Thu 12 Jun 2008
Breaking News: Kung Fu is back and bigger than ever
Posted by Ryan under Fun Tidbits, General, Where I am
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This is Howard Carson reporting from Roanoke, Virginia for A.T. News. June 12, 2008.
Severe heat plaguing the east coast for over a week now is pushing hikers to the limit. Many have quit. Others limp on. Others take shelter in homes and hotels. What is uncertain is the extent of effect that this will have on the North Bound thru-hikers this season. Recently I interviewed three thru-hikers on their last two weeks of hiking and what they have been through.
Q: So where were you 2 weeks ago and what was the weather like?
A: Well, we reunited with our friend and family member PopTart in Bland, VA. The weather at the time was cool and rainy, very comfortable for hiking all day. We set out with a 3 day hike to Pearisburg, where we were going to the Holiday Motor Lodge to celebrate Machete’s birthday with his mother, sister, friends George and Adam, and whatever hiker trash we could cram into the rooms Mama Machete most graciously booked for us.
<- Trail Family at the Hotel in Pearisburg
The second day out from Bland we could start to feel the weather warming some. When we had arrived in Bland it was rainy and in the 50s-60s and now the sun was out with rising temperatures and humidity. A brief relief was found at Dismal Falls along the trail which was a beautiful fall with very frigid swimming possible. An afternoon was spent at this beautiful spot and the hike continued. This spot also marked our 600mile mark along the trail. Our friend Bigglesworth has a sweet picture that we will hopefully be able to share at sometime.
Q: How was the time in Pearisburg with your friends and family?
A: It was a blast. It is always nice to hear from and see those people that you care about. After a 120mile failed attempt to find a movie theater, loop drive around Virginia and dipping into West Virginia, we all settled back in at the hotel to celebrate. We later pounded a Chinese buffet. The party continued throughout the night and after Machete had breakfast with the family the visiting group was back off to A-town, a moderate 4 hour drive. It was especially nice for Machete to see his mother and sister before they left on their respective trips to Africa and South America.
Q: Good luck to them and happy travels. So did you hit the trail after that?
A: Actually, we ended up staying another night here for birthday recovery, then were convinced to stay another night from some other hikers rather than a meager hike out. The sun was hot on all these days and the swimming pool at the motel was convincing enough to keep us there a little longer.
Q: According to my notes here, after leaving Pearisburg is when the heat wave hit. Is that correct?
A: Pretty much Howard. We had one day of high 80’s when we left, which was hot, but we had no idea how much hotter it was going to get. The second day out was when the week of 97 degree temperatures began. Couple this with the reported 80% humidity and you receive a heat index over 100. This made miserable afternoon hiking and we realized something had to be done about our hiking schedule. Also, our companion Pemmy began to take ill and was having an even harder time breathing than the rest of us. Moral started to fade at this point and we were all wishing for a change from this heat and the bugs.
Q: Oh, I hadn’t received any information on insects at this time. Would you care to elaborate on this matter?
A: Absolutely Howard. There have been three distinct changes in insect activity ontop of your normal creepy crawlies. On the first day of the extreme heat we hiked into a roughly six mile long Gypsy Moth corridore. These cute bugs appear to be catipillars but in actuallity they are a plague of shitting bugs. Excuse my language but these things are nasty. This six mile tunnel of poopy doom was head to toe fuzzies crapping upon you. It was so intense and in such great volume that it sounded like rain. We ended up having to camp in this area and all night we were awoken by the sounds of much needed rain only to recall the moth problem. Dinner and breakfast even proved difficult to shield from this onslaught as poop had to be picked out of it. There have been a few other instances of the dreaded gypsy moth since then but nothing compared to this veritable gauntlet of shit.
In addition to the gypsy moths, black fly season is upon us. This gnarly buggers won’t leave you alone until the sun goes down. It doesn’t matter where you are after two minutes of not hiking you will have a swarm circling and attempting to bite at you. Your only defense to these pests is to swat with a bandana like a horse with his tail. Lastly, we have the No-See-Ums. Which are essentially flees that you can squish and make camping in some areas an itchy sleep. Paranoia that they might be taking refuge in your sleeping bag causes anxiety during the morning routine. We aren’t camels here. We don’t really want freeloaders riding our back.
Q: What are you doing to combat the increasing extreme conditions?
A: Well we have changed our entire hiking routine around this heat. Being the night owls that we are, we are acustomed to staying up to 11pm-12am and getting up between 9-10am and starting at noon. With these new heat conditions that isn’t the best plan as it starts you off in the hottest part of the day which is very demoralizing. So our new plan is to avoid the noon-4pm heat by waking up around 5am. Departing as soon as the sun is high enough to hike. We then take a break between 11-noon for a nap/rest/lunch. Then resume hiking when the afternoon heat begins to dwindle. With this schedule we will still be able to put in the miles and avoid the blistering temperatures. The first day of attempting this schedule we had logged 12miles by 11:15am. This was before we had even started hiking the day before and it felt so much better. If this system grows old we plan to try some headlamp LED night hiking.
