AT RunVenture Project Segment No. 7

The nerves were on fire for this segment!! Celia and I felt really rough through segment 6 and Celia had a beast of time recovering. She’d gotten a bite from something, likely while dirt napping, and had developed a bit of an infection. Her body fought it off but I think this had to do with her slow return to feeling well. I however, had gotten past the sniffles by our last day on the trail and felt virtually fine as soon as I was home. I dealt with my typical leg swelling and vasculitis rash but my muscles felt great. Despite us both feeling well after a long four week gap (our longest yet) we spent a lot of time on the logistics of this section preparing ourselves so that we would not have to feel as hot and helpless as we did on those late June afternoons. This time we’d be more prepared. We were so ready!

After all the nerves and build up, the late July weather looked significantly cooler and more pleasant than that June heat wave. We were hopeful as we both drove ourselves toward the starting point. Celia was driving 7+ hours on this trip and despite being much closer, I ended up stuck in traffic with Keith and it was nearly 4.5 hours from my office to the park and ride and then from there to the trailhead. At least with Keith I enjoyed lots of good conversation and laughs as I ate my gas station pre run meal of vanilla croissant, beef sticks and a piece of chocolate covered bacon (definitely not my thing, but glad I tried it).

Finally at 7:39PM we were ready and off on our way! We were doing our typical first night hike, a nice slow hike to start in on some miles and loosen up our bodies from the driving, like a warm up for the weekend. We started with mostly descent and talked about getting just 12 miles in but right after that was a 3K climb that we could start with in the morning or begin to climb that night. 

We both felt great and wanted to get the climb done, so we stopped at 15 miles in for a dirt nap near the top of Bluff Mountain, surprised to have black flies swarming us. 

We quickly prepped our bed spots and took in our calories before packing up our bear bags and getting into our sleeping liners. We had almost four hours until we’d be up and moving on. It was chilly, a little too chilly for our lightweight silk liner alone. I ended up comfortable with my camping blanket sandwich (I used one beneath me as a “tarp” and the one above blocked the breeze and kept me comfortable). Celia however froze, she tried to sleep in her poncho but found she was still too cold to really rest. As usual by the time the alarm went off we were both ready to get up and get moving. Celia was really tired that morning but she trudged onward. 

We had about 17 miles to get my husband Dave who’d been anxiously awaiting us getting near enough to home that he could come crew for us. In order for him to come crew, we needed child care from the family for 3 full days, which is no small ask and on top of that we also required puppy care for our two dogs which was provided by our neighbors and of course family, once again. In other words, it is no small thing for me to be on trail for 4 days, but to have Dave with me is a fairly large undertaking (One we’re hoping to repeat for the next 2 segments). 

Anyways, these first 17 miles went smoothly. The temperatures were lovely and we began with climbing the final few hundred feet up Bluff Mountain and then we gradually descended marking the 800 mile spot together. Often now, Celia and I opt for our own pace and the only downside of that is not being together for as many of these “mile marker”  moments on the trail.

We continued to descend to Reservoir Rd and then on some of the flatter terrain we passed through Brown Mountain Creek Community, which used to be a small farming community built by freed slaves in the early 1900s. I love stopping to read and learn about these things on the trail! So for the next 1.4 miles I kept my eyes peeled for signs of buildings and such. I only found one chimney, but noted a well made rock wall that I’d have to assume was part of it as well. I tried to imagine living out there, truly in the middle of nowhere. I wish I could picture what they farmed or if that was a vague reference to simply gardening as a way to survive vs anything more industrious. I was excited to share these threads of history with Dave when I saw him, but as I type this up a week later I realize I have still forgotten to share it. 

Finally, a small ascent to the US Route 60 parking lot at mile 809.1 where we’d meet Dave. Celia was a few minutes behind me and with an ETA of 10 am, I had arrived at 9:20AM, so when I called Dave he was at Food Lion 15 minutes away. “You’re there already?” He sounded surprised and a bit rushed. 

I was not alone at the lot but with a thru hiker, who had started in May, and was taking a few minutes before the next climb. He told me his name was “Sunnyside” and we talked about the challenges of the middle miles. He described them as the “Virginia Blues”, a common thru hiker term for the long endless miles of Virginia (541) and I had to agree I too, even with off trail time, had struggled with motivation for the better part of Virginia. It’s hard to feel excited and be driven when the miles seem endless, the days long and quite lonely. 

