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| Enjoying breakfast at Woods Hole Hostel. This is week 3 on the trail. App Trail Album3 App Trail Album2 App Trail Album1 All Photo Albums |
Day 16
Time: Fri, 19 Apr 2019 13:40:51 -0400
Location: Pearisburg VA NoBo mile 636 of the Appalachian Trail
Had a nice breakfast at the Woods Hole Hostel with 49er from Greenville SC, Captain from Greensboro NC, Giggles from Tulsa OK, Big Toe a just retired Chicago police officer and mountaineer, and Holiday Inn Express an engineer from Albuquerque NM. Good conversation. Neville, Golden, and Steps were great hosts.
Helen tried to surprise me with some cookies, but they didn't get to Woods Hole before I left. Neville swapped me for some of the Woods Hole oatmeal bars and said she would trail magic the cookies.
Had enough supplies to skip Pearisburg, but decided to go in and check it out as part of the experience.
Saw Deadpool coming out of DQ. He mentioned the bad storms forecasted and said he was going to stay at the Plaza motel another night or two.
Went to La Barranca Mexican restaurant. Had a big beef and chicken burrito stuffed with beans and rice, as well as a huge margarita. It was really good.
I decided to stay in Pearisburg at the Angels Rest Hostel, which I heard good things about.
I saw the 2 young brothers from Ohio as I walked up. They had zeroed in Pearisburg a couple days earlier and hiked out 20 miles when the younger one strained something around his chin, so they returned to Pearisburg to rest it.
They went to the grocery store and came back and fixed a big Mexican feast with a bunch of eggs. I watched The Departed on DVD with them. The older one worked all day painting the bunkhouse as part of a work for stay deal. Work for stay is pretty common at the hostels along the trail.
The guys at Woods Hole talked about an annoying hiker named Moral Terpitude. He was at Angels Rest also. He said he was making breakfast for everyone in the morning.
I bunked over Devon Maid the older lady from Britain. It was nice to see her again. She was taking a few days off and going to the clinic to get her sore ankle checked out.
I called home and talked to Helen and Derek and then walked to the DQ for a large peanut butter shake.
Love you ❤️ Miss you 😘
Google Maps link to my location: http://maps.google.com/maps?z=
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Day 17
Time: Fri, 19 Apr 2019 14:41:06 -0400
Location: Rice Field Shelter NoBo Mile 643.6 of Appalachian Trail
True to his word Moral Terpitude made everyone breakfast. It was really good and I had some coffee as well.
Lots of people were zeroing and some were slackpacking. Section Hikers and even a number of Thru Hikers slackpack from time to time.
I had walked the mile down into Pearisburg, but opted for the Angels Rest shuttle back up to the trail.
I ran into Moral Terpitude at one of the roads heading out of Pearisburg. We hiked a little together and then I went ahead. I'm using my poles much more effectively to propel myself and move faster. Yesterday there were a lot of rocks and the dappled light from the rhodendron made going fast a little dicey. I turned my ankles several times but so far no permanent damage.
I got rained on starting about an hour out of Pearisburg. The rain stopped as I got to the Rice Field Shelter. I was preparing lunch and was going to walk up and eat it on the rocks overlooking Pearisburg but then the skies opened. Looks like I'm staying here tonight. Moral Terpitude arrived just before the rain started. He and I are the only ones here tonight.
Love you Miss you ❤️
Google Maps link to my location: http://maps.google.com/maps?z=
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Day 18
Time: Sat, 20 Apr 2019 16:10:59 -0400
Location: Bailey Gap Shelter NoBo mile 660.2 of the Appalachian Trail
Stayed at the Rice Field Shelter overlooking Pearisburg in the valley below. Looked like it was just going to be me and Moral Terpitude, but a couple hikers braved the heavy rain and made the climb out of Pearisburg.
One was a 30sh section hiker. He said his weekend options were to build a shed or go hiking. Neither one great in bad weather. His wife told him that he needed today to go hiking. He has 3 boys (5, 3, and 10 mo). He's a Mechanical Engineer from nearby Virginia Tech and manages quality assurance for a local business. We talked about kids and Derek doing Mechanical Engineering at GeorgIa Tech.
Moral Terpitude talks a lot. He's 55 and a retired union carpenter. He's originally from the Chicago area but now lives in rural eastern Iowa where his parents are from. We all have our quirks.
