Days 70-74: Goats, Pigs, Archdruids, and Evil Hamsters

See? I’m trying to keep up in a timely matter!

We’ve got loads of service now that we’re past Dismal Falls, it seems. And though it’s only been four days since my last update, it’s felt like ages! So much has happened, and I’ve eaten so much green food and gotten so much sunlight that I feel like I’ve been mentally and physically reset.

Speaking of Dismal Falls, boy do I love the water.

During our 15 mile hike from Trent’s Grocery (where a giant tree came down on the path to the campsites during that storm!) to Woods Hole hostel, we stopped at the falls for a hot minute.

The sun was finally shining for the first time in what felt like forever. I had been in my thermal leggings because we’re in tick season, but I quickchanged out of them and threw my crocs on to dip into the water atop the falls. It was heaven. The freezing mountain water was just the right temperature for my muscles. We soaked up the sun, soaked in the water, and ate lunch while watching the water do its thing.

Achilles gave me a heart attack by standing on a slick ledge overlooking the drop from the falls, but he’s still in one piece so everything is fine. Totally fine. He also climbed down and back up the face of the falls to check out some sunglasses someone left, also fine. I didn’t age an extra ten years or anything.

A couple miles after a bee nearly made me faceplant while putting my clothes back on, I found a spot with cell service!

I called my dad to catch up and eventually risked the call dropping to walk and talk with him. To both of our surprise the call lasted the entire way to Wapiti Shelter, where I ended it for a snack with Achilles before a gnarly incline.

I love talking to my dad on trail. He was following along with me on google maps and reading me reviews of the shelter. We talked about how I’m planning to zero in Roanoke and he brought up this burger joint there he’s got marked on his map to check out if he’s ever there. I will now be going there and reporting back so he can update his map marker.

Then, on the incline, I called Natty.

“I’ve never been so sweaty in my life as I have been out here!” I whined while climbing up the mountain with my trekking poles after her dad asked me how my hike is going.

I love having service to talk to my friends while I hike. It reminds me of long walks through NYC with them.

Natty and I made it most of the way up the mountain, and one pee break, before the call cut out at an incredibly wild cliff hanger while talking about something equally as wild. When I got to Achilles and the vista at the top, I immediately called her back and we talked trash and laughed for about five minutes before we lost each other again.

We made it to Woods Hole just after dinner, but Neville put together some beautiful plates for us.

If you want to eat the healthiest you ever will on trail, stay at Woods Hole. All of the food is fresh — like, from their gardens fresh — and my body is thanking me profusely for staying there three nights.

That’s right, three. Because the impossible happened.

Achilles decided we should zero the morning after we got in.

I know, I thought I was hallucinating. I had to write it down and date it, I was in such disbelief.

We were eating breakfast. Troublemaker was there as a witness.

For those who don’t know: Achilles, in my experience of hiking with him, has to be convinced to zero about 99% of the time. Or it has to be pre-determined far in advance. But to choose zeroing himself day-of???

Woods Hole is truly that magical.

So zero we did.

I wish I’d taken more pictures than mostly the smoking area. We had a lovely little lazy day, only really doing one thing: Shuttling to Pearisburg for a Walmart run where I got new insoles and Achilles got me a tiny little Funko Pop. He said the most he’s ever felt like a dad was when I ran up to him, wide eyed, asking if he could get the Funko for me. “There’s a one in twelve chance it could be Rapunzel!!!” (It was not, but Tiana is no small consolation prize.)

We did a little group stretch around 4pm (I love Neville but, as a former yoga instructor, I refuse to call that yoga, and suggest everyone prepare for some light, fast paced stretching that will only result in immediate, short term relief), and then chilled before dinner.

I caught a few folks in the yard with some clippers and asked if we were doing undercuts, to which Sparkles replied yes but that she had no idea what she was doing, so of course I stepped in and took the reins as a veteran of bad hair decisions. I’m actually very good with clippers, so long as it’s not on myself. We moved to the porch halfway in when it started pouring rain out of nowhere, which was awesome. Then I touched up Creek’s mohawk.

