Day 112 through 125

Day 112 - 19.2 miles

Left the HoJo and headed for McAfee's Knob. We were meeting Mehdi and Brenda there. Had some cool views on the way. 

Made it to McAfee's knob and met Brenda and Mehdi. They hiked up the trail 4 miles to get there!! They did great. 

Had a great lunch with them there. 

Had dinner in the RV!! We were all full. Brenda and Mehdi supported us for three nights. It was awesome. 

Day 113 - 21.3 miles 

Had a great breakfast in the RV. 

Hit the trail and had a great day knowing that we were going to be picked up again and taken back to a warm place to sleep and have a shower. We made it to Dragons Tooth. This is an area that has three huge stone monoliths. It was cool. 

We made it to the road where Mehdi, Brenda and Henry were waiting for us. 

Liam had started feeling car sick so he sat so he could see the road.

Day 114 - 18.2 miles

Had a great day hiking today with many great views. 

This is the Keffer Oak. It is 18'' around and over 300 years old. 

Packed out some pita and cutlets and ate out on Kelly's Knob. 

Day 115 - 12.3 miles

We slept in and had a massive breakfast in the RV then got packed up to go. 

Mehdi and Brenda were amazing to us. I wish they could follow us all the way to Georgia! We made it to the trail, studied the map and said our goodbyes. 

We started hiking about 11:45am. Around 4:45 it started raining. We decided to cut the day short and stop at "The Captian's" house. He lets hikers stay on his back porch. He was a character. To get to his house there was a zip line that he had made. 

He was very friendly and had 2 playful doggies. 

This is "The Captain". 

Day 116 - 20.9 miles

Cold day with light rain. Heading for Pearsburg, VA to resupply and get a room. It was very cold that night. 

Day 117 - 17.2 miles

Left Pearsburg and had to climb 2,000ft. When we were on top of the ridge it started to rain and became very windy. We started getting very cold. Ended up putting on my down jacket and pants to stay warm. It was very cloudy and this is what the views looked like. 

At lunch Liam built a fire to toast his bagels. 

The sun started to pop through the clouds... Just not anywhere near us. 

Rhododendron tunnel. 

Day 118 - 24.0 miles

This morning was very cold. It must have been around 30 degrees. It was cold most of the day. 

Day 119 - 24.0 miles

It was a cold morning but it heated up to a nice 60 degrees around noon. The sun finally came out!

Had a very steep climb up to Chestnut knob shelter. It was 900ft in 1.3 miles! It was ruff. The shelter was at 4,410ft. It was and enclosed, stone shelter. 

We had amazing views from up there. That night is was so clear we could see the Milky Way and a few planets. 

Sunset

Sunrise

Having a good time

Day 120 - 19.9 miles

Had amazing views coming down from the shelter. 

Came through some pastures and saw an old creepy barn that could have been in a horror movie. 

Day 121 - 14.7

Hiked to Marion, VA to resupply, ate some food then back to the trail. The Partnership shelter was only 0.1 miles from the road. It was a wonderful shelter with a shower! But, the water was ice cold... I thought to myself, "I will just have to stink". 

Day 122 - 24.7 miles

Great day with good weather. Stopped by a creek to take a break. 

This is what your feet can look like after hiking for a week with no shower. 

Day 123 - 23.2 miles

Hiked through Grayson Highlands and met the wild ponies. They were awesome. 

Had awesome views all day. 

While eating lunch at Thomas Knob shelter an F-16 (I think) flew over us going very fast at about 500ft. It was very loud and very awesome.... 'Merica!!

We went over Mt. Rogers, it's VA highest peak at 5,430ft, then Went up and over Whitetop mountain and was met on a gravel road by 2 people in an SUV. Their names were "Fidget" and "DotCom". They had hiked parts of the AT and were trail angels now. They invited us to stay with them when we get to Damascus.... For free!! I'm looking forward to staying with them. 

Stopped at buzzard rocks for a picture. 

Day 124 - 16.1 miles

Had a nice day hiking today although it was slightly rainy. 

We made it to Damascus, VA!!! AKA "Trail Town U.S.A". Damascus has Trail Days every year in May. Around 10,000 hikers show up and camp out. 

Fidget picked us up and took us to their beautiful home. 

They are both such wonderful people and so kind to hikers. They had hiked much of the trail in 2012 and were very knowledgable about it too. We all had a great night sleep in a warm, clean bed. 

Day 125 - ZERO!! 

DotCom and Fidget made us a huge breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs, fruit, coffee and OJ. I was full as a tick. We all went out and got our choirs done around town. Some of our other trail friends showed up around 2 pm in town. Fidget invited everyone over to their house for pizza. We had a wonderful time at dinner eating and sharing trail stories. It was a great. 

Happy Halloween!!!

Total miles - 1,718.2

Miles left - 467.1

Enjoy!!!