I know for Celia and me, seeing thru hikers and sheltering with them was a huge uplift and motivation. We pushed hard all day knowing that we’d be done in time to socialize and meet people. The late starters and now us, well, we’re all so spread out, we feel lucky to run into one other person a day. This also means the trails are nearly empty for miles. No human life to break up the ongoing drone of your brain wondering how much longer each day will be. 

“Sunnyside” and I continued to chat until Celia arrived and then he said his farewell and took off up the trail. Dave arrived within a few minutes. It was a huge uplift, a thru hiker and now my husband. I could feel my motivation rising. We ate well and packed up pretty quickly. Today was rough because Dave went out of his way to get here for this stop for us, but we would climb the next mountain and remain on the ridgeline straight through to our descent of the Priest 25 miles later, which meant Dave had basically nothing to do for the next 7 or so hours. He is able to work from his phone some so I’d hoped he’d find some internet and have a chance to feel productive, but we were off on our way and what he did was not my concern.

We ascended Bald Knob followed by Cole Mountain. These were lovely gradual climbs with large open meadows at the top, probably my favorite.The views are my kind of beautiful. From here we traveled up and down on Jacket Ridge, the trail continuing to be it’s rocky rooty self. Runnable for a few hundred yards followed by slow hiking up some boulders and then suddenly smooth again for another hundred yards, etc, etc, etc... . I ran into 1 snake that afternoon, the first a long black snake, rather unconcerning but he still made my heart skip a beat as I ran passed. 

About 2 hours out from our end point for the day I took a step a felt sudden sharp sting and surge of frenzy around my right ankle, I simultaneously screamed as I ran forward attempting to escape the sudden pain, but within two or three steps despite the fight or flight mechanism I was able to stop and look and think and see the tiny swarm of ground wasps clung to my ankle still stinging me. Fairly quickly I watched them release one by one and then there was just one still clinging to my sock. As I reached down to brush him away he stung me one last time and then left my ankle. I was annoyed mostly, feeling like I should have somehow seen them but I know that was unlikely too. My ankle felt fine but occasionally the stings would send a sharp pain to my brain, enough to make me look down at my ankle and see nothing. So I continued. For the most part, it felt much more benign that most bee stings I recall and although they did swell, it was not very impressive. 

After this the final climb up the renowned Priest was not very impressive, I wondered what we were missing. I took pictures of the flowers and butterflies and suffered one more bee sting to my right hip. Now, I’d spent more time than I’d like to admit trying to understand which mountain was the Priest vs the Three Ridges, I didn’t know if they were one in the same or what. As I crested the top of the Priest and was looking at Guthook I could see I had a steep 3,000+ foot descent over 4 miles. That is the Priest and we just happen to be going down instead of up. But, no worries, we’d climb the Three ridges first thing in the morning, which is a lovely 3500’ climb over 6 miles. Not that night though. That night after that ruthless descent we stopped and met Dave at mile 834.4, a parking lot at VA Route 56. Here we ate plenty of dinner, soaked our feet in the creek and set up our tent on a slight slope on a softish looking area of the parking lot. 

Celia and I were both ready for bed before 8pm. We were exhausted after the day and knew we’d be getting up for a 3AM start the next day. Dave was less than excited by the very early bedtime and tried to find something to do but we had no cell service at this lot so in no time at all he climbed into the tent too and had a restless night of tent camping with Celia and me. 

The following morning we woke up 2:30AM. I had slept a bit and was fairly happy with this. We rarely sleep well on our AT weekends and I’ve grown accustomed to the progressive discomfort of laying still that makes getting up for another 40+ mile day seem like a great idea. We ate, changed into our running clothes (we were so spoiled to have a basic change of clothing). We packed up and headed out on the trail just before 3AM. 

The first ridge was not a bad climb, it seemed like all of our early morning ascents on the trail, but instead of ending it continued. The second ridge, the climb to Chimney Rock was a bit steeper, more switchbacks and boulders, even a few of the ones you need to actually rock climb up.Then the third ridge was smoother again, full of rocks and medium size boulders, the switchbacks continued and it became hikable again as were neared the top of the mountain. That was a big climb! 

