Stopped at the first shelter on day 1to camel up with water and met some section hikers out for 2 weeks. Take note of the one holding what looks like a vintage Viking or Scotish weapon from yester year. His trail name is "Shamahawk". Never asked what it meant because we didn't want him to throw it at us! Actually they were friendly...but I also wonder why he would hike with this 10 lb. "thing" for 2 weeks??

This is "Helo"; a LASHER that is on the trail from May to October, where ever that will take him. We hiked with him for a couple of days. He is a retired Helicopter pilot (hence his trail name) from the Oil and Gas Industry. He use to shuttle crews to the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. He had some harrowing stories about the bad weather he had to fly in!

This is "Smiles" (a nurse) and his family from Johnson City TN. Out for a weekend hiking/canoeing.... but Smiles thru hiked the AT in early 2000's, long before all the fancy equipment we use today. Another special thing about this family is that they gave us some sorely needed water!....which continues to be scarce. And then they left another gallon for other hikers!......one of many trail angels that we encountered and were so appreciative of. And look how color coordinated they were :)

Family from France currently living in Virginia out for a day hike. Almost looks like the Von Trapp family!

"Tink" and "Butterscotch", day hikers from Lancaster.......never knew the trail names of their dogs :)

"Atomic Man", a LASHER from N. Dakota.(talking to a mother and daughter section hikers)

"Eternal". From Colorado...in fact...he walked from Colorado to Springer at the start of the AT and is now thru hiking it. In fact, his goal once finished with the AT is to walk back to Colorado then do the PCT and CDT. His vision is to spend the next 2 1/2 years backpacking around the U.S. - 15,000 miles ( and do a documentary on it). Now that is some serious walking!!

Adam and Sarah....a couple of section hikers.

A celebrity was in our midst and we didn't even know it at the time. This is the famous and world AT record holder Warren Dole. We came across him at a random gravel road crossing just sitting there. He was actually waiting for "Mercury", a lady trying to thru hike the AT in a record 41 days. Mr. Dole was supporting her along the whole trail....and he offered us some trail magic (chocolate cookies!). His record? hiking the entire AT 18 times, setting a record at the time of 66 days in 1973. What a legend.

This is "Gator" a LASHER from Florida working on finishing up the entire AT. She has only about 200 miles left.

This is "Pack Mule". in his late teens that had been hiking with some relatives but they left the trail and he stayed on for more of his LASH. How did he get his trail name? Apparently/allegedly he had been known to carry up to 90 lbs. in his pack. Saw him a few times over the next week.

This is "Fungi". Use your only judgement on how he got his trail name...but i am thinking it had to do with "magic mushroom"? His back story is rather unique. Had an antique business and then every thing got stolen...at least that is what he claims. But who am i to dispute that. Says he goes out on the AT at least 6 months each year. He had been staying at this shelter for some days. But he really was a "Fun Guy":)

Shirley, a wonderful lady and part owner at "Trents Grocery". Very famous on the AT for their great burgers and fries....and I guess also for their armament.....wonder how many AR-15's they sell to hikers??

This is "Pink Crocodile". A teacher (with currently a lot of time on her hands) and an aspiring thru hiker. She came in late to the shelter that we were staying at in the middle of a giant downpour. We saw "Pink Croc' a couple of times this week. Why this trail name? Her camps shoes were pink crocs :)... and as you can see was also the color of the dry bag she used. She was having a great time/adventure on the AT and we hope she makes it to Mount Katahdin!

"Patience" and Joyce from Virginia doing a week section hike. Check out the bench at this camp site....and no...they didn't carry it in :)

"Chestnut" from Charlottesville, VA. A section hiker working on hiking the 600 AT miles in VA. He gave us a heads up on some "trail magic" water a few miles further north. It was much appreciated!

This is "Broccoli Bob". A 2019 AT thru hiker back for some LASH's on the AT. He has logged over 3,000 miles on the AT.

The person on the left is "Nature Boy", an off and on LASHER that currently works at the 4 Pines Hostel. The guy on the right is "Mountain Goat". an Army vet from Houston and a Flip Flop Thru Hiker.

This is "Miles-A-Foot" from Florida flip flopping with "Mountain Goat".

This is "Motor", a 2009 Thru Hiker....and now a Trail Maintainer. Trail Maintainers are truly unsung heros on the AT (or any other hiking trail). This is really hard work and very much manual labor where they work days on end to make it that much easier for us hikers to hike. Thank you "Motor!....but on first glance, doesn't it look like Motor is carrying an AR-15??

