trail fact: Oldest section hiker. The oldest section-hiker walked the A.T. from 1972 to 1975, completing the Trail after he turned 86.

Virginia
Dragon's Tooth Cove Mountain and Tinker Cliffs

"Have you ever noticed.... Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?"

Journal Entry 5.2.00
"9pm at my campsite on the ridge, just 2.5 miles from Catawba. 19.5 miles today - a very difficult day terrain-wise. I left the shelter at 7:30am and arrived here at 7pm. The first 9 miles wasn't bad and the weather was good - clear and sunny. But then the CLIMB to Dragon's Tooth Cove Mountain, or shall we say FAMILY of Dragon's TEETH Ridge. The ridge that went on forever - up and down, over rocks, and up and down again - for 3 hours! I almost died. Then the descent was even worse - huge boulders, iron ladders. I thought I would never reach even terrain again. I did it all in the Chaco sandals though and the feet held up. I got to the road and met up with Trail Mix and his dog Limp Ear. Trail Mix walked to the store 1 mile away and got us ice cream and cold drinks - what a treat! I am now camped on this ridge, all alone, with a great view of the sun setting through the trees in the valley below."

Journal Entry 5.3.00
"11pm at a hotel in Troutville, VA. 23 miles today. I'm sharing the room with the Texas boys (Salty, Frito and Slow Ride) and Jeff. I didn't expect to see him here. Oh well. It makes the room cheaper at only $13 per person. It was another long day. I hiked down to Catawba to pick up my mail drop. I sent my boots ahead to Buchanan so I just have my sandals now and my feet still feel good. I got a cell phone from Dad in my mail drop and called home from the Cracker Barrel. Salty and I got our dinner for free because the waiter spilled a drink on us but we were so dirty we didn't care! The shower felt GREAT. Lots of beautiful purple flowers on the trail today and 2 snakes too."

Journal Entry 5.4.00
"9pm at Wilson Creek Shelter. A mere 11.2 miles today - how nice to take easy miles after all the long days I've had. I woke up early this morning, had the buffet breakfast, and then went to the truck stop to do my laundry. Then I went back to sleep in the room until 10:30 - that was so nice! Finally got out of bed and hitched a ride to Pizza Hut before heading back to the trail. It was so hot and humid and I was feeling extremely sluggish so when I got to the first shelter at 5 miles in I decided to take a nap. 2 1/2 hours later I finally woke up and felt much better so I decided to hike to the next shelter. Did 6 miles in 2 hours and was feeling really good."

Journal Entry 5.6.00
"7pm at BUGVILLE campsite at Marble Spring Gap. 17.2 miles today. Yesterday I did 20 miles - 10 into town with Perry in the morning and another 10 later in the evening. We both had maildrops and decided to spend the day in town because of the heat. We ate first of course and then headed to the library to check email. It was a beautiful building with hardwood floors, skylights, and most importantly, air-conditioning. Big comfy chairs to lounge in too which is exactly what we did all afternoon. We finally caught a ride back to the trail at 5pm. A little rain cooled us off and we did the last hour with headlamps and got to the shelter at 9:30pm. Today I got up early to beat the heat (90°F), hiked 5 miles to the first shelter, hung out for an hour, hiked 5 more miles to the next shelter, hung out for 3 hours, and then hiked 7 miles here. I have 2 new blisters, one on each pinky toe, very sore, but once I start walking they do eventually get better. Frustrating though, especially because I was so happy to be in sandals and now it's like what's this? But I'll take this over nerve pain any day."

Journal Entry 5.7.00
"6pm at my campsite, high on the ridge, 2 miles past the Johns Hollow Shelter. Only 12 miles today but it was hot, hot, hot!! I hit the trail at 8:45am, a late start in this heat. I moved slowly but was still thinking I would do 19 miles today. I took a long break in the creek before getting to the shelter at 4pm where I found White Eagle there by himself. I pressed on thinking I would do another 9 more miles and started the immediate 2,000' 2-mile climb to the top of this ridge. Well that just about did me in. Luckily there's a nice flat spot up here so I set up my tent and for once I'm in early for the night. It'll make getting up early tomorrow much easier and hopefully I won't have much trouble doing 22 miles to get me back on schedule. I soaked my feet for an hour today and then rubbed the bottoms like crazy with rocks from the creek and it was insane how much skin came off! I had these HUGE callouses on my toes which are now gone and the bottoms look good too. Now if only I could get rid of the athletes foot and blisters then wow, I'd really be cookin'!"

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