Pony Land

Leaving Damascus was hard.... Such a great little town. We definitely stopped for second breakfast and ice cream on our way out. 

Young Beard fell just outside of Hampton where he was trying to stick his head underneath a waterfall. He walked 67 miles before he got it looked at in Damascus. He fractured his hand pretty bad and has the cast on for 4 weeks. It's kindof nice being able to take care of him for a change.... but he's in good spirits 

After our ice cream fix, we hiked an easy 8 miles to a shelter where we decided to cowboy camp. 

Upon entering the Grayson Highlands State Park we met Card Shark and Covergirl who were at a gap with TRAIL MAGIC! Bananas, chips, and doughnuts! Thank you trail angles!!!The perfect start to an even more perfect day! Today we were entering Pony Land! Wild ponies roam the Grayson Highlands and Young Beard and I were on a mission to find them... And boy we did!!! 

^ this one would not stop licking my sweaty legs!!!! Ew

There was even a group of ponies at the shelter we slept at. 

We saw groups of ponies on five occasions within two wonderful days in the Grayson Highlands! By far my favorite place on the trail so far. 

Visit Pony Land if you ever get the chance! 

Remember... 

Life's short do epic shit. 

Love, 

Sunshine ☀️

Hello Virginia!

I'm trying to get better at keeping y'all up to date with our adventure. Making a point to update every week is tough. Whenever we get into a town and have wifi my mind immediately goes to 'update blog!!', unfortunately we have chores to do. Yes you read that right... We have chores out here. We have to wash the clothes we have been sweating in for a week. We have to get our resupply boxes from the mail, wash our pots we eat out of each night, charge all our electronics, organize our food bags for the upcoming week and of course... SHOWER!!!A lot of things must be done before we are able to completely relax and work on this blog. Right now it's Tuesday April 15th 11:00pm... Way too late for me these days... So if there are any typos... I blame it on the drowsiness. But I am in a nice warm bed in my clean clothes after taking a nice hot shower and I'm ready to fill you in. So enjoy and please share our story. Also if you have any questions you can comment on this blog or email me at haleychoice@gmail.com

When we got to Uncle Johnny's hostel in Erwin, TN Julian had the opportunity to do work for stay. Although Uncle Johnny's wasn't our favorite place... They did have a very sweet hostel cat who found her way into my sleeping bag on two separate occasions. 

Can't say many good things about Uncle Johnny's so.... Moving on, we hiked up Roan Mountain and got there right at sunset! 

On top of Roan Mountain is the highest shelter on the AT. We stayed here with our friends M, Ramen Shamen,Cheese-it, and Shelia (the mountain dog). 

The day after climbing Roan Mountain, we hiked over 5 bald mountains and had the pleasure of meeting Radioman, Cowgirl, and the famous Cooper!!!

And yes... He carries his own pack. 

We also had the pleasure of meeting some day hikers, Pop and Gaweme, who shared some good trail history with us and some trail magic! Thanks guys!!! 

This is an old barn that turned into a shelter for AT hikers. It was huge and sleeps 20! 

This was our group at Black Bear Resort in Hampton, TN. All AT thru-hikers makes for a very fun and night!! Witnessing the crazyness that was a drinking game with was AWEsome!!! 

This picture was just the beginning... 

^ Black Bear Resort

^ haven't seen any yet 

^ Sunshine falls on her ass

After a week of walking around a lake, climbing mountains, following rivers, falling on my ass and an 18 mile hiking day... We made it to Virgnia!!! 

As we walked into Damascus, VA after accomplishing our longest hiking day so far we came upon Woodchucks hostel. 

One of my favorite places we have stayed so far! It felt like a real home and we had a great group of people to share it with! Above is a picture of our friend Batman cuddling Young Beard... Until I kicked him out of our bed :) 

We will be returning to Woodchucks for Trail Days in May because we enjoyed it so much! 

That's it for now... I'm sleepy again 

Love you all and miss you! 

Remember...

Life's short do epic shit! 

Love, 

Sunshine ☀️