CREEK! He and Critter are from NYC too!! With Cheeto, that made four of us New Yorkers— the most I’ve been around at once since actually being in NYC. We had an in depth conversation about Zabars and the food we need to overnight ship to ourselves immediately, as we won’t be back for another two months (we did the math).

Look, all you gratitude circle haters on FarOut can suck it.

I love the pre-dinner gratitude circle. Maybe it’s the theater kid in me, but I love a good icebreaker. And it‘s nice to be prompted to think of what makes you appreciative in the moment. It’s beautiful to watch everyone, joking or sincere, say what they’re grateful for.

I could do without being held hostage for an anecdotal story while hungry, but I don’t think any of us had the heart to tell Neville not to share. She’s too kind and does too much for the hostel, and none of us were gonna be rude. So we listened, and then I’d book it to the food.

The next day it was pointed out to me that, if we stayed another night, we could play D&D.

Underhill, you’re a genius.

We had been talking Dungeons and Dragons all night and all morning. Ketchup and Underhill found a DM, and I found experienced players. And I’ve been itching to run this one-shot I built on trail a month and a half back.

So I convinced Achilles we should slackpack the mileage we were planning on doing that day and play D&D. And by convince, I mean I offered to pay for the night and the shuttles we’d need.

Worth it.

Pringles shuttled us to the cemetery parking lot (she is The Best, I love her, I want her to adopt me, and I would kill for her), and we made our way back to the campaign. It was a beautiful hike, and I’d never been in a better mood than with the knowledge I’d get to play my favorite game at the end of it.

After returning right on time for dinner, we escaped into a fantasy realm.

Achilles was a barbarian named The Dread Pirate Jeff (complete with a terrible New Zealand accent), Ketchup was a goblin death cleric named Ix, Underhill was an autognome nature cleric named Wilson, and Cheeto was a high elf rogue named Cheeto (bless him, he’d been awake since 2am).

The campaign went til about midnight, where I called it after fading into sleepiness for the 45 minutes prior. It was a blast. I’ve been dying for that the whole trail. Rumor has it they’ll meet up with us tonight at 666 so we can keep it going!

The next day, Pringles got us back on trail.

After a resupply trip to Walmart ($40 for days of food!) and a refuel trip to McD’s (I devoured that burger for all it was worth), we were back at it again. Another beautiful hike.

We took three very solid breaks through the day, the best of which being at the outlook by Rice Fields Shelter. I only got one video, where Mage surprises us at the end, but it was incredible.

The we ran into Nasa while we were resting there! We love Nasa. Had a good time catching up with him, as he had received some truly incredible trail magic. Well deserved. He was slackpacking back to Pearisburg, but is also likely meeting us tonight! What a TREAT!

We made it to where we planned on camping around 7pm… before realizing we made a huge mistake.

So… we were in the middle of a 10 mile water dead zone. I thought there was water at the campsite, but I’d thought wrong. Achilles had forgotten to point out that we should get water at the last source. We had about half a liter between the two of us.

Yikes.

We hiked a mile forward to another campsite, 0.3 away from where a stream was rumored to be on FarOut. Achilles took my headlamp and all of our water holders to go investigate while I set up camp. He returned just as dry as he’d left.

So we texted our friend Cool Breeze (follow him on here — he’s one of my favorite humans) who was camping 0.4 back from us and whose offer of water as we hiked past we had foolishly turned down. He saved us from being more parched than we need to be today for the 4.5 mile hike to the next water source. I owe him so many beers in gratitude.

And now, 14 miles to 666.

What a great week. What a great day yesterday. What a lovely morning today.

I’m grateful for the good times. And Achilles’s alarm.

I started listening to the full discography of one of my favorite bands this week — Paramore — and found that “Where The Lines Overlap” had been very fitting.

No one is as lucky as us

We’re not at the end, but – but we’ve already won

Oh no, no one is as lucky as us

Is as lucky as us