Q: You mentioned that Pemmy had taken ill earlier. How is she doing now?
A: She is recovering quickly. Its kind of a long story met with kindness and some hitchhiking. Some other time maybe.
Q: Oh feel free, you can ignore that 30minute time limit on the hotel lobby computer. Please continue.
A: Okay Howard. Well, Pemmy began to take ill the day after the gypsy moth tunnel. She felt generally ill and was having a hard time breathing especially going uphill. Being the determined girl she is we pushed on not heeding her body’s warning. After two days of hiking with it we came to our next scheduled resupply town of Newport, Virginia where we were fixin’ to get hitchin’ and there was a previous hiker named Longhorn there offering us soda. We inquired if he was heading the way we were going and he said he lived there. We hopped in the back of the pick up and headed the 8miles to the store. When we arrived there Longhorn propositioned us with an offer we could not refuse. “How bout y’all come back to my house and do some work splitting and stacking wood for me and I’ll fix you lunch, dinner, and breakfast and you can shower,” he said. We replied in unision, “hell yeah.” So after picking up our groceries it was back to Longhorns humble chateau. We started right off with lunch then got down to work. I will spare you all the details of this stay but let me break down some highlights. We stayed two nights, split probably 10 cords of wood, celebrated our friend Cornbreads birthday the first night we were there and Pemmy was able to rest there for two and a half days. Longhorn treated us with fresh vegetables from his garden, a delightful assortment of beer, big breakfasts, lunches, and dinners including pasta, red beans, turnip greens, pancakes, apple cobbler, ice cream, fruit salad and so much more. He even drove into Blacksburg where Virginia Tech is located so we could rent a movie. We worked hard for him but it felt great using our upper bodies and having plenty of water to drink and a shower right there. We were there over three days but only zeroed one between the hike in and out. This was a much needed moral booster and we left feeling great mentally.
<- Working at Longhorn’s House
However, Pemmy continued to cough. We hiked out 9miles from Longhorns leaving Pemmy not feeling very well. The next day we woke up at our scheduled 5am time with big miles planned. After two miles Pemmy doubted her ability to go on feeling the way she did. Being the chivalrous men we are, we accompied her on her hitching campaign to get to Daleville to take sanctuary at a motel. After hours of beating her over the head about going to a doctor she conceeded and agreed we would find medical facilities the following day. No facilities were available in Daleville which is a large town that the trail goes through, so it was off to the busy metropolis of Roanoke to seek out the Valley View Urgent Care. While Pemmy sought her medical attention it was up to us to locate lodging for the night at the best price. After talking to receptionists at four different hotels the shining star who could not be an ounce sweeter, Bonnie at the Main Stay Suites offered us a whopper of a deal. Her manager even gave us bottled water. Basically the cheapest we could find was the best hotel room available in the area. Complete with kitchenette, living room, and double bed bedroom, and an outdoor pool. Essentially, this place rocks at half price. Thank you again to the Main Stay Suites. Pemmy rang us after her doctors visit and yes it was a good thing she went as she had a ’severe upper respiratory inffection.’ She is doing much better now that she has antibiotics, inhalers, and cough medicine. Recovery time also included us going to the movie theatre and seeing a matinee of Indiana Jones, followed by sneaking into Kung Fu Panda (which was awesome and hence the title) and then 10 minutes of Sex and the City because Pemmy wanted to watch it, but it made us want to vommit… I still don’t feel clean.
Q: Wow, that sounds like quite the adventure and good luck. Where to now?
A: Oh you bet. The stars have really seemed to align for us on this trip and we thank everyone so much who have been willing to help us out. We don’t often mention the people who give us rides but they are always some of the kindest and most interesting people you will find in this world and we thank them too. Actually, we are off to find a hitch right after we finish with this interview. It is back to Daleville where PopTart, who was seperated on extreme heat day 1, has made it. He has passed us by 40 miles during our down period and we plan on skipping that section for now so we can hike out with him. Leaving this section gives us a great excuse to come back out here and hike again in the future. We recognize the importance of taking care of ourselves mentally and physically. We plan on getting back to Daleville, hitting up the outfitter and hiking out some minimal miles for the still aching Pemmy. Well, it is about that time and PopTart is in Daleville waiting for us so we really should be going.
I want to thank these hikers for their time during this interview and wanted to share a quote from seasoned thru-hiker, No Pain, who is currently on his fifth thru-hike attempt. No matter what you are doing, sitting at a pool, walking ten feet to the store closer to the trail or just making it a mile to the stream that you want to play at for the day, No Pain says, “Now that’s how you get to Maine!” Thank you for those encouraging words, No Pain.
This is Howard Carson signing off for the A.T. News. Happy Hiking.
