Dutch Haus - Montebello Virginia

View from Cold Mountain - a few miles away from the Dutch Haus

We decided to treat ourselves last night (and this morning) with a stay in a bed and breakfast. The Dutch Haus is a B&B located just off the trail near Montebello Virginia. We just called them at the top of the mountain and walked down the hill a mile and they were there waiting to pick us up. The stay was amazing - hot shower, tasty vegetarian diner, comfy bed, beautiful house, and a hearty breakfast. It has never felt so good to take a hot shower. After 64 days this is only the 4th time it has happened - the same with laundry.
Were now on the last leg of our journey. Jess' mom is picking us up in Luray Virginia on the 12th - which puts us about 3/4 of the way through Shannandoah National Forest - so we've still got about a week and a half left. We've been hearing that section is pretty spectacular and the terrain is easier compared to what we've had the past week so I think it will be a nice place to end our trip. We feel recharged after having such a relaxing evening/morning and definently ready to take on the next section into Waynesboro. We hear its tough with climbs over The Priest, Three Ridges, and Humpback mountains. This portion of Virginia has been more challenging than the southern half - everyday it seems like we go down to a major river/creek around 900 feet then climb straight up to mountains over 4000'. The terrain has been beautiful and well worth all the climbing. Hope everyone is doing well - Brian and Jess.

Pearisburg Virginia

Sunrise near Angels Rest - before the short hike into Pearisburg

We made it to Virginia - Pearisburg to be exact - and what a town it is. The Rendezvous motel was our first stop then onto Pizza Plus to gorge ourselves on an all you can eat buffet (the Chinese place wasn't open yet). We've recently been putting in a lot of miles so we decided to hike the easy 3 miles down into town and take a day to relax and eat as much as possible. Luckily they have a little coffee shop in town so we can catch up on internet chores. Sorry but we aren't going to be able to load any pictures up, but there have been some recent highlights. The Grayson Highlands were quite possibly the most beautiful place we've seen thus far (at least tied with the Roan Highlands) - rolling grassy hills near 6000 feet, large granite outcroppings, spruce/fir trees lining the edges of the open areas, and wild ponies (we were awakened by some clopping around just a few feet outside of the shelter we were staying in). It has been an amazing trip and were really excited about our last few weeks out here. We should finish right before Shenandoah National Park or we'll make it through - depending on a few things. This will be our first motel night since we've been out here, today is day 50, so we've got the showers and air conditioning (for the first time so far). The Rendezvous is a really classy place - linoleum floors, window blinds, color TV (complete with universal remote), lamp (with lampshade), light swithces, door knobs, a sink (in the room!), shower (with curtain), 2 pillows, and a flushing privy with toilet paper. Who could ask for anything more? - really. Thats about all for now - we smell like crap, were having the time of our lives, and were really looking forward to getting a beer.

Eating Diner (with a full mouth) on the cliffs next to our campsite at Angels Rest

Hot Springs NC

View of the French Broad and Surrounding mountains in Hot Springs, NC


Hello everyone - we just arrived in Hot Springs N.C. and day 24 of our journey up the trail. Sorry about the lack of updates, but were trying to go at least the first month without staying in hiker hostels - hince the lack of updates. Luckily the outfitter here (Bluff Mtn. Outfitter) has free internet service so i can provide this quick check in. Everything has been great so far and were looking forward to the rest of our trip. We are planning on going until early August and we dont know how far were going to go. We've gradually increased our mileage as we get used to the trail and aquire our trail legs - yesterday was our longest day yet at 20 miles and it felt great. Today Jess' dad is going to meet us for dinner so we'll only go 5 or 6 miles today. The smokies have been our favorie portion of the trail so far - amazingly beautiful. I promise a full update with pictures once we get off the trail and hopefully these little tidbits every once and a while. Now im off to eat a pint of ice cream - you would not believe how much you can eat while you are hiking - its scary. Until next time... Brian PS - happy birthday mom!

View from Lovers leap - on the northern side of Hot Springs

Just Created the Blog

This weekend we went to Micki and Levi's wedding in Decatur - a lot of fun and very nice. Jess was a bridesmaid and did a great job carrying flowers and looking pretty n stuff. This was our last weekend in Decatur for a while - sad but we've got adventures aplenty coming up this summer. Only a week left before new york. We leave next Tuesday, get back Thursday, I work my last day on Friday and then its off to the trail on June 1st. We are working on our final preparations now (menu items, mail drops, tentative schedule etc). If anyone wants to meet up with us please do. The trail crosses roads at so many places that it is very easy to meet up, hike for a while and then get shuttled back to your car. We plan on taking a lot of pictures while on the trail and posting them on this blog, but we probably wont be doing this a whole lot because we'll have limited access to computers (hurray). Whenever we stay at a hostel we will have a chance to upload pictures and keep everyone updated. I'm posting a picture so I can figure out how it works. More to come.

End of the Hike - Luray Virginia

We ended our hike in Luray Virginia on August 12th - a small town located about 3/4 of the way through the Shenandoah National Park and we couldn't have asked for a better place to end up. The terrain in the park was fairly easy compared to what we had done the week before and the weather was absolutely amazing. We were a bit sad to come off the trail, but we have some great things to look forward to which makes everything much easier. Since finishing up we've been all over the place with trips to Marion, Asheville, Nasheville, Greenville, Atlanta, and now St. George Island (Florida). It's been great to see family/friends again and now we get to take it easy for a week on the beach to rest our weary bones. Luckily they don't feel that weary but it is nice to have time to take it easy for a while. Our total mileage was 940 which puts us close to halfway through the 2100 miles of the AT in 72 days. It is hard to describe how great it was to get away from everything and live a very simple but physical life in the woods for an extended period of time - we definitely plan on walking the remainder of the trail someday. The picture posted is of the last vista we stopped at before ending our trip - Mary's Rock.