After that we’d descend into morning light with some smooth, very runnable terrain as we approached Bee mountain which then descends to Reid’s Gap. Here, we met Dave. I felt so good at this point, I was running well and looking forward to being fully crewed the next three days. I dropped my pack and poles and told Dave I was going to actually run the next 5 mile section. It was fairly flat and short so I was excited!

Once I took off down the trail for a little morning run, I began to hit rocks, more rocks and more rocks. I was enjoying being able to run on them and bounce around without any pack weight. I did take my time, I walked any time my heart race climbed, after all I still had a whole bunch more miles that day and the next, and the next. It was so fun! I came to Dripping Rock Parking Area ahead of schedule and spent a bunch of time here. I was hoping Celia would catch up to me before taking off for our one long stretch of 18miles. Dave and I called my kids and chatted briefly, I packed up and ate really well. Finally I knew, even though she hadn’t caught up, that she was really close by so I headed out for a long warm 18 miles. 

The first portion was another mountain climb that took me to my first rattlesnake of the weekend. He laid smack dab in the center of the trail with a brushy drop off to my left and a brushy 60 degree slope to my right. I tried yelling at him, I tossed a pebble near him. He rattled for a moment but did not move. I grabbed my phone for video and as I recorded my dilemma outloud he finally removed himself from my path and I continued onward.

The next few miles I felt so good and the terrain was so runnable I decided to play with attempting to get our day's pace back under 3mph. The climb that morning had dropped us to a measly 2.4mph for that first 3 hours. It took me two hours to get my average pace to 19:40 and then there was so much downhill I just let the trail take me, being very conscientious about my fluids, electrolytes and energy expenditure. The sun was high but the trees mostly covered everything. There were a few gentle climbs but it was almost crazy how gentle the trail was. I popped out at Rockfish Gap, the entrance to Shenandoah National Park. I was very warm and took solace in some shade for a few minutes as I checked for cell service and took a few minutes to message Dave and let him know I was nearly 45min ahead of my lowest time estimate but not to rush to our next meeting spot. Then I texted Celia to let her know where and how I was.

By the time I’d left the shade I was comfortable and cool and walked up the road until I found the trail entrance and then I climbed for a couple more miles through smaller rocks and twists and turns, thinking, “Um... I thought Shenanhoah was supposed to be the “easy” part, this is NOT easy.” Finally though I arrived to McCormick gap to find Dave waiting. I immediately went for an ice cold drink. I thought Sprite sounded the best, but Coke had caffeine so I opted for that option instead.

Celia and I had played with idea of shortening today’s miles. 47 sounded too far, 40 and 44 were other options. We told ourselves 40 all morning but then as my day ticked by I really wanted to get to 44, if not 47. I shared my thoughts via text and then while hanging out and eating with Dave I expressed my concern for pressuring Celia into anything too uncomfortable. I asked him to get a feel from her what I should do when I hit mile 40 for the day; Wait, continue or stop. At that point about 2pm I had 6.8 miles to go, at least, so I packed up and headed out again.

 The next  two climbs were certainly climbs but they were so much more gentle than anything we’d done yet, or so it seemed. I hiked along happily at good clip cresting Bear Den Mountain and then Calf Mountain. Then from there, it was yet another smooth rolling long descent, I couldn't help but run. I started to push it a little bit. I was afraid Celia was going to want to be done at 40 so I wanted to make sure I’d felt I worked hard enough, a silly thing, but a fun mental game on the trail. Nearing our 40 mile mark I saw my second rattlesnake of the day, with his head stretched out to the center of the trail. I tried to get him to move, but he seemed to be sound asleep. I debated jumping over his head but fear wouldn’t let me try it. I continued to toss small rocks until finally he “slow as molasses”, slithered across the trail. I arrived at Sawmill Run Overlook about 4pm and Dave told me Celia said to continue on to 44. I had worked so hard for 40 I needed to recover for a few minutes, so I did. I ate and drank and dropped my pack again, switching to my waist belt for the final hike. I had plenty of daylight left and I was tired so I put some music in my ears and hiked out and up to Wildcat Ridge Parking lot at mile 878.7. 

Here I finished and waited a bit for Dave. I had looked on and off trial for a suitable camping spot. In Shenandoah (SNP) the rules for camping are very specific, we were supposed to be ¼ mile away from any paved road and 10 other rules. The lot was at the top of the climb 0.1 miles off trail so there was nothing suitable for camping.

