Me in Virginia. Only 550 miles to West Virginia. I will now smash my head in to the wall. Or at least in to a tree.

Welcome to Damascus!

See the double blaze on the telephone pole? That's why I took this picture.

Big orange mushroom.

The laughing, bubbling waters of Feathercamp Branch along US 58.

The same stream.

I was intrigued by this small waterfall near the Virginia Creeper Trail.

The cascade again.

Different lighting, same falls.

Probably my favorite shot of the water.

Some kind of flower.

Climbing Straight Mountain, but not going straight up.

The Virginians really seem to like Switchbacks. Well-built switchbacks.

A rhododendron bush sits all alone in the forest.

The Virginia Creeper Trail along an old rail bed. People get shuttled to the top and ride down. It made for easy walking.

Too many rhododendron.

Near Whitetop Mountain.

ELAINE: What about ponies? What kind of abnormal animal is that? And those kids who had their own ponies...
JERRY: I know, I hated those kids. In fact, I hate anyone that ever had a pony when they were growing up.

View from the Grayson Highlands, without ponies.

White blaze in the Grayson Highlands.

Yes, Virginia, the trail goes through that dark space beyond the tree.

Right through the rocks.

Sneaking through the Grayson Highlands. This was a self-timed shot, but I still look a bit surprised. As always.

It was cloudy but never threatening.

Water in the Grayson Highlands.

More of the stream in the Graysons. My blisters would soon be acting up. (Sorry, no pictures)

Purple flowers (seriously, if you know about flowers: help me)

Orange butterfly and purple flowers.

Hello Mr. Black snake (sunning himself on the trail).

[poke with pole] Mad Mr. Black Snake.

Comers Cascade. Which is supposedly not potable.

Comers Cascade again.

Comers Cascade, Virginia.

The lower part of Comers Cascade.

I-81 near Atkins, Virginia. The first of four crossings of I-81, which the trail parallels until Pennsylvania.

These clouds didn't build in to anything.

Not quite blackberries.

Quite brown eyed susans.

Silhouette of a field.

The trail crosses a lot of agricultural easements in the Holston River Valley. Is that the same cloud above?

Lotsa mushrooms growing, most likely, out of dead roots.

Having been stung on multiple occasions, I steered clear of this hive. But not after taking a picture.

The toads are well camouflaged.

A slabbed trail goes in to a rhodo tunnel. I ought to put up a glossary.

A floating rhododendron leaf.

Same leaf, different time (a minute later).

More rhododendron.

One of many stiles along the Appalachian Trail. This one had five steps on the bottom (it was on a slant) and kind of a bitch to deal with.

This is actually pretty common occurrence. The fence is placed against a tree, and the tree grows around, and envelops completely, the fence.

Big-time blowdown. I had to jump from limb to limb.

A very red mushroom. Probably very poisonous.

Pink and orange type flowers.

A high pond near Chestnut Knob. The water source was a tiny spring on a poorly marked trail. It was another mile and a half to the shelter.

A hazy view over God's Thumbprint. This was the Vanderbilts original choice for Biltmore (built near Asheville), but the local landowners refused to sell).

She's pretty as a daisy (dun-dah-dun-dah-dun), but look out man, she's crazy (dun-dah-dun-dah-dun). she'll get you in Dutch, (dun-dah-dun-dah-dun). You can look, but you better not touch. Poison Ivy (-e-e-e-e).

Carrie and Masa leave the Chestnut Knob shelter.

God's Thumbprint. Link to Google Map.

A dead Luna Moth.

Sunset.

Eating with the God Squad and Carrie (and Masa, under the table).

They encouraged me to take a nice big ice cream sundae so I had to oblige, eh?

Navigating a blowdown.

Turtle in the rain.

Kimberling Creek Suspension Bridge.

The view across Kimberling Creek in the rain.

Kimberling Creek in the fog.

Dismal Creek Falls, where I met Whispers (ME-WV '03, GA-WV '06, NNHS '99).

Again with the waterfalls?

A moth attched itself to Carrie's leg.

A ginormous mushroom.

Looking towards Pearisburg, West Virginia.

Not a city, but Pearisburg is one of the largest Trail Towns so far.

Complete with the cigarette-filter producing Celenese plant. But they have a nice toilet. In the foreground is the New River, as everyone will tell you, "The Oldest River in the country."