Legs and Borders

It's amazing how quickly the body can recover after a virus, yesterday I was a walking zombie, today my energy levels were reasonable, food started tasting good as well which was a big relief. Of course the weather and low elevation of the trail helped a lot, along with the electrolytes given to me by Persuasion. Half of the day the trail was running along the Blue Ridge Parkway and I must admit it was extremely difficult not to step out and just follow the road but I was being a purist so far on the AT and that's how I wanted to keep things going, so the forest path it was. I've seen another two black rat snakes along the trail, I got quite used to them at this point, I'm almost not jumping when I see one on the trail, they are harmless and kind of cute. I've also spotted another bog turtle, this one was much smaller than the ones I've seen before, it was still giving me a good hiss when I was lifting it off the trail! ...

I managed to survive the night fairly well, no vomiting, no diarrhea but my energy levels were so low that I just couldn't hike. I gave it my best go and ended up one mile up the trail setting the tent back up. Norovirus has temporarily disabled me, I had no appetite but started to drink water with electrolytes to keep hydrated. The only picture I've taken that day was taken from inside of my tent. I'll let Bill Bryson take the lead here as there's not much else to be said about today, sorry. "The woods were full of peril - rattlesnakes, and water moccasins and nests of copperheads; bobcats, bears, coyotes, wolves and wild boar; loony hillbillies destabilized by gross quantities of impure corn liquor and generations of profoundly unbiblical sex; rabies crazed skunks, racoons and squirrels; merciless fire ants and ravening blackfly; poison ivy, poison sumac, poison oak, and poison salamanders; even a scattering of moose lethally deranged by a parasitic w...

Resupply day. I was thinking about staying in town for the night but norovirus warning made me change the plans. I've set the alarm at 5 AM as I still had quite a way to go before getting to Pearisburg. My headlamp decided to die after 10 minutes even though I recharged it two days ago. Since the sunrise was still an hour away I had to use the phone to see what I was doing. Trail after first sizeable climb was pretty straight forward, I've passed a couple of slack-packers along the way (I never know if they are day hikers or they are thru hiking like me). At 2 PM the clouds rolled in and weather turned momentarily from a serene, sunny afternoon to a heavy clouds and rain better stay at home one. Luckily it only rained for an hour but I still was completely soaked by the end of it. I've arrived at Pearisburg at 3 PM and went to Food Lion to resupply, they had good selection and decent prices, I've paid 50$ for four days of ...