May 26th: Bland, VA

North America » United States » Virginia » Bland
May 30th 2007

Published: May 30th 2007

Walked off another map yesterday, only two more maps and we are out of VA! Not
a bad night’s sleep for a primitive camp site. There was some slope, but nothing
we couldn't deal with. Those of you who know CC will be amazed at how she has no
problems waking up at 6-6:30AM and functioning. She really isn't a morning
person, but life on the trail has forced her into it :-) We were on the trail by
8:30AM. We bounced between 2,700' and 3,200' all the way to US52 into the town
of Bland. We had a great pace and made the seven miles in 3.5hrs. The trail had
plenty of switchbacks and few rocks. We crossed over I77 and when I saw the
"Runaway Truck Ramp" on the northbound side, I knew just where I was. The
Mountain Laural is still blooming in spots along with sporadic Rhodies. We
walked along the highway as we hitched into town. Man is there a real difference
between walking on the trail vs. the edge of a road. The road tears up our feet
quickly and the day was hot, throwing heat up in our faces. We walked for 1.5 miles before a kind man stopped to give us a ride the last two miles. The breeze in the back of his truck sure felt good. CC and I both noticed how fast people seem to be going down the road. Even the people who are in a hurry on the trail only move about 3-4mph. We can tell our schedule is
not the normal one any more.
Once in town we headed for the grocery store for our food. As we stepped
inside CC suggested we find somewhere to eat before shopping as it was just
after noon. Got directions to the local diner and headed for lunch. Got a great
deal on chow, big juicy burger and sub with all fresh fixin’s and a real good
price too. Then back to the store. We had been told by everyone who had been there
that is was dismal pickings. Being the optimists, we charged in. Boy did the
shelves look lean! This guy has a constant flow of hikers in his place but
stocks little hiker type food. We managed to get five days worth of grub for a
whopping $37. No tuna, no chicken, no rice, no couscous (look for that in your
local store, it's great), no fruit - almost no food. When I asked them to check in
back for some tuna in the foil pouch. I was told the truck comes in on Tuesday,
if the box on the shelf was empty come back on Tuesday. We did get some cheese
to add a bit of fat to our diet over he next six days.
The ride out of town was easier than the one in. We had two offers without
even sticking out a thumb. There was a brief rain shower we waited out after
filling our packs, then the ride back to the trail.
The first part of the trail was up a gravel road about a mile or so. We were
on top of the ridge again for the most part. We wanted to get to a camp area
near a river and I was unsure of the distance (too lazy to dig out the map or
guide book from the pack). We had only drinking water, so if we wanted to eat we
had to make the river. The next few days we have been told water is mainly near
the shelters only. The average distance between water points is about nine
miles. Again we were on a smooth trail and the miles flew by. We were both still
feeling full from lunch two hour before. The trip into town and back took three
hours from start to finish. We ended up getting into camp at 6:15PM.
When we arrived, "Fuzzy Monkey" was already setup and said there was a cooler
of Trail Magic out near the road. CC went out and got us a couple of ice cold
Gatorades to drink with supper. The river was only a few feet away from the
tent. All is well in our nylon house.
We managed to squeeze in a 15.8 mile day counting the 1.5 miles into town we
had to walk. We are starting to be able to average 2 mph even with full packs.

Patrick, Deborah Mooney aka OD & CC
All Who Wander Are Not Lost

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