 In every lot at SNP, or so it seemed, there is a grassy clearing that looks like it is made for a tent. So Dave and I voted to try, when Celia arrived she agreed. Sadly, the park ranger did not agree. At 7:30pm they kindly (not so much) asked us to take the down tent and find somewhere else to sleep. With little time left to create a plan we headed out of the park to a hotel room. A 30 minute drive divided us from our start/ finish area. We’d be late to bed so Celia pleaded for extra sleep time as she had not slept well the night prior either. 

 I was frustrated to lose trail time over sleep which seems so “extra” on our project most nights, but there was little room for argument. Afterall, Celia and I have pushed through immense fatigue only a few times and that is enough to know that it isn’t worth it for the longevity of our project. A few good hours of sleep is the difference between 40 miles feeling really doable and 40 miles feeling like a death march. We would check in, shower quickly and climb into bed for some well deserved sleep. The alarm would not ring until 3:30am.

Saturday morning I was awake by 1:45am and mostly just waited for our alarm. Going to bed so early and not being used to sleeping so long on the trail my body was revving to get moving. Celia and Dave were asleep and resting. Around 2:30am I gave up trying and did some social media posts. Finally 3:30am rolled around and Celia and I got up and Dave last, just in time to get in the car and figure out driving back to SNP in the dark. We had missed one turn so the travel time was 43 minutes. We started Saturday morning closer to 4:30am. 

I was driven from the start to get back on our 3am schedule. I felt so good and energetic that as soon as the sun came up I was running. The trail was so smooth, I was in heaven. I popped out at Brown’s Gap parking lot, mile 888.1 well ahead of schedule at just after 7:15am and woke Dave sleeping in his car and had a solid snack and wrote down all the instructions for Richard who would meet Dave here at this lot and take over for the weekend. Everything was good and I was getting ready to go when Celia came running in. She was smiling and feeling well, also running. I was so excited for our day, we were going to crush it. She said she’d be a bit and I should go, so I didn't hesitate. 

I was rolling along, knowing I might run into Ricard at any point after 8:30am, but had no idea where he’d be. We had a set lot, but in SNP the lots all follow Skyline drive so I invited him to show up wherever he wanted as crewing is rather boring if you just wait around the entire time.I can’t quite recall where Richard came running in but it was immediately a lift as I was climbing a hill. We jogged to his car and I refilled some ice water and continued on to Simmons Gap I think. It’s hard to really remember but I know I had just passed mile 900 on the trail and came out to a road crossing. I was slightly surprised to see Richard hadn’t made it yet. I had no cell service. I was “on empty” though, water wise, so I sat to wait. In less than a minute Richard pulled in.

He let me know Celia was not moving too smoothly and was probably 45 minutes behind me already. I was surprised and a bit bummed. I wanted her to feel as good as I did, but I knew she'd take care of herself and do what she needed so I didn’t worry at all. I would just need to space my crew stops out enough to give Richard enough time to support Celia too. I think we agreed he could make it to Smith Roach Gap in 5 miles so planned on that. After a bunch of calories and hydration I headed back out on the trail. 

This next section was so fun, I ran into Keith as he approached Celia for a few miles with her and we chatted for 10 minutes and then parted ways. He spent a good amount of time with Celia after this as her day turned to crap.

Just before the Gap I met an ATC volunteer who asked me to chop down a fallen tree with him, I nearly agreed but he could tell I was looking at my watch and in no time, he said he really didn’t have the right tools (which he didn’t) for the size tree we were looking at together. On one hand I was grateful not to have my run broken and on the other, all the time we spend on these trails you can see the hard work and love poured into them, I would have gladly given an hour of my run to be in service of the Appalachian Trail, if he’d have let me.

I was really feeling good, running wise, mood and all. I rolled into Smith Roach Gap and geared up with my “cooling” sleeves and ice water. I forced more food in my body and chatted with Richard all the while. It was clear Celia was having some stomach issues that were slowing her to a crawl with numerous stops. It made for a large gap between us two. The plan at that moment was to meet Richard again at mile 909.9 Swift Run Gap. From that gap we had a long 11 mile stretch through the heat of the day with one off trail water source. After he saw us there he’d head to town and get dinner and resupply.

