Crazy Old Men, Goats, and Clowns...OH MY!

They have hiked a total of 627.3 miles of the Appalachian Trail so far. Crazy Old Men!

A 20 year old hiker, Blaze, spent the evening in camp with Porter and Pace. He bet them that they could not hike a 30 mile day. Of course, that is pretty much like waving a red cape in front a bull so the bet was on. Our heroes Pace and Porter got up early the next day and started their hike. They had a head start on Blaze and hiked steadily. Somewhere along the trail Blaze passed our intrepid heroes but fear not, Porter and Pace passed Blaze and beat him into camp by a scant 15 minutes! It was a victory for our team.

I heard that Blaze grumbled a bit when Porter teased him about two old men beating him into camp after a 30-mile day. When Porter and Pace asked Blaze if he would hike another 10 miles into Damascus, VA Blaze told them, "You guys are crazy! I'm done for the day." So off went our heroes into the sunset to arrive in Damascus, VA around 11PM that same day. Yes, I agree with Blaze, they ARE a little crazy.
They stayed in a house called "The Place" that is free to thru-hikers and provided by the local Methodist church.

Mountain Man offers hikers a home cooked meal for a small donation or work around his goat farm. He picks up the hikers in his truck and brings him to the farm. Pace and Porter ate in the dining room while goats and chickens had free roam of the house. Porter said that the food was good but it was kind of strange having goats and chickens running around the dining room while they ate. A new experience for sure.

Pace, the goat whisperer.

Baby pigs at Mountain Man's farm. 5/3/11

Mountain Man's Goat Farm work to eat.

After they left the farm, they headed back to Damascus, VA and stayed at the Lazy Fox Inn where they met Tippy Toes from East Greenbush.  Porter and Pace were able to choose their room and they chose this one in honor of me, Dreamer. Can you guess the room name?

The Clown Room...Dreamer doesn't like clowns. 4/27/11

A little back story:
Now when Dreamer had her 40th birthday, Porter thought it would be great fun to have Cranberry the Clown come and put on a show. Cranberry was very nice but Dreamer still finds something a bit strange about clowns.

Porter was kind enough to give me a video tour of the clown room using his iPhone and Skype video call. There must have been 40 or so clown items in that room. I don't think I could have slept there like they did.



April 27 was also the day that so many tornadoes went through Alabama and other southern states. Pace and Porter were in Damascus, VA at the the Lazy Fox Inn when a tornado hit the town next to them and there were some fatalities. They lost power at the inn but were safe. Porter used the grill in the morning to help the innkeeper, Ms Jenny, cook eggs, hash browns, and pancakes for the other guests. Way to go Porter!

Wild Pony 4/29/11

Chestnut Knob elevation 4440 ft

Kimberling Creek 5/4/11

Some of the towns they resupplied in:

• Atkins, Stayed in a little motel that had more mouse droppings in the bathroom then they have seen in the shelters on the trail.
• Bland - was bland but they had a Dairy Queen so they "carbed up."

On 5/4 they hiked a 34-mile day with rain, sleet and snow. They stayed at shelter on Wednesday night and hiked 10 miles on Thursday to resupply in town at Pearisburg, VA mile 627.3.

Two hikers, Diva and Timber have caught up with them. Timber is from Germany. Porter says that they have meet many German's along the trail. Last year there was a documentary that aired in Germany that followed a German hiker on the AT and it has drawn many hikers to our country to check it out.

Porter and Pace wish all the mothers a "Happy Mother's Day."

(Ms.Carreau, if I could get an email for you, I would be happy to send you the GPS coordinates as Porter checks in so your class can plot their location. Let me know.)

Happy Trails,
Ground Control a/k/a Dreamer

Porter & Pace Appalachian Trail 5-5-11

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