46 Days by Brew Davis

Author:Brew Davis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beaufort Books
Published: 2011-04-05T04:00:00+00:00

DAY 32

52.6 MILES

START TIME: 5:05 AM END TIME: 10:15 PM

For the 7th time in 9 days, Jen hiked over 50 miles. She left Matts Creek Shelter before dawn and Rebecca and I slept another 45 minutes or so before packing up and hiking the 2 miles back to VA 501. I drove into Big Island to pick up breakfast sandwiches and coffee while Rebecca drove around to meet Jen at Petites Gap.

For most of the day, we were able to see her every few miles as she crisscrossed the Blue Ridge Parkway. She did have one or two longer stretches, and Rebecca would hike in on those. But for the first half of the day, we were seeing her about every hour.

One thing that made the day more fun for Jen, Rebecca, and me was that we ran into some guys from Lynchburg—Jeremy Ramsey, Frank Gonzalez, and Kevin (I didn’t catch Kevin’s last name)—who were doing a 30-mile training run along the AT. They ran into Jen a couple of times, chatted with her, and sat with us at some of road crossings. It was pretty cool hearing these elite trail runners—guys who were out for a 30 mile training run—talking about what a freak of nature Jen was.

A little later in the day, I was turning around in the middle of a gravel road when a mountain biker in a funny-looking unitard came careening down the hill. I started to apologize for blocking him then I realized it was Horton. He’d ridden 78 miles round-trip from Lynchburg to say “hi” and hang out for a few minutes. The guy just finished mountain biking 120 miles a day for almost a month on the Western Continental Divide and he’s back on his bike already. What a wingnut. (Kidding, Horton. Sort of . . .)

Later in the day, another Lynchburg trail runner named Gratton Garboe brought us a spaghetti dinner and turned out to be a big help with some logistical issues.

HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED: There was a little-used forest road that was gated near the Blue Ridge Parkway. I drove around to access it because it fell in the middle of a 13-mile section and because Horton provoked me by saying Kadrah couldn’t find it when she was crewing Adam. So, of course, I accepted the challenge and went looking for it. And I found it.

But the drive up was gnarly and it took a long time, and I didn’t want to make a second trip. Fortunately, I had cell phone service and Gratton, who’d already found the girls, had his phone on. I got in touch with him and Rebecca and told them I was staying put and that they should send Jen on.

Jen and Rebecca got to eat some of the spaghetti that Gratton had brought, but I didn’t (since, you know, I was proving my masculinity and all by finding a road) so he was nice enough to run down from the Parkway to deliver dinner and keep me company for a while.

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