My Tramily a Lifetime of Friendship!

Week seven concluded on a cool, windy, and rainy day skirting the southern portion of West Virginia. We traversed 18 miles to then re-enter Virginia and conclude our second 25-mile day. The week ended with 135 miles hiked in mostly beautiful spring weather.

Last week I talked about hiker hunger and even with a voracious appetite, us guys continue to shed pounds. Cumulatively us three guys lost 84 pounds. Personally, I lost the fewest at 22 pounds.

On a sad note, one of our tramily members—Numb Nuts—got sidelined at Woods Hole Hostel with a possible torn meniscus. Later next week an MRI will let us know if he can rejoin us and his brother Doormat and continue on to later hike the area in Virginia he missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with him; at 17, he is the toughest young man I’ve ever met. We first met the Georgia boys on a torrential rainy and gusty day on Blood Mountain with their dad, Papa Bear, as he hiked most of Georgia to help send his guys off on their epic journey. We refer to our group as the Blood Mountain Boys.

 

Another friend we first met at Standing Bear Hostel is Togs. She is another international hiker that is a Pom, a resident of Australia and British born. Togs is a lot of fun and shares the same pace as us. We got separated and Togs double timed to catch up with us and going on a hunch she found us at the Barn restaurant in Marion. We’re committed to her indoctrination to American culture so just yesterday she had her first DQ blizzarf. It was a hit!

Yesterday morning we reluctantly left Woods Hole Hostel after an amazing stay. Rustic charm, amazing food, and super people on a working farm easily became my favorite hostel so far.

 

 

Looking ahead we’re excited to for Dragon’s Tooth and McAfee Knob. As we travel through we are constantly reading of those ahead of us and when we finally catch up with them it’s very exciting. Sometimes we even get ahead of friends, so there is always a pleasant surprise when we catch up and reunite. The trail is very special in that regard.

Happy trails!

Catmando