May 17
We did so much today! I had a list of talks I wanted to see, but we had to throw that out the window because time got away from us. After breakfast at the Blue Blaze Cafe, we headed to the vendor tents to sign up for raffles. I became a member of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and got a free t-shirt and a special Trail Days rate! I had to get a medium shirt because free shirts are NEVER offered in size small. Drives me crazy and I want to make it my personal mission to change that. Anyway... I can't wait to start getting the ATC magazines.
At another vendor booth, Dad bought me a purple AT cap. I love it! We also visited David "AWOL" Miller's booth. He wrote the guide book everyone carries out here. He was much more soft spoken and unassuming than I expected him to be. He was very nice though and asked Dad if he'd tried using the GPS coordinates in the book to find road crossings on the trail. Dad said he had. That's how they found us in Pearisburg! I guess it's a new feature or something. I also put my name on the map AWOL had taped to the side of his booth. It was all of the pages of the guide book taped together and everyone stuck their name where they last left off. It looks like we are at the leading edge of a big bubble, but I'm guessing the people that are significantly further ahead of us didn't both coming back to Trail Days.
We stopped by the Hyperlite Mountain Gear booth and picked up one of their reversible pillow stuff sacks on Bluebirds recommendation. She has one and thinks it might help fix some of my neck problems. (I have been sleeping on it for about 3 weeks now and can attest that my neck feels MUCH better!)
Next stop, Gregory. I saw in the Trail Days brochure that they had a pack similar to my Osprey Aura but with features I might like better (like a longer zipper on the brain and bigger hip belt pockets). The guy working there was SUPER nice and measured me for the proper size. I liked the pack, but I don't need a new one right now. While I was chatting with this guy (I wish I could remember his name), he told me that they had a prototype pack in my size and asked if I'd be interested in testing it for them. Um, hell yes! They took me back behind the booth where a woman pulled a pretty blue pack from the trunk of a car. I loved the new features it offered, some I've never seen in packs before. I can't say what they were, but it's enough to make me want to wait until next year to buy one of these cool new packs. Everything was going great until I tried the pack on and she put a watermelon in it to add some weight. Neither she nor I were happy with how the shoulder straps fit me. The pack rode on the sides of my neck rather than my shoulders. She took some photos and we agreed it wasn't going to work. Boo! That would have been awesome to test a new pack. Wing It visited the Gregory booth separately and got a men's pack to test! What are the odds? I signed up for the Gregory raffle before leaving but forgot to go back during the drawing later that day. Wing It thinks he remembers one of my ticket numbers being called, but I'm going to pretend that I didn't win anything. Hopefully someone that needs the gear more than I do won instead.
We wandered down to yet another booth full of cheap gear, mainly shoes. For some reason, Mom and Dad didn't bring any good hiking shoes when they came to visit, so they bought some Montrail Mountain Masochist trail runners for a great price. The same shoes that I've worn the past 600 miles! Now we can go hiking tomorrow! I'm excited. We started to walk down to Sundog Outfitter to find some new shoes for me, but were picked up by a shuttle van on the way there. Mom and Dad's first "hitch!" The shuttle driver was named King Tut and works with a group that knits free beanies for thru-hikers. Some of my friends have those!
The experience at Sundog was disappointing to say the least. The employee asked my shoe size and just brought out every pair of women's trail runners they had in that size. He didn't measure me or help me with the shoes. He just stood sort of nearby while I put them all on and walked around the store. None felt quite right, but I took a picture of the box of the best-fitting pair so I could come back and purchase them later if I didn't find anything better. Apparently the employee assumed I was just going to buy the shoes online and made some snide comment to his buddy. When I went to use the bathroom he complained to another employee about how he hadn't sold any packs that weekend because everyone was buying online. Dad got upset and let him know that I had no intention of buying online. If I am going to hike another 500 miles in shoes, I need to be sure they fit perfectly. The employee pretended not to hear him. Not cool.
Luckily, our experience at the other outfitter in town, Mt Rogers, was MUCH better. A former employee had come back to help out during Trail days and was a shoe expert. He measured my foot and my arch (apparently I have narrow feet with a slightly high arch) and explained the pros and cons of the shoes they carried. He also talked about insoles and why my arches might have been hurting even though I have the proper insoles. I really liked a pair of Oboz he had me try. He gave me a hand while he had me jump up and down and stand sideways on a ramp they had in the store. He was very thorough and very concerned with ensuring the proper fit. I bought the shoes and some insoles. Dad bought some things too. I was happy to give my business to Mt Rogers rather than Sundog. The customer services experiences were night and day.
After that, we walked BACK to tent city to drop off my poles at the Leki booth. I'm excited to finally have the twist lock on my right pole repaired. I also entered Backpacker magazine's huge gear giveaway. While we were over there, I saw Boss at one of the booths! I haven't seen that kid since Hot Springs! I gave him a big hug and asked if he was going to hiker prom. He jokingly asked if I was asking him on a date, so we became unofficial prom dates. Unfortunately, he stood me up! He got sucked into a party in tent city that night and never made it out to the prom. Not cool! Haha
Mom, Dad and I tried to get Philly cheese steaks at Blue Blaze for lunch, but it took so long to get our food that I had to ditch them to go line up for the hiker parade. Guess who I ran into there? Doug "Banzai" Douma! I hiked with him a few times in Austin before he thru-hiked the trail in 2013. It was great to see him!
People lined up for the parade according to what year they hiked. Current 2014 hikers were at the back. Some people were wearing some crazy things! There were two guys in AT-themed body suits, a man in a leotard and tutu, and LOTS of people with water guns. It was cold and I crossed my fingers I wouldn't get wet. We walked down the main street through town waving at the crowds that had gathered on the sidewalks. Many of them sprayed us with water, but I managed to stay dry by dodging and hiding behind people. When we got to Blue Blaze, I left the parade to find Mom and Dad. The fire truck in the parade sprayed water all over the place. It looked awesome, but I kept my dry distance.
When I FINALLY found Mom and Dad back at the hotel, we walked back down to the Leki booth to pick up my poles. They replaced the bottom sections of both poles for free! Awesome!
After picking up my poles we wandered back to the park to watch the hiker talent show. So much walking, especially for my parents! My friend Squirrel and her dog Zima performed in the talent show. There was also a guy dressed like pizza juggling fire, several singers, a comedian, a hula hoop dancer, and a guy doing martial arts, among others. Some two stepping Aggies won the contest. They were pretty impressive!
Wing It, Bluebird and I prepartied in my room before prom using the bottle of Makers Mark my mom brought me. World's Best Mom! Then we walked over the Damascus Brewery for the party. None of us wore prom attire, just our town clothes. That seemed to be the trend, although some people had hit up the thrift stores beforehand. There were definitely a few old bridesmaid dresses in the crowd. The place was PACKED and there was hardly room to stand, let alone dance. It took forever to get drinks too because the bartenders were way overworked. It was the first thru-hiker prom the town has ever attempted, so I tried to keep that in mind. It didn't feel like prom at all though and we ended up leaving after two drinks. Jess, the helper from Elmer's in Hot Springs, was there and said hello to me. It took me a while to figure out who he was, although I knew I recognized him. I also ran into a girl at the bar that I followed last year on YouTube. She didn't complete the trail last year, but plans to finish the parts she missed this year. All in all, it was a very FULL, very productive and fun day.
Best Thing: Everything.
Looking Forward To: A more laid back day with Mom and Dad tomorrow.
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