I took my music with me from mile 905 and I was cruising up the climbs and running down the otherside of the small NoVa mountains. I landed at Swift Run Gap, ahead of schedule again at 12:15pm. I had service so I sat in the grass and played on my phone for a few before texting Richard who let me know Celia was still a few minutes out, and then he’d head to me. Upon reading this I checked my pack. I had maybe 8-10 oz of cold water, 3 bars of 200-300 calories each and a pack of scratch hydration. The water was low for 6 miles of climbing at 12pm in July, (that’s how far the water source was) and I knew I’d be pushing it a bit, but calories wise I was in great shape. I decided I could do it, if I had to slow down, I obviously had time to slow down as Celia was almost 90 minutes behind now. I texted Richard that I was going to go for it and I’d see him at Booten’s Gap, 921, potentially our stop point for the day. At this time, I still didn’t know how sick Celia was, if I did, I probably would have waited there.

I climbed out of the gap and felt well for the most part. I was being really careful with my water and I was getting thirsty. I knew my electrolytes were starting to go, I ended up eating the Scratch mix like a pixie stick and taking small sips of water. This helped a lot, but I was definitely starting to slow down energy wise. My feet were aching and my mood was dropping. I knew I needed to eat, but eating required drinking and I was down to 4-5 oz. Guthook is very good, and I was 98% sure that the water source would be there and be plentiful based on reports, but I try not to ever finish my water until I’m 100% certain there is more. This time I was down to the last few sips before I finally came to the intersection leading me off trail to the spring. 

I took a nice long break here, 10, maybe more, minutes. I drank and refilled all my bottles. I ate and took some motrin and a small dose of caffeine. I made a video and checked my phone. Now, is where I learned that Celia was sick. She was stopping every mile or two to manage her GI system. She was barely eating or drinking. I was kicking myself for having started this long stretch without her. There’s no way off trail until 921. I texted everyone and then I put my pack back on and headed onward.

 I spent the next few miles trying to figure out what we would do. I assumed based on the messages that Celia would stop at 909.9. I thought maybe we could get another hotel and she could recover enough overnight to slow walk the 11 miles to 921 and that would be our stopping place for the weekend. I was bummed on some level to lose the miles we wanted to cover but how stupid...whether sick or injured, 20 miles here or there would not matter. I arrived to mile 921, Booten’s Gap tired but in very good shape, worried about Celia. I texted as best I could with 1 fluctuating bar of cell service.

Richard arrived within 10-15minutes and I started eating my large order french fries and pizza. He told me right away Celia had started the 11 mile stretch. I was mind blown. I had dropped from a 100 mile race with what sounded like similar symptoms to what  Celia was struggling with, granted she is prone to this kind of thing. Still,  I could not have pushed on in my scenario, stopping was… to date… the best decision I’ve ever made. So I couldn’t fathom how she was doing it. Apparently though, her stomach had turned around and she was stable again, moving steadily and doing ok. We would definitely be done at mile 921 today. And I still thought perhaps for the weekend. I made myself comfortable as there would be a bit of wait.

I ate and stretched and wasted time on my phone while Richard went  for a run. Celia arrived a couple hours later, still smiling, as always. She told me it was bad, but not “that” bad. That it wasn’t like my DNF story. I still think she’s crazy! She said she was fine, just needed to eat a lot and she’d be ok to finish tomorrow as we’d planned at mile 947ish. 

Right around now two guys came off the trail, one storming off and the other looking fairly broken, emotionally. He looked at us and asked if we knew any way to get a ride to his car. Apparently he and his buddy had spent the better part of the summer together and this hike was more than a “reach” for his ability level, anyways, his friend was very angry. Richard supplied the ride and short therapy session before returning to Booten’s gap so we could figure out our sleeping situation. 

After the prior night’s ridiculousness, we looked to hike into a shelter a few miles up. We’d drive to the lot, park and hike in 0.1 miles, except when we got there the lot, which had only 4 spots, was full. We drove on aimlessly for a few, until I suggested the service road down from Booten’s Gap. Intersecting the trail was a grassy steep service road where I thought we could get off trail enough to meet the camping criteria but I was stressed about getting caught and/ or ticketed. We all agreed to try. So we went right back to Booten’s Gap.

I hiked down to the first switch back and it was “flatter” but still about a 30% grade, and there were deep grooves in the dirt from tire marks although all covered in lush grasses. It was less than ideal, but we were hidden, safe and sheltered. We went to bed laughing that night as we couldn’t decide which direction to lay. Feet up the hill was great for recovery, but it was such a grade our heads felt overfilled with blood, but turned around and our feet would throb. All night we switched back and forth, never really sure which was better or worse for us. 

