, May 5, 2021

WE’RE BACK on the trail after a 15 day break. American Airlines tried their darnedest yesterday to delay it another day as my original flight back was delayed several hours where I was going to miss my connection so I was rerouted and then my connection in Asheville was then delayed. Long story short... I didn’t get back into Damascus till around 1 am 😠. Hopefully we are both rested and healed, ready to finish SoBo to Springer Mountain then flip flop NoBo. 

The section of trail that was previously closed between VA 641/Clendenin Road and Pine Swamp Shelter (NoBo miles 641.4 - 656.7) due to the downed transmission lines has since reopened so we will catch that 15.3 mile segment on our way back north. 

We haven’t decided how far north we will resume NoBo - it all depends when we finish in Georgia but we want to get through the White Mountains and Mount Washington in New Hampshire before late July so we may start somewhere south of them... all TBD later. 

It’s not as warm as we anticipated so we are based out of an Airbnb for a few more nights then camping near Damascus, Virginia at a campground continuing our way SoBo. 

Morning temperature was mild, 59° but it was raining. The forecast calls for rain till late morning.  So we decided to wait it out to then since our hike should only take 5-6 hours. Have I mention how I really like slack packing 😉. 

I weighed in 186 lbs. prior to resuming hiking. I’ve lost over 20 lbs. since we have been on the trail but have lost almost 50 lbs. in over a year; the first 25 lbs. were done by dieting and pre-hiking training. 

Today we are hiking, continuing from where we left off at Fox Creek (512.6 NoBo) to Massie Gap (502.8 NoBo) for a total of  9.8 miles. 

We attempted to start hiking around 11 am but after arriving at the Grayson Highlands State Park we became aware that an overnight parking permit is required to leave cars in the Park overnight. After several attempts to obtain a parking permit online and on the telephone with no success we decided to just pick up our vehicle after hiking. 

 We finally started hiking at 1:30 pm and yes it’s raining... I’m not happy about that 😠.

Turtle Power sporting his new hiking apparel 🙄.

Open mountain pastures at Highland State Park.

One of my favorite pastimes... hiking in the rain. It’s right up there with getting your teeth drilled without novacaine 😖.

Wilburn Ridge is known for its inhabitants the wild ponies also referred to as the Grayson Ponies. They roam freely throughout this area of mountain pastures. 

They recommend that you don’t feed or pet the ponies as they are known to kick and bite. They seemed very docile here. I’m a little surprised that you don’t hear more about bear attacks.  I would think the smaller ponies would be ripe for the picking 🤭.

Someone had too much bran in their oatmeal this morning 😬.

This fellow wasn’t too concerned with us neither.  

A group of thru-hikers celebrating Cinco De Mayo at the Scales Corral. They were making Quesadillas on the fire and had Corona and Dos Equis beers. We had a beer even though a hot cup of coffee would have been my choice of drink today . 

Making our way off the mountain top. We were at elevations over 5000 ft today.

The Old Orchard Shelter. Some of the thru-hikers from the Cinco De Maya party are starting to show up here for the night. Temperatures are expected to be near freezing tonight... another reason I will enjoy slack packing back at our Airbnb and not here 😉.

We finished hiking at 6:45 pm and the temperature is already 48°. It never made it to the low 60’s as forecasted. And the rain lasted most of the day... weatherman was 0-2 today 🙄.

Happy Cinco De Mayo to all 🎉!!

Till next time... Happy Hiking  🥾 

😋