Back on Zombie's Home Turf ... Virginia Tech

AT Mile 1185.2 Snickers Gap, Winchester, VA to
AT Mile 1222.2 - 1325.7 Shenanadoah National Park
AT Mile 1325.7 Waynesboro, VA then Washington National Forest
AT Mile 1402.8 Lynchburg, VA then on into Jefferson National Forest
AT Mile 1512.0 Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA Oct. 2-7, 2009
AT Mile 1552.2 Pearisburg, VA
AT Mile 1562.6 Sugar Run Gap

It's been a busy few weeks! The ATC Interactive Map "went down" when Andrew crossed into Virginia, after his 4 state run. I called to ask AT Headquarters about it, and they discovered the entire trail map was not working. It took about 2 and a half weeks to re-program, so I was having to guess where Andrew was. When I
called the ATC Headquarters after a few weeks, they gave me another link, that is really neat, and fortunately, a
few days later they called to say it was up and running again.

9/19/09 AT mile 1260.4 (instead of mile 1271.9) Shenanadoah National Park
In the mean time, Ground Support calls me on Saturday afternoon, wondering where Andrew might be, as she is driving on the Skyline Drive looking for Zombie. What an adventure / misadventure that was. We were all cheering her on, as she got close to where he was, but actually went one shelter beyond him. So many "ifs..." The section hiker she met got his north and south confused (his first time hiking). He described "a thru-hiker he saw" which was indeed Andrew, taking to a group that was rock climbing...Also, Andrew had been hiking in a pattern of short days (15 miles) long days (22 + miles) so my guess that Saturday would be a long day, was not to be... it was a short day as the weather was lovely, climbing folks to chat with, and then he stopped to eat at a restaurant near the trail... so he missed "Ground Support" Kelly by 30 minutes!

While looking for Zombie, Kelly left "trail magic" of oranges and bananas, like they had done the weekend before when he was visiting in Winchester. She left notes on the orange peel that the fruit was for thru-hikers, knowing either Zombie or another weary soul would come upon it. When she found Bearfence Mtn. Hut, the place we THOUGHT he'd be, she waited... but no one came, so she left a note and a snack bag of fruit and food :-( and "it was late September, and time to head on back to school..." (no, that was in the song, Maggie Mae!) Kelly said, "At least the day was wonderful, and it lifted her spirits that Zombie Andrew would find a special surprise for Sunday's lunch..." Which he did.

9/26-27/09 AT Mile 1402.8 Jefferson National Park, near Lynchburg, VA
Ground Support's parents picked Zombie up, where the trail crosses VA 130, to take him home for the weekend. We appreciated their looking after him, feeding him, laundry time, church and family time. He was in good spirits, and happy for a comfy place to be for a few days, spending some time with special folks.

9/30/09 AT Mile 1459.0 Daleville, VA
Zombie called to see if we had mailed anything there, and no, I hadn't. However, I was relieved that while the whole eastern part of the US was getting so much rain that flooding was stopping life as we know it, that there was NO RAIN where Andrew had been hiking all week! I was hoping that to be the case when I had seen The Weather Channel reports, and he confirmed it. I thought it was a special blessing for his surviving the the 22 of 24 days of rain back in Maine with such a good attitude!

10/2 - 7/09 AT Mile 1512.0 Sinking Creek Valley near Blacksburg, VA
How many graduates will walk 1,500 miles to visit a favorite professor, see a great blues singer, or cheer "Hokie, Hokie, Hokie, Hi? Probably not too many! :-)

Leah, a friend from VT, picked Zombie up on VA 42. Later, Ground Support, Branden, and another friend met up with Zombie to see the BB King Concert Sunday night. Three returned to school and work in NOVA (Northern Virginia) and Andrew stayed to meet with his Academic Advisor the following Monday. He enjoyed his visit to his Alma Mata, and the meeting he had was productive. Expecting to return to the trail on Tuesday morning, Andrew was delayed until Wednesday by an unknown illness, probably something he ate. None the less, a trip to the ER and a few meds to help his throat, and he was ready to be on his way Wednesday. BIG thanks to Leah, for her kindness driving him places!!!

10/9/09 AT Mile 1552.2 Pearisburg, VA
Andrew stopped for a short town visit, to resupply and pick up his mail. He said he had to laugh at the irony at the beginning of the day... he knew I had mailed his rain jacket to Pearisburg, and in the morning when he was leaving Rice Field Shelter, 7 miles from town, it began to rain... so he decided to "wait it out" and 30 minutes later, the shower passed. Well, now he has his rain jacket again, since the days are cooler and a rain shower isn't "refreshing" like it was on warm summer days. Andrew wasn't going to stay in town long, he'd planned to go on to Woodshole Hoste, the second hostel on the trail.

10/9-11/09 AT Mile 1562.6 Woodshole Hostel
Well, when I saw his evening spot last night, and the lunch spot today at the same location, I called the hostel... wanted to make sure Andrew was still feeling O.K. The young lady that answered laughed, and said "Yes, he's fine, and he just said 'everybody is going to wonder why I am at the same place', but he was enjoying himself and asked if he could stay another night, so he's busy today doing a 'work for stay' swap." I assured her, I didn't need to talk with him, just wanted to be sure he was fine. He was chopping wood, and I'm sure loving it!

This should catch everyone up ...Sorry it had been a while. We've been busy, all good stuff, but I'll try to upload pictures tomorrow... or at least get some of them posted and labeled.

Andrew is 613.6 miles from Springer Mountain... won't be long now! He estimates RootBeer Float is a week ahead of him now, and another hiking friend, Rabbit, almost that far ahead by now (Rabbit is a fast hiker). He's back to hiking by himself for now, and said while it's quite nice to have hiking friends, he doesn't mind hiking alone. Rest assured, he's still loving his time on the trail.

Let me know if you want to meet him to hike a section. His Dad is doing the last 30 miles. After reading "Trail Ways, Path Wise", and then "A Walk in the Woods", I was considering doing the 8.8 miles from Amicalola Falls to the top of Springer. Andrew suggested I just drive the forest road up to walk the last 0.9 mile... so I'm thinking "that'll work".

Enjoy the beauty of Fall,
Mom/ Harriet