On the trail up to McAfee Knob we met Diane (right) who is on the McAfee Knob Task Force and Rebecca (left) from the ATC; observing the flow of people going to McAfee Knob. Up until now, we have seen more people in 4 hours than we have the previous 15 days put together.

This is David, the Ridge Runner in this area. A ridge runner basically meets, greets and guides hikers...and trys to "educate" them on LNT....as well as trying to keep them from doing something stupid or dangerous. But we all know....sometimes you can"t fix stupid!

Met these ladies who called themselves the "Dixie Chicks" near our start of hiking close to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Today they were just out for a day hike but they are seasoned hikers and in fact 2 of them have hiked most all of the AT in Virginia, PLUS, 2 of them are trail maintainers and do a GREAT job in keeping it groomed on their section. MacGyver and I can attest to that...it was very clean hiking! Note: Shout out to my Spartans.......the husband of the lady in pink is a1963 MSU grad. GO GREEN!

Thru hikers "Scooby and Boogie with only 200 miles left (UVA and UVT rivals but on the AT.....we are all friends....at least that is what I tell my U of M friends!))

This is "Low Branch". A 2020 Thru hiker. that was the 10th person to finish this year. He was on the trail in February before the ATC asked the hikers to leave the trail due to the COVID but Low Branch took a chance and stayed out hiking....and was successful! In this picture he was being a "trail angel" for Scooby and Boogie waiting fror them with some Trail Magic food and water.

This is "Everview", a 2019 thru hiker that just can't get enough of the AT. He is out again this year doing some sections. But the really amazing stories and typical of the long distance hiking community taking care of each other is this story. 2 days prior MacGyver and i were hiking in a rain storm and somehow I lost my headband. And it so happened that we met "Everview" at a shelter that night and i asked him if by chance if he happened to see it. Since he was going SOBO and i was going NOBO, he had not. Well.......apparently the next day he did indeed fine it along the trail and he remembered us telling him we were staying at Staminals the next day. And since he was taking a day off waiting for his girlfriend he decided to drive 30 miles to Stanimals to bring me my headband. Amazing!

This is John the "Brewmeister" from New Hampshire on a LASH (3 weeks on the AT). Hiked with him a couple of days. We will definitely be reaching out to him when we are in his area to sample the local micro brew!....and the orange container next ot him? It was his bear container to keep the bears from stealing his food. I am thinking he either had A LOT of food or brought some of the micro beers that he has created!

"Slim Jim" the ridge runner, who had previously thru hiked the AT. He was taking a couple of zeros due to the potential of Hurricane Laura coming our way (MacGyver and I had no idea it was headed our way). What does a Ridge Runner do? Well, they educate hikers on leave no trace ethics and help hikers by telling them about the weather, water sources, and trail conditions. They also help in maintaining the trail by cutting back vegetation, sawing smaller blowdowns, and picking up litter. Another unsung hero on the trail!

The guy on the left is "Sundown" from State College, PA. He puts a whole new spin on being a thru hiker. He started in Key West, Florida hiking the Florida trail that he then connected to the Appalachian Trail and will continue beyond Mt. Katahdin in Maine to finish the AT somewhere in Canada! And the lady on the right is "Guardian" who had been hiking with "Sundown" for a while.

This is "Tiny Bubbles" from NYC on the left and her boyfriend Ron the right. Tiny Bubbles has been on the AT since July 19 and she will be hiking for the foreseeable future. Ron joined her for a few days. Why Tiny Bubbles...not sure but she certainly has a "Bubbly" personality.

This is "Firebox" (Sarah), this years tiniest AT hiker Jessup and Stephan all out for a few days introducing Jessup to backpacking.

This is a father (Chris) and son (Jarrad) duo we met at the Loft Mtn. campground in the Shenandoah National Park. They were out for one last camping trip before Jarrad went back to college (Virginia Tech). And these guys were also trail angels. As MacGyver and I entered the back of the campground near the AT, we unfortunately found out that (after hiking over 17 miles that day) we had to go to the front entrance to register for a campsite...which was 3 miles away. Thankfully we happen to come across Chris (who told us about the registration) and he graciously drove us to the front entrance AND waited for us to get a site and drove us back. What a great gesture and a lot of help!