Does anyone have any sunscreen?

Because we have yet to see the sun, hiking through the great Virginia rainforest. Days two and three were periodically soggy, while day four was downright sodden. My hair basically never dried after my hotel shower in Rocky Mount. Not to mention our clothes.
Hiking has improved daily--we doubled our miles on the second day, camping at Johns Hollow, then a slightly shorter third day, with a pretty strenuous climb into Punchbowl shelter. Then came yesterday. Ugh. A terribly typical day on the AT. Meaning torrential rain for extended periods. I have only ever been that wet in a bathing or swimming scenario. Soaked to the skin, covered in mud, and not warm. But we busted out 11 miles, with Eric having his best hiking day so far, even though we were both pretty dejected.
I never thought I would be so glad to see the Budget Inn in Buena Vista, VA. Or to place that call to Domino's and have someone bring hot pizza to my door. Very simple things become very important out here.
We've been hiking along much of the way with two guys--Sprawl and Overload. Most AT hikers go by a trail name, either one they choose or one given by other hikers. In this case, Sprawl has a tendency to spread gear all over the shelter. And Overload came to the trail with way more than he could carry.
Which brings us to our blog address and our trail names--Pancho and Nachita. Some of you are already giving a wink and a nudge (you know who you are :)). Back in April, we attended the lovely wedding of Todd and Silvana in Buenos Aires, then headed out with a small, hearty band to the wine country in Mendoza. After a long, slightly boozy lunch, the decision was made to give everyone a Spanish nickname. Eric was dubbed Pancho Two Balls, following Johnny One Ball (Juan una bolla). We decided someone had to be Nacho, and since all the guys already had names, I ended up as Nachita, which we translated (incorrectly, I'm pretty sure) as "little tortilla chip." So we concluded that those would be our trail names. Which is almost certainly better than waiting for other hikers to pick something for us.
We stayed in town today, doing some errands, mailing some stuff home, drinking some beer. Overload lived up to his name today. He arrived in town completely out of food and headed straight to the grocery store. I really have to question some of his choices. Plain pasta, dry oatmeal, and a 2 pound bag of brown sugar, which he rationalized as being cheaper than candy. Huh? We gave him a bunch of trail mix and sent him on his way. Then spent the afternoon drinking beer with Swift, a retiree from Maine on his third thru-hike in as many years. Also a sailor, so we hope we'll see him again along the way. He's got Eric all excited about the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in Waynesboro, our next stop.
Time to get some sleep, before our ride back to the trailhead at 6:30 tomorrow morning.

Heading toward the James River Footbridge, the longest
footbridge on the AT.

A view of the James River, during a break in the rain.

Looking across the footbridge.

Looking back where we came from, at the James River.

Which way do we go? Stick to the left.

Crossing Brown Mountain Creek. This is a really beautiful creek that we followed for miles.
 In the late nineteenth century, a community of freed slaves lived along this creek.

Blogging at the Buena Vista Budget Inn, in the thru-hiker ghetto.

Well, we're still working on the GPS track. Below are days 2-4, slogging through the rain. The distances are a little off, as the starting and ending points are off, but the total distance for the three days is just under 35 miles.