Author: Regina Reiter

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Trailboss

June 14, 2016
From a campsite north of Raven Rocks, VA to Econolodge in Bolivar, WV, including a short visit at Blackburn Trail Center.

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Crossing the Shenandoah River in the evening on SR 340.

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Mountain Laurel fading

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Red Toad

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Goodbye Virginia! Hello WV

This section of trail is called “The Rollercoaster” because of its quick up and down pattern. Both times I’ve walked this 13-mile stretch I have had strong judgements about that name!

The whole way, I’m grumbling these sentiments: “There’s no coasting whatsoever in the Roller Coaster! Roller coasters are one-way rides. This one has two directions! It would be more accurate to call it Stegasaurus Back Or Rust Saw! Rocks, rocks, rocks make it a diligent dance of danger. Definitely not a roller coaster!!!” read more

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Read the Guidebook!

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June 13, 2016
I didn’t notice that the guidebook does say that the “lodge, kitchen, office are open from 5-9 p.m.” in the hostel where we had sent our maildrop box. Hmm. It’s noon, and we got on the trail at 6 a.m. to get here for a rest. There is food in that box to eat for rejuvenation – not available til 5?? Not a happy thought. Hmm.

What a perfect interface between Inner and Outer Journeys!! Click on “Read in browser” to see how this disappointment unfolds into a blessing even better than I had imagined!
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Town Food

June 12, 2016
I can’t eat what most hikers eat! Here’s what we bought at Food Lion in Front Royal to rejuvenate and celebrate completing our first hundred miles of this trip.

First, we did step one of our three step Don’t- Buy-Too-Much-In-Town plan: go in and buy something to eat right now and leave the store. We bought and devoured:

A banana
Two peaches
Four apricots
Two apples
23 oz. Coconut water

Then, we took step two: go in and look and talk about what to buy (actually, we skipped this step this time, and went right to step three: buy food for the town stop). read more

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Little Things

June 11, 2016
I have a list of small mishaps that we’ve been able to deal with and keep going. HeartSinging walking reflects how gracefully I can dance with the little things.

**Broken watchband. My cheap fake leather watchband  snapped.  Irritating! The good thing was that I noticed that it had fallen off. I threw away the band and stuck the watchface in my waist pouch where I can still get at it easily. Keep moving!

**Melted food bowl. Drat! My favorite lidded Glad bowl where I rehydrate my food on the trail was NOT microwave safe for repeated uses! I like this solution! We made an extra stop at Food Lion on our way out of Front Royal and bought  small bowl of hummus. The container fits perfectly inside our cooking pot, and the hummus was a fine extra snack for the afternoon. We might even switch to PLANNING it this way, getting hummus to pack out and a new bowl! Keep moving! read more

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Goodbye Shenandoah

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June10, 2016
Today, we completed the final  miles of our Shenandoah walk. Earlier, we stopped for a few minutes atop Compton Peak, 2909 ft elevation. No more mountains close to 3,000 ft ’til Killington in VT! That’s where this year’s walk ends and we celebrate two traverses of the AT. About 700 miles from here in Front Royal, VA.

My personal high point was a picture of my grandson, five months old today!

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Goodbye Shenandoah!

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In joy,
Regina

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Inner Journey

June 8 and 9, 2016
What a beautiful place to be while disappointed! The Skyland Lodge room we had was perfect for our night off the trail! We had mailed our first food drop there, so it was a good place to rent a room, you know, with a bed and bath and clean towels, all that good stuff!

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Really incredible view from the room, especially watching  the storm move across the Shenandoah Valley!

Dinner at the restaurant included trout, asparagus salad, and a big side order of fries! Even my gluten-free preference was accommodated. read more

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Blessed

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June 7, 2016
Day 5, Appalachian Trail walk. My view from our room at Skyland Lodge, taking a connection break. 70 miles complete. Uncounted trees, boulders, flowers, plants enjoyed. Unmeasured fullness of God Goddess Spirit Nature Creation breathed in and around and through. I am blessed by walking.

In joy,
Regina

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Body

June 6, 2016
“I am not my body, but I love and appreciate the body I have.”
That’s one of my favorite New Stories in the Radical Forgiveness board game that I play often to help me shift my perspective from troubles to blessings.
This morning, that helped me ease into the tiredness and soreness my body felt. I still WANTED to walk, just needed to give myself time and stretching to match my desire with my body!
Just a half mile from our camp, beautifully flat and dry, by the way, was the summit of Hightop Mtn. Sunlight filtered through  the stunted oaks and lit  the ferns and fly poison flower stalks. Ahhh. Perfect spot to gently awaken my muscles. read more

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Gollum Revealed

June 4, 2016
7 a.m. Fog. Ah! Sun breaks through and lights the tree trunks. A restful night opens to a birdsong morning.

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12 p.m. Walking feels good! The trail through Shenandoah Park is gentle, though consistently up amd down. We cross the Skyline Drive every 2 or so miles! I want to call a woman I know who wants to walk just six miles a day to say, “You could do that here, no problem. If you have a car support person to meet you at road crossings, you could do this!”

3 p.m. Well, it’s been great all day, and I see in the guidebook that water and camping limitations mean that we can stop in a couple of miles or in as many as four miles. That gives us a short, easy day or a dubious and maybe long one. THAT’S where the day’s challenge begins! read more

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Walking Begins

June 3, 2016

Despite the failure of my automated blogpost to email setup, I adhered to our departure schedule this morning! One thought I had was that energetically, it was important for me to get the walking underway and not get delated by the uncooperative mystery. That the url for my website feed to fail made no sense! I had no response to it, so just succumb! Maybe tomorrow it will work!

Still, it was a challenge to let it go, the week’s work basically negated, with no known cause.

But, generously, Ken drove us to Rockfish Gap. It was strange passing by the entire Tye River section, although I certainly have walked it enough times to feel satisfied – for now anyway.
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