All those years of pressing piano pedals and I never once had peeling, cracking feet. Who knew all it took to become an athlete was hiking 470 miles. Luckily, I still haven’t had a blister. And my feet aren’t really bothering me. They just look like…well, I’ll spare you. I did go to the local RX and buy some cream. YIKES. Who knew being an athlete was so expensive? 🙂 Still loving the new shoes. Montrails!

Sitting in Damascus, VA now. That’s right, 3 states down! No more GA, NC, or TN. The bad news is I’ll be in VA for the next 550 miles. There’s a phenomenon called the “Virginia Blues” because being in the same state for so long can be hard. You miss the sense of accomplishment that comes from so quickly checking off 3 of the 14 states you hike through. Thankfully, the opposite happens after VA; you check off WV and MD within 43 miles. Some people actually attempt a 44 mile/four state/24 hour challenge and hike from VA to PA without stopping. The bad news is you miss Harper’s Ferry, WV, one of the coolest trail towns on the AT.

In other news, it’s now official. I now have a Trail Name: Feed Bag.

I got this name because I carry the top compartment of my pack strapped across my chest instead. I like to carry breakfast, lunch, and snacks therein so that I don’t have to stop and eat. If I do want to stop and eat, I don’t have to dig into my actual pack and find my food. It’s…well…in the Feed Bag. I like the hidden meaning as well; I also feed off of my MP3 player while listening to Scripture, sermons, music, and yes, Jim Gaffigan, all day.

Beard update: it’s coming back wonderfully. Thanks for your concern. I really hated the first week of being clean shaven and bald faced. It didn’t feel like me. I’ve told some of you this, but I’m taking the same picture (almost) everyday of the growth. At the end of the trail, I’ll have 4-5 months of pictures and string them together into a fast time-lapse so we can celebrate its growth together. The only bad thing about it will be you have to look at my ugly mug for a few minutes. Thankfully the beard has become the centerpiece again. 🙂 I imagine the video will be 2-3 minutes long. Let’s think of a song that would be fitting to play in the background while watching the progression. Suggestions?

I’m leaving Damascus bright and early tomorrow. Maybe even this evening if I get all my chores/shopping done. However, I’ll be returning here in 1.5 weeks for the biggest festival related to the AT: Trail Days May 15-17. The TV producer will also be here catching up with each of the hikers participating in the show. And so my next full blog will be from the same town. Don’t think I’ve moved here permanently. There’s no Starbucks here; I’d never move here. 🙂 Actually, In the defense of Damascus, I’m sitting at Mojoe’s coffee house, wonderful iced coffee, great music (bluegrass yesterday, Madeline Peyroux today).

Y’all already know a lot about the AT/World Vision. But I was happy to update the FAQ with your Q’s. Any more?

Here’s the trail report. Thanks again for reading! Exciting news in the weeks ahead; some possible newspaper articles about my hike coming up! More on that…later.

Trail Report:
4/27 4.2 miles, left Erwin, as usual had to leave town. I’m the only one not smoking pot at tonights shelter 🙂

4/28 17.2 miles, only planned 12.8, took a 2 hr break, then pressed on. Today marks the end of one month = 370.1 miles total. First time sleeping away from a shelter.

4/29 18.4 miles, saw 2 deer! Sleeping in a barn that’s used as a shelter, beautiful view!

4/30 18 miles, windiest morning, left NC for good! Very different after mid-day. More trees with leaves, great smells, amazing Jones Waterfall, staying at a 3-level shelter.

5/1 15.6 miles, staying at Kincora hostel tonight. Good pace today, easier ups/downs. Ate a whole pizza from Little Ceasars.

5/2 17.5 miles, tough day, light rain. Tried double inserts in shoes, heels hurt a bit, but pretty comfortable overall.

5/3 32.9 miles, so tired. Happy to be here in Damascus.

5/4 0 miles!!! Blueberry pancakes @ Cowboy’s, coffee @ Mojoe’s, lunch @ Subway, dinner @ Quincy’s pizza. Staying at “The Place.”

5/5 0 miles!!! Working on blog, considering gear exchange for summer weather.

I guess that’s not totally true or else I wouldn’t have made it this far. Actually, I like the fact that even podunk hostels like Uncle Johnny’s in Erwin, TN, have wireless Internet while sitting next to a beautiful river and being surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains. In 2009 technology and nature can hold hands. So let’s have them do that now, here’s a short clip from one of my favorite comedians Jim Gaffigan and his opinions on camping and the great outdoors:

So I’m going to round up and say I’ve hiked 350 miles so far on arguably one of the toughest sections of the trail. Physically, I can do this thing. For me it’s the mental/spiritual exercise that is challenging. The first few weeks were a mix of silence and music on the MP3 player while hiking. But I got tired of my music quickly, and my times of silence were often filled with doubt. Not doubt that I could hike 2200 miles, but doubt that I was doing the right thing, or spending/investing/losing my money wisely.

Not that the doubt has passed. I’ve shared with some of you my whole AT/2200miles.com plans were almost completed demolished towards the end of last year when I realized just how much I would owe on taxes. It was exponentially more than I had expected, and it was 3-4x more than the estimated payments I had already made (as I’m self-employed/an independent contractor for World Vision). Lesson learned; I now know more about different tax brackets than I ever wanted to know. Yes, I use an accountant.

So I started selling things and I’m still selling things. Things I really love and have enjoyed. In a way, I would say it’s been a “hike of faith,” trusting that if I’m supposed to be out here I’m relying on God to provide because before I thought I could just rely on my earnings from last year. If He wants me to leave the trail, He’ll open the right door I’m supposed to be hiking through. I mean, I had been thinking about this hike for well over a year, and planning on it for months.

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Well, well, well. We meet again. Thanks for coming back. Or being here for the first time!

Not sure if you’ve looked at my new gallery. Sorry, I know the pictures are hi-res, so they take a little while to download. I took more pictures on the morning of the 15th than the rest of the hike so far. Before I explain how amazing that morning was, I feel like I should explain what a normal day on the trail is like.

To understand what the average day looks and feels like, try this little exercise. Bring a tv into the bathroom and turn on an episode of Bob Ross. Spray-paint the tv gray so you can barely see the shapes of trees. Then stand in the shower with your rain jacket on and turn on cold water sporadically. Now, how happy are those trees?

I know I’ve missed some great views from the tops of cloud-covered mountains so far, but a morning like the 15th makes many monotonous, foggy days worth the hike. It was tough to get out of my sleeping bag that morning because it was so cold, plus the sky looked like it would remain cloudy though we heard it was supposed to be clearing up. I sang Christmas carols for the first few miles because it seemed fitting. But it became magical soon enough. You hike along for a while then suddenly realize you can make out your shadow on the ground just ahead of you. The sun is finally doing its job and poking through the fog! “Into marvelous light I’m running…”

It was so windy and cold the night before that any moisture in the air turned to frost as the wind came up the east side of the mountain and down the west. Many of the pictures may look blurry, but that’s actually an inch or two of frost that hung from the branches and trees…parallel to the ground! It was the strangest thing.

So after 3 miles of hiking, I reached the highest point on the AT: Clingmans Dome which is at 6,643 feet. Not that it’s all down hill from here, there are still come big climbs ahead! It was so cold on top of the spaceship-of-an-observation tower that I could only stand it for a few seconds. There were some tourists there that saw our packs and started asking all the typical questions: “Where did you come from?” “Where are you going?” “Where’s Maine?”

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