Apr 27 - Southern Virginia

ZERO DAY #9
LOCATION: US11/VA683/Atkins, VA
TRIP MILEAGE: 538.8
MILES TO GO: 1,640.3

Got up today without a clear intention of zeroing. I'd toyed with the
idea yesterday. But, when today came, the decision became apparent.

Moonpie, Little Brown and I got up nice and late. We started up around
9:30. A far cry from the 7:00AM we typically awake on the trail. A
cozy hotel room has that affect on a thru hiker. I layed in my
sleeping bag and thought it through... Smokestack is on his way, it's
pouring rain out, the next shelter (at 14 miles... distant by shelter
spacing standards) would be jam packed with today's departures and my
big blister is still a bit tender. Not to mention, I'd be arriving in
Pearisburg Sunday... That is, a closed post office day... That is, no
sleeping bag pickup til Monday anyway. So, I channelled my inner Swift
(see blog posts from my pre-Hiawassee days)... "Don't Fight The Zero".
First thing I did when I woke up was ran a hand written note out to
the trailhead for Smokestack to find me at the Relax Inn.

The boys packed up, changed the room over to me and we headed up to
The Barn for some breakfast. I got a lot of food. It was tasty, but it
wasn't sitting well. Within a half hour I had a nagging headache and
sour stomach.

I saw the boys off and headed back to the now cleaned up room. The bed
looked great and I felt crappy. 3 hours later in walks Smokestack,
sopping wet and asking... "Who's in the other bed?" "All yours big
guy." He was stoked.

I napped a bit longer, we swapped stories of our 3 day separation and
had a few laughs. The rest of the afternoon was chores for him and
cruise control for me. There were a few other familiar hikers at the
inn, and we yucked it up with them for awhile.

Smokestack caught up with his buddy Magic, who I met a few days ago.
Turns out he's going to put us up for a night on our second night
during our push to Pearisburg. That'll be a nice bonus.

Smokestack and I watched the last of the storm clouds roll out
tonight, and giving way to a brilliant and nearly full moon. The
weather's changing for the better... At least for 3 days. We can't
wait to hit it tomorrow.

-natedog