adventureswithcrystalandwillJun 8th 2025

Day 105

Day 105. 17.1 mile slack pack to road crossing at 963. Original Mosey is doing some remote work and hanging out in Walter (her camper van) to avoid rain so she offered to slack pack us. It poured rain all morning and we were drenched. I was thinking about good things in the rain-we didn’t have to carry full pack, no bears or snakes, not as hot, etc. stopped at the final wayside and had a great burger and hot dog. The rain let up in the afternoon which was nice but our feet were soaked and didn’t dry out. Zach from last night going SOBO found my tevas and left them at a picnic area so we were able to get them when Mosey picked us up. She offered to get us a cabin at the campground she was parking Walter at and cook us dinner which we gratefully accepted. After a shower and clean laundry and full of sausage and veggies and lemon cheesecake bites we felt human again.

adventureswithcrystalandwillJun 7th 2025

1/6

Day 104

Day 104. 12.3 miles to Pass Mtn Hut. It wasn’t supposed to rain overnight, but it did. The rain broke for a little while which let us break camp and get on trail early, and the rain started again and continued all morning. We stopped by sky land resort and had a muffin, coffee and chai. We were drenched when we caught up with steady at Pinnacles picnic area which was lovely-flush toilets, covered pavilion, running water. The sun came out and we spent a lovely hour planning and drying our stuff out. The rest of the afternoon was overall ok, rough and rocky trail. I have been losing things left and right. Yesterday I lost my kula cloth, today lost my pack towel but found it and then lost my camp shoes 😭. I also ended up taking a side trail that took me way out of the way. We decided to stay in the shelter since it’s starting to rain overnight and packing up wet gear is no fun. Also-everything smells awful, wet dog and Fritos and just gross. We are planning to zero in 2 days and that thought it getting us thru.

adventureswithcrystalandwillJun 6th 2025

1/6

Day 103

Day 103. 15 miles to stealth camp. Today started pretty good, I slept amazing at the campsite. We passed a wayside but it was far off trail and o was cruising pretty good so I damped it but everyone else went and had burgers and shakes. It did start to rain In afternoon. The plan was to stealth camp past the resort, but it was rocky and a long day and my feet hurt, so Will made the call to make camp before. Some miscommunication about what mile marker the site was at made us both incredibly frustrated and really stressed us out. But we found each other and made it work.

adventureswithcrystalandwillJun 5th 2025

1/7

Day 102

Day 102 11.7 miles to Lewis mountain campground. Today was better than yesterday. We saw a snake in the trail who didn’t want to move, got trail magic from Daniel-first time doing trail magic and we were his first hikers! We chatted with Jen and Jack, a mother and daughter flip floppers who just started 5 days ago. The original mosey got a campsite at the campground and invited us to stay, it was only 0.5 short of the shelter and just off the trail. We got some goodies at the camp store-I had a grilled cheese that was surprisingly good for being microwaveable. We also got a shower which was lovely given how hot it has been and how gross I have felt.

adventureswithcrystalandwillJun 4th 2025

1/8

Day 101

Day 101. 13.3 miles to Hightop hut. First day back with full packs. Maybe it was the extra weight, or the heat today, or maybe the trail was just disrespectful but it was super rough. Highlights-crossed 900 mile mark, saw 2 snakes. Low points-pretty much everything else. I actually yellow blazed (aka road walked) a little over a mile, I called Will to see how a chunk of trail was and he said awful and so I said l ”nah” and just walked along the road.

adventureswithcrystalandwillJun 4th 2025

1/7

Day 100

Day 100. 18.3(ish) mile slack pack to Loft Mountain Camp Store. Today we did a lot of walking through Laurel Tunnels which was nice. The trail was very reasonable today and I was able to make really good time. I swear we went through a black hole, there was one area where I expected to hit a crossing at a certain time and we hit it a full 45 mins earlier. I was listening to jams but they weren’t that good. We got done really early and went to the Shenandoah National Park wayside and had a smash burger and one of their famous blackberry milkshakes.

adventureswithcrystalandwillJun 2nd 2025

1/6

Day 99

Day 99. 10.5 miles to Sawmill overlook. Slackpack. Slept in to take advantage of a nice bed. I slept well, but could have gone for a nap after breakfast. But the trail calls. Trail today was ok, nothing special. I did see a few nice views and a rabbit which was fun. We did stay at the Grace Lutheran Hiker Hostel and were able to have another shower.

