By George

Shintastic Shinandoahs
The left shin continues to be the bane of my existence. However, the gentle, well-graded terrain of the trail (probably the kindest section of the AT), great weather, and the availability of blackberry milkshakes and burgers is making life bearable. Speaking of bears, no sightings in Shinandoah for Gracie and me, but lots of other people are reporting seeing bears as they hike. Was really happy to see the Texas Train a couple of days ago. We all started from Springer on the same day, but hadn't seen each other for six weeks. They caught and passed me at the first Wayside (grill/snack bar where they serve burgers and shakes in SNP). We took some time to catch up and compare notes about who was still left on the trail, and they gave me some great advice for taping my shin that has helped (along with plenty of ibuprofen) to make walking tolerable. The Waysides in the park are like tiny oases for hikers (at least this one). I discovered today that beer singles are cheaper than sodas, so I've tucked one into my pack and plan to dunk it in a spring and have it with dinner. I think that will help the shin situation, too!

I finally got a trail name, as well. Climbing up to Dragon's Tooth in central Virginia, Snakeman asked me what my trail name was. I replied I didn't have one yet, was given a hard time for not having one yet again, so I said, maybe we should be "George and Gracie." When I ran into Snakeman the following morning, he called me George, and it's stuck. For the younger set, it's George and Gracie, as in Burns and Allen. We're fine-tuning the training for Gracie to speak when I ask her to "Say goodnight, Gracie."

Wayside Tour '09 continues...