Day 70: I will walk 1000 miles and I will walk 1000 (and some) more! 

June 9, 2017

9:37 Pm

Total Miles: 1007

Started out today by myself and slow. Enjoying the scenery and warming my legs up.

Then I came to the “Roller coaster”.

Which is where the trail goes, no joke, straight up and down for about 14 miles.

The beginning was great… But later on it became hard.

Mid morning I caught up to Planner and we started hiking together while chatting. I am in front, her behind me…

Next thing I know I hear her stick colliding with rocks and a body falling. I turn around and see she had completely face planted.

Face in dirt… Face plant.

I tried hard to stifle my laugh and ask if she was ok.

She gave a perfect example of my earlier post about feeling like a beetle with our packs on and slowly rolled with her pack on to face me and was dying of laughter.

I was so thankful so I could let my own laughter be released.

We laughed for a solid 5 minutes. The kind of laugh where you don’t hear anything until you have to take a breath because you are laughing so hard.

This is why we are friends. We laugh at almost everything we do and everything we say. I think some people are shocked that we didn’t know each other before the trail because we get along so well…like we have known each other for years

And yes, she is ok but has a little scratch on her nose.

Mid way through the Roller coaster  I was on an uphill and caught sight of people and a grill. Trail magic? No way. Right in the middle of a gravel road?

No. way.

I tried not to get my hopes up.

But… it was definitely trail magic!!

The guy on the very left is named homeward. He hiked the trail last year and the woman in the red on the right is his wife.

They were great. Fantastic. They made hot dogs and had chips and cookies and trash bags for us to empty out our trash.

So unexpected. I was thankful. Especially since it was mid way through the roller coaster.

However, while looking up to see if what I was looking at was indeed trail magic. I stopped looking down and my foot got caught on a root and when I snapped my foot back in front of me I noticed it completely tore my shoe…

So I had to pull out some tape and wrap my shoe. I was told at trail magic that Salomon will replace my shoes if I let them know I am thru hiking. So I will give them a call this weekend! Cross your fingers.

We made it to 1000 miles!! Can you believe it?!

Later in the day we finally made it out of Virginia (The state with the most miles on the AT!) Finally!!!!

We made it to camp extremely late due to the hard terrain. Finishing the day with 23 miles. 

The past few nights we had been Accompanied by a hiker named Green Beard. While we were all snug in our sleeping bags he would play his recorder.

You know like the recorders we get to practice on when we are younger. The ones I made sound terrible because I am musically challenged. He made it sound incredible. It was so lovely and peaceful. One night a few of us even let out some clapping.

He had to get off trail and we miss you tonight Green Beard! You will kill it next year!

One more day till Harpers I can’t wait.

Iz and Oz