I talked to Roy today around 2:30 this afternoon. He was about nine miles north of Hot Springs, along the Tn / NC border. He said he didn't have very good cellular service in Hot Springs but while he was taking a short break, though he would try it again and found that it was better. While we were talking he moved around a little and he faded in and out. Eventually he settled down in a spot that was pretty solid. Roy said his back is still bothering him some. He said it's better when he sleeps on the ground. He stopped early at a shelter one day and claimed a bunk. He tried sleeping on that for awhile. It had a matress on it. Said he woke up in pain. He removed the matress, slept on the slats and said it was much better. He said normally he is up and about in about 30 minutes now compared to the 90 minutes it used to take.
As I was talking to Roy, the temperature here in Louisville was in the mid 60's. Ray said that he was rather chilly. The cool weather had reached him also. He has left most of his cool weather clothing in Louisville. After all, it's mid May and it's supposed to be warmer than this. If you read some of the earlier postings on this blog you'll see that if it gets cold, Roy will probably bed down early and stay warm in the sleeping bag.
Ray is expecting to be at Damascus, Virginia by Memorial Day. His next goal along the trail is to reach the Virginia border and Damascus is just beyound that.
I've updated the map on my website (the alternate site) to show Roy's progress.
Posted by john at May 15, 2005 10:28 PM