I've got the itch...

Day 38 - 5/22/10
I woke up 10 minutes to 7 after a good nights sleep in the upstairs of
the bunkhouse. I walked over to the house and saw that breakfast was
being prepped, so I got myself some coffee while I waited. I had a few
cups before we ate, and then about 2-4 more during the meal, so I
started feeling like jittery Joe, and that lasted for almost an hour.
While we ate I was worried people would notice how badly my hands were
shaking as I passed the jams, jellies, and butter.

The breakfast was great, and included famous southern biscuits and
gravy, eggs, grits, fruit, and sausage. It wasn't as filling as the
dinner the night before, but it was filling enough to fuel me for much
of the morning hike. After breakfast I went back to pack up my stuff,
then waited to see what the weather would do. It was raining, but then
it would clear, and then rain again. After it looked pretty good I got
a ride back up to the trail from Neville at 11, and started my hiking
for the day. Within 20 minutes it started pouring rain, and I mean it
poured. The hardest rain I've hiked through so far. I didn't like it,
but flipped it into something positive, referring to it as a
"refreshing" start in my head. It actually helped.

I stopped in to the first shelter for only a minute, then kept going
because standing around in wet clothing had made me cold. By then the
rain had pretty much stopped, so it wasn't as bad anyway. The next 8
miles to Pearisburg wasn't too hard, but my ankles were really
starting to be an issue. It wasn't pain that was bothering me, it was
a ceaseless itching sensation. It had been this way for the past few
days, so I was pretty sure that I had poison ivy. Ugh. It changed my
plans for the day, so instead of going past town I instead decided to
hole up in a motel and run to the store for some calamine lotion. I
actually showed another hiker my ankles while in town, he's had poison
ivy before, and he confirmed my fears. So I decided to call it a day,
try to take care of my itching issues, then head out tomorrow and
continue my regular routine.

One nice thing about getting into town early and resting is that I was
able to make a few phone calls, something I've been wanting to do for
some time. I got a call in with Jen, my Dad, and a quick one with my
Mom and Mary. It's tough to think I've only done 16 mile in two days,
but this was a necessary stop to make. The itching was becoming more
unbearable every day. Hopefully my purchases today will remedy the
situation by Daleville. Calling it a night now. Hope the weather
improves too, send good vibes this way.

NOTE: I think I mispelled a shelter I stayed at a few nights ago, the
one where a murder took place. It's actually Wapiti (I spelled it
Watipi). Wapiti is Indian for Elk, I'm fairly sure of this because I
remember reading it somewhere. I also wanted to mention that I wasn't
making light of the fact that a murder took place there with the title
I used. It's a sad thing to happen, and I wasn't making a joke of it,
I just try to use my titles as an opportunity to be clever. Wanted to
make that clear.

Total miles 626.4