Greetings from Waynesboro, VA. Today we were met by Spencer (Warpzilla)'s mom and his step dad. We utilized the local laundry, the grocery store, and doctor's office. Spencer has come down with a bad case of "chiggers"; we initially thought that it was itchy acne or some sort of rash, but it appears that it is a bad case of this pesky insect. He got a prescription ointment to combat the bugs and they should be under control or gone shortly.
Also this week we decided during our night in the greater Lynchburg area with the Haeseker's that we wanted to lighten our loads a little bit with our upcoming high mileage in the Shenandoah national park. We decided "to go cold" or to basically not heat up any water for our meals in the foreseeable future. We are losing our stove fuel, stoves, and cook sets. This shaves weight, yet also helps with time in that we need to gather less water and we have less to do when we get to camp at night.
Other changes involve dropping various items of gear. I am probably dropping my sleeping bag and shifting to a liner until northeastern Pennsylvania at the earliest. We have decided to move away from Nalgene bottles and are using plastic drink bottles from the store that are recyclable, easily replaceable, and weigh less than Nalgene bottle's. We are constantly trying to shave as much weight as we can, because we are faced with doing the stretch of Waynesboro to Harper's Ferry by the Fourth of July. This is a stretch of about 160 miles that will get us to the symbolic midpoint of the trail in Harper's Ferry at the ATC headquarters and we will cover it in about 5 days. We are going to then take off the Fourth of July in Harper's Ferry and get geared up for Pennsylvania.
This next 160 miles will probably require some long days and night hiking as well, yet we are ready for the challenge and our loads are lighter than ever.
Tonight we are posting some new photos so please enjoy those. Also we are going to try to update the accomplished mileage log as well.
2 comments:
B,G,S
Great to see you this week for the re-supply. We enjoyed being apart of your adventure.
We were relieved to see you all physically well, and most importantly, mentally focused and ‘charged’ for the miles to come. As Ben said, “we’re a 1/3 of the way now, and by next week we’ll be at the 1/2 way point!”
Jay & I talked on the drive back about how small your packs were when you started, and the huge number of miles per day you targeted. And now after reading your journal on how many MORE miles you've done and how much more gear you’ve taken out of your packs to lighten your load, we are in awe! Giving up pillows, rain pants, extra contact lenses, fuel, stoves, pots, water bottles, sleeping bags & pads how low can you go?
The guys leave for Philmont today, they’ve taken your lead and shaved their heads for the trek except, or course, Mr. B!
Take care, Thanks for letting us be apart.
Fast Feet to Harper’s Ferry & the 1/2 way point!
Mr. H
So. I looked at ALL 219 new photos and, without a doubt, they are very impressive.
But how about a photo of Spencer's Bed Bugs? I mean, Red Bugs? I heard they're pretty impressive, too!
Beryl
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