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GoldenBear

Halfway there after two more days of ultimate slackpacking!

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The most recent statement on the length of the A.T.
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/about-the-trail
gives an answer of 2180 miles.
This means that section hikers such as myself have passed the half-way point once they have hiked 1090 miles. After my most recent multi-day hike, I calculated my total miles covered as 1081.8 -- meaning I needed just over eight miles to get to that half-way point.

Due to my (basically successful) effort to minimize difficult hiking while still covering miles, I had a 13.2 mile gap that needed to be covered. Specifically, between Thunder Ridge Overlook (just off the Blue Ridge Parkway) and the James River at U.S. Highway 501.
Earlier this year, I had covered about 44 miles of The Trail, between Daleville and Thunder Ridge, by slack-packing with Shuttle.
In a true blessing, Shuttle not only wanted to go back to the Parkway, but had some vacation time in October -- ie, the beginning of fall foliage season -- to allow us to do so. It was an easy decision for us to decide to go back to an area we truly loved.

As I've said before, the best hikes are those where there is nothing much to report. Hiking down from Thunder Ridge to Petite's Gap one day, then down from Petite's Gap to the James River the next day, made for a perfectly enjoyable time. Doing so at a faster pace than I am used to also allowed me to avoid rain that hit the area, late in the afternoon, on both to these day hikes. Thus, I spent my nights here
http://www.peaksofotter.com/Accommodations.aspx
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._Virginia.html
and ate meals here
http://www.peaksofotter.com/Dine.aspx
and had morning views like this
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pr77x/...ream/lightbox/

And, best of all, got to wake up next to Shuttle.

I've now completed half the A.T. miles, and am already planning next summer's hiking. Maybe I'll complete all my miles before starting Medicare, maybe I won't. But I'm half-way there!

Updated 10-16-2014 at 10:19 by GoldenBear

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