adventureswithcrystalandwillJun 1st 2025

1/8

Day 98

Day 98. 13.1 miles slack from humpback picnic area to rockfish. Today started absolutely lovely. For what felt like 2 miles near the end we had the most disgusting worms dropping from the trees getting al over everything. This was on a rocky section of trail so you were trying to watch you feet and watch out for moths. But we made it and then into waynesboro. Chinese buffet was nice, and then we decided to stay at quality inn and all share a room, have a good shower and able to do laundry

adventureswithcrystalandwillJun 1st 2025

1/9

Day 97

97. 10.7 mile slack pack SOBO from Reid’s Gap to VA56. Today we conquered Three Ridges. The first few and last few miles of this were pretty manageable, there was a pretty rocky section in the middle which took some time to navigate. We passed some Boy Scouts, Steady saw a big rattlesnake, and more good views with overall nice weather. Also saw Boujee, she is back in trail after her daughter giving birth! There was some serious wind on the ridge. Coming down to the car (yay!!!) we also got trail magic (more yay!!!). We got gas station subs and then went back to the brewery for free camping!

adventureswithcrystalandwillMay 30th 2025

1/10

Day 96

Day 96. 6 miles from Reid’s Gap to Humpback Rocks picnic area. Woke up in fog in the pavilion which was kinda neat, then packed up and headed along the Blue Ridge Parkway and saw beautiful views. Today we did a short day slack pack with DogTag to try to miss some weather-there was thunderstorms and tornado watch. The trail today was overall pretty reasonable. There were some rocky areas and a steep section, but having only a few pounds made it go fast and easy. I even jogged on some flat and easy sections and tried to miss some rain. We then headed over to the Devils Backbone Brew Pub and had dinner. They allow thrunhikers to tent for free so we are bedding down here for the night, but had plenty of time to relax and set up camp slowly.

adventureswithcrystalandwillMay 29th 2025

1/8

Day 95

Day 95. 11.4 miles to VA 56. Slow getting up today, but not terrible. The first few miles of trail Were amazing, nice. Spy Rock had some awesome views. Going up the Priest was intimidating but not terrible. Going down was awful. But we made it and picked DogTag up from the other side, headed into Buena Vista for BBQ and then to the Glen Maury Campground to sleep in a pavilion to avoid thunderstorms.

adventureswithcrystalandwillMay 28th 2025

1/6

Day 94

Day 94. VA60 to Seeley-Woodworth Shelter. 14 miles. Finally back after 2 weeks off trail. We linked up with Steady and DogTag. Dogtag brought his car back to trail so we are slack packing ourselves, parking the car one place and us crossing paths and rotating around to pick each other up. Today was hard but good being back out here. I feel better in the woods. The climb was hard but not terrible and then we had some nice walking. It was misty and colder than expected, especially after being in the upper 90s in Texas. We were only going to do 12 but the campsite didn’t have as many good spaces so we pushed on. I am glad it didn’t feel awful after being out of practice, but the trail overall was nice today. Also met another Mosey!! She is a section hiker from Indiana and it was nice to chat for a bit.

adventureswithcrystalandwillMay 16th 2025

1/9

Day 82-84

Days 82-84. Trail Days in Damascus. This was our first trail days and we had a blast. I went to a watercolor class by @sketchingsummits, talks by Heather Anderson and Tara Dower, spent money at the vendors, got fitted for a new pack, got some gear repaired, saw tons of old friends and made some new, petted lots of dogs, met Dandi the adventure bunny. We survived a tornado watch and thunderstorm at 3 am. The town of Damascus and all the churches and people are so welcoming. Definitely a great weekend.

adventureswithcrystalandwillMay 15th 2025

1/5

Day 81

Day 81. SourPatch-19.8 slack pack from Daleville to McAfee knob parking lot. Mosey-7 mile out and back up to McAfee knob. We started out early, I had to go get the rental car and took Sourpatch and Steadys stuff so I could slack pack them. After picking up the car in Roanoke I went to Walmart to grab some snacks. Choices are overwhelming now. Then made my way to the parking lot and hiked up the hill to the knob. A nice park volunteer named Bill told me about the knob and took my picture, and then I sat and waited for Sourpatch and Steady. I chatted with some section hikers, Gingerbear and her boyfriend who have done all of Maine and are going down to trail days. Steady and Sourpatch made it to the top, we had some Gatorade and took pics, then headed back down to the car, grabbed firehouse and drove the 2 hours to Damascus and tent city.

adventureswithcrystalandwillMay 14th 2025

1/9

Day 80

Day 80. 8 mile slack pack over Dragons Tooth. The weather was supposed to be a little better so we figured we would attempt the tooth. As soon as we hit trail it was raining. The scrambles were better going south, and with a light pack. It was kinda fun. We hiked with Yogi who is going SOBO-his flip flop last year was interrupted by Helene. We were able to get back to the hostel pretty early and get ready for tomorrow.