Dear Friends

I am delighted to be posting this from quite possibly the most famous of all the trail towns... DAMASCUS, Virginia! That's right, as of yesterday afternoon Ronin and I walked across the border into our 4th state, leaving Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia in the rear view mirror to enter the much-touted Virginia... a state in which I will hike (hopefully) no fewer than 520 MILES. Egads!

Now, most people say Virginia is a nice easy state where hikers start to pick up big miles... Well, today I got my hands on the next set of maps for this section, and let me tell you, there are some significant bumps between here and Pearisburg, our next big town stop.

The interesting thing is, the mountains get shorter and shorter as we go north. For example, after Roan Mountain back in Tennessee (in the beautiful Roan Highlands, where a herd of texas longhorn steer including a 2200 pound bull reside trailside) we will not hit a 6000 foot peak until NEW HAMPSHIRE. However, while the mountains shrink the valleys get lower and lower, meaning we STILL wind up doing a ton of climbing. Just can't win, can we!

GOOD NEWS: Today, I got the most important package of the trail so far. Mom (thank you thank you thank you) sent my Hennessy Hammock and my lightweight summer sleeping bag. Long story short, I dropped several pounds from my huge pack weight, and am now at a base weight of a scant 25 pounds!! (Base weight is packweight without food or water, meaning my total pack is at about 40 pounds still). This is a huge improvement from the 56 pound monster I started with, but I still have room for improvement... Sideshow hikes with about 25 pounds total!

Anyway, staying in Damascus a bit and nursing a hurt foot... a minor infection in a cut I got in Hot Springs, NC has me worried, and I don't want to take any chances. Three hikers I know of have gotten serious infections from small wounds, one that was life-threatening.

Historical note: Kincora was amazing. A lovely little cabin set back in the woods, with tons of hikers circulating through and just a great atmosphere altogether. I bbq-ed up a mess of Rob Kimball Specialty cheeseburgers, and a great time was had by all... though I have to say firing up the grill made me miss summer afternoons at Tobin's pool, and lunchtime on the porch at Cape Cod... Now that some of the physical ailments of the trail have passed, some of the more psychological impacts start to be felt. I miss you all terribly!

The plan from here: Hike out ASAP, and put as many miles as possible between me and Damascus before this weekend, when the famed TRAIL DAYS celebration takes place. Then, I will hitchhike back to Damascus to enjoy the festivities, but be able to hitch back North on the trail far enough to avoid the huge crowd of hikers leaving town next Sunday.

My apologies for this entry, which must be rushed, eclectic, and largely illogical. I had a lot of info to get down!

Sending another photo card home next weekend... new pics should be forthcoming!

LOTS OF LOVE
Rob
Bigby

p.s. - GO SOX