The next morning, Celia heard my watch alarm for the first time and everyone was up. Since everyone was moving I didn’t mention that it was my “early” alarm. As I am our designated alarm person I set one 10-15 minutes earlier than our planned wake up to ease my mind and usually I don’t wake Celia until the second. It was 15 minutes later when Ricard and Celia realized they were up earlier than we agreed, I tried to explain but at 2:40am no one was hearing it. We were ready to run just before 3am.

We were set to knock out about 10 miles before seeing Richard again. I immediately felt great again, which seemed a bit ridiculous after how much I’d run the day prior. Celia and I hiked together for the first hour or two and then I started ahead. There was a difficult intersection so I waited for her there and Richard had run in to meet us and ended up there too. Once Celia arrived, Richard and I ran to the next parking lot. At his car I dropped my pack and a pole and went with my waist belt and a bottle of water. For the rest of the day we’d see Richard often enough I wouldn’t need my pack. I was so excited to run free. 

I was running well, but there were quite a bit more rocks today than our smooth trails from the day prior. I was having fun with the challenge but worried I would push too hard and get myself hurt tripping over a rock, so I was very measured in my efforts, walking when needed and keeping myself focused and comfortable. The next “aid” stop Richard had hiked all our stuff down this steep slope. I felt a little bad when all I needed was my already prepped and filled 2nd ice water bottle for a trade out, but I knew he was probably happy to count the slope with our 30lb boxes as some sort of training, so I didn’t worry much. Then I took off down the trail again. 

At that point I was hoping I could finish the day’s 26 miles in under 7 hours, but especially with our morning hiking that's a pretty big push. I knew I might bonk but I was having so much fun. I climbed up Stony Man Mountain which was a fairly touristy route for about a mile, it was a smooth gravel path lined with logs. I was running some of the ups and all of the downs, stopping at every picture spot for the view. I was running with a sports bra and no gear except a water bottle. It was pure awesome! The trail was cool and damp from the rain the night before, so at this time of day there was no overheating to worry about. 

The next time I saw Richard I ate and drank and was happy to share that we were only 9 miles from our stopping place. I still thought I might bonk, my legs were definitely starting to feel the rock dancing, climbing and running the descents, yet it was still going well. From there I headed up the Pinnacle and spent a while at the top playing with photos and then continued on to Mary’s rock before descending to Thornton’s Gap. 

This was the last spot we’d stop before our finish area only 4 miles further. I tanked up with some calories and chugged a caffeinated BCAA drink. I was feeling the last descent, steep and rocky and I was ready to hike it in, but Richard told me how great Celia was doing today and the timing of getting me in 4 miles and being at Thorton’s Gap for her could be an issue. I said I’d try my best to be speedy so he could pick me up and we could come back to Thorton’s in time for Celia to get her last aid and I wanted to see her for a goodbye before Richard and I headed North towards home. Celia would be meeting her friend Justin on trail and catching a ride back to her car with him. 

I took off on the final climb and I pushed as hard as I reasonably could, so not a sprint or anything, but a hard effort after 166 miles on my legs. I ran portions and hiked hard enough that my breathing couldn’t normalize on the steeper sections and then I pushed myself to run the flat plateau area before the true final climb. I pushed onward, hiking that last climb and stopping briefly to take in the final view on a wonderful segment of trail running. Then I descended the final 1.2 miles as hard as I safely could. I finished in 6hrs and 54 minutes. I was thrilled. I felt good, nothing hurt and I made it back with Ricard to see Celia at Thorton’s Gap. We took photos, and packed up. After Celia took off for her final four miles, Richard and I headed toward Front Royal where I would get my car and drive to my sister-in-laws house in NoVA for my niece’s birthday party. I was going to be on time and in pretty “ok” shape. 

Celia finished a bit later after enjoying her hike with Justin. She had pulled her system out of the gutter and totally had an amazing weekend. We both covered 170.3 miles in 4 days. We had to manage ourselves as best we could as segment number 8 was planned for only 10 days later. 

This segment was blessed by the help of Keith, Dave, Richard and Justin. Ya’ll know we couldn’t make this kind of mileage and surely we couldn’t manage the logistics without you, not to mention the mental lift of seeing you guys. That is truly priceless! Thank you!