Wednesday 5/19

Ponytail says it poured like cats and dogs last night. Not much sleep.

He called this morning from a top of Tinker Cliffs. Clouds were breaking up and there were spectacular views. It is going to be a nice day.

He did go into Daleville to the outfitter to pick up his mail. All excited because that means notes from home and goodies.

While there PTD had to unexpectedly buy a new set of trekking poles. He went Leki this time. Thought he could fix his old poles. They kept unlocking on their own and compacting. Not even duck tape could have saved them. There were old. When he started the hike he didn't know how long they would last but didn't want to spend the $$ to get new at the time. He also liked them because they made a clicky clack noise when he hiked and he liked that. They made it over 700 miles + all the hikes before. He got his $$ worth out of the old poles.

Ponytail was told that Bulldog (a blind hiker) is still on the trail and only about 2 days or so ahead of him.  He hopes to catch up to talk to him and tell him all about our adaptive program in the north country.
He decided to spend the night in town. He would be able to make a few calls, do laundry, eat good and spread out everything so it could dry. He got a newspaper and when done reading it he stuffed it in his boots. This helps them dry faster. It wicks the moisture.  When he checked into the motel 8 they said the pool was closed. He said he didn't care because he didn't want to get wet anymore for awhile. He was pruney enough. It has rained on/off every day since Pearisburg.  A little under 100 miles away.

Oh, I forgot to mention PTD did come across a scale too today. He weighed himself. He is a whopping 170lbs w/his boots and clothes on. He started the trail at 193lbs. Just can't get enough calories a day to keep weight on. One website states an average man weighing about 190lbs who is 5'11 needs to take in about 2400 calories a day (that is if he is only working out 3 times a week) to maintain his current weight. Another website states for men hiking the Appalachian trail they need to average about 6,000 - 8,000 calories a day to maintain weight. You just can't carry enough food to obtain that daily. Hence the loss of weight. He may loose a bit more. Another website states that men usually loose around 30lbs total for the journey. Women tend to loose less.