Slackpacking

I'm a slacker. If you're familiar with the AT, you might know what this means - if not, prepare to learn something new...cause seriously, how can anyone walking to Maine be a slacker?!

Two days ago, I landed back at another place I visited on my bike trip - Catawba, VA. There's not much to the town/valley, but it sure is pretty and has the Homeplace. Back in '06, we came across The Homeplace closed (only open Thurs - Sun), but we arrived on Thursday this year - BBQ option night!! It's a huge old farmhouse that was converted into a restaurant back in 1982, and they've been serving home cooked food family style since then - that means All You Can Eat - a very important term for thru-hikers. It was sooooooooooo yummy - words can't even describe, so I'm not even gonna try. But fried chicken, roast beef, real mashed potatoes, real green beans, cole slaw, bbq pork, spiced apples (not from a can), cherry cobbler topped with ice cream, sweet tea, beans, etc...man, we were salivating...for real. it was good, and i left stuffed and happy.



The General Store in town let us stay in their backyard for a small fee - the store hasn't changed much in three years - not too surprising. We woke up the next morning after a night of feeding and relaxing to rain and fog. excellent. (this right now is my favorite word - if something sucks and is just not going right, I say "excellent" and somehow, I feel a little better. excellent). We've been hearing about McAfee's Knob forever and the views of all of Virginia the day would bring, so we were not looking forward to hiking on and missing yet again another beautiful day only to see a blank white-ish grey mixture of hydrogen and oxygen mixed together...otherwise known as fog and clouds. Not my favorite view. So we hung around Catawba for a bit waiting for the clouds to depart. They did not.



So long story short, we ended up catching a ride with Trampoline (he had contacted a trail angel shuttle driver who loves her cats) to Daleville 20 miles up the trail. Pyrofly needed new hiking shoes desperately (700+ miles, holes in the sides - not a pleasant sight...and Daleville has an outfitter, so it all worked out. We were planning on hiking south from Daleville back to Catawba and hitching back. Then we ran into Denali and Gorgonzola and they already had a ride to Catawba planned out and were gonna hike north from there - so we followed...and left all of our gear minus our packs and snacks and a few other necessities in their hotel room and slacked.



Man, slacking is a powerful thing. Just to clarify, the term "slackpacking" refers to hiking a section of the trail without your full pack - either emptying it out significantly or using someone elses daypack. Basically, one who slackpacks is a slacker, and I was that. And hiking 20 miles was far easier than ever before...I felt I could have easily walked another 20. so much less strain on the muscles. And the weather was spectacular - amazing hiking and views from both McAfee's Knob and Tinker Cliffs. I've been very anti-slackpacking for myself since the beginning, but this go around it all worked out and was worth it.

I don't care to make slackpacking a habit - and that was why I was so against it. I had never cared of other people did it, nor did I truly believe they were 'cheaters,' even if i gave a few people a hard time about it - but that was just for fun. There are so many opinions out there about what a thru-hike is...that's why HYOH (Hike You Own Hike) is such an important philosophy out here. And my HYOH includes one at least one slackpack - part of the whole experience, right?

And just to make sure you understand - the food at the Homeplace is so yummy to my tummy. I'd go for some green curry right now, too. And shave ice, regular ice cream, burritos, pho, tomatos, and grilled zuchinni dusted with salt and pepper would do as well.