Ninja a 30sh guy showed up late. He stst a really nice guy. He had left the people he had been around and was doing bigger miles.
We were up at dawn. Ninja and I kept passing each other, usually stopping to shed some clothes since it was cold to start.
Saw Deadpool and a few others slackpacking back towards Pearisburg. Deadpool said he was going to stay in town another night to try and feel better.
I lost my water filter somewhere along the way and hiked back towards Ninja to see if he found it. He didn't so I just used bleach to treat my water. Moral Terpitude ended up finding it and got it back to me tonight.
All the rain made for a wet trail. The trail was mostly a creek or a lake all day. I had to keep checking for blazes to make sure I was still on the trail because it sure seemed like I was walking up a creek bed most of the day. The creeks and streams were swollen with water.
It was a big climb to finish the 16.5 mile day at the Bailey Gap Shelter. So far just me and Moral Terpitude tonight.
Love you ❤️ Miss you 😘
Google Maps link to my location: http://maps.google.com/maps?z=
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Day 19
Time: Sun, 21 Apr 2019 19:54:48 -0400
Location: Laurel Creek Shelter NoBo Mile 674.8 of Appalachian Trail
The people I stayed at Woods Hostel with showed up late to the Bailey Gap Shelter last night: Captain, Big Toe, Giggles, and Holiday Inn Express. Skylar also made it. It was a full house. Everyone cooked in the shelter because of the rain. Nobody hung their food. Seems random that some people hang and some don't.
Moral Terpitude and I hung around in our sleeping bags awhile. Everyone else left at dawn. They were doing 27 miles. Moral Terpitude and I did 14.6 to the Laurel Creek Shelter. He talks constantly.
We saw the caretaker from Angels Rest Hostel and his German Shepherd while we were eating lunch at War Spur Shelter. RALI stopped for a break and then he left with Moral Terpitude. I was thankful for the break.
But I ended up catching them. RALI is a recently retired engineer from Chicago. He watched a lot of the same You Tubers and had some decent conversations that Moral Terpitude didn't break up.
Moral Terpitude was supposed to go on to the next shelter but decided to stay with RALI and I. So sad.
Two more hikers showed up: Orange Pacer a middle aged guy from Tucker GA and another older guy from Sweden.
The trail was still very wet and there were a lot of rhodendron clippings in the trail from recent trail maintenance. More rocky ups and downs.
Planning on the Four Pines Hostel in Catawba on Wednesday and Thursday. The Homeplace Restaurant is only open Thursday thru Sunday.
Love you ❤️ Miss you 😘
Google Maps link to my location: http://maps.google.com/maps?z=
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Day 20
Time: Mon, 22 Apr 2019 18:58:41 -0400
Location: Laurel Creek Shelter NoBo Mile 687.2 of Appalachian Trail
Moral Terpitude was planning a 29 mile day so he left early. So good. I caught up to Sparky the older guy from Switzerland and his friend Orange Pacer the lawyer from Tucker GA.
We passed the second largest oak tree on the trail. We walked through beautiful pasture land and the Catawba Valley. We had beautiful views along a ridge line but had to walk along pretty treachorous steeply slanted rock faces for a long time. It was a warm day and no water for a good distance.
I met two fast hikers passing by Badger and Ranger. Ranger told me to make sure and stay at the Devil's Backbone Brewery.
I hiked 12.6 miles to the Niday Shelter. Badger was having a snack and we talked about the Four Pines Hostel coming up on the way into Catawba. Sparky and Orange Pacer arrived and I talked with Sparky about the logistics of getting his visa and lightweight American gear while Orange Pacer dealt with a blister.
Dead Pool and Devon Maid showed up. It's nice to see them again. We caught up and shared Moral Terpitude stories. Pa On The Trail from Chickamuagwa GA is recently retired and two weeks into his flip flop thru hike.
We all discussed the lady on the trail heading south. She was not in good shape. It was the first day of her flip-flop thru hike. We all worried how she could have possibly navigated those treachorous rocks.
Mule the Angels Rest caretaker and Mishka his beautiful German Shepherd showed up late and we all petted Mishka and were happy to see them again.
I'm planning to do 10 miles to the next shelter and then 7 miles to Four Pines Hostel for a night.
Love you ❤️ Miss you 😘
Google Maps link to my location: http://maps.google.com/maps?z=
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Day 21
Time: Tue, 23 Apr 2019 16:19:30 -0400Day 22
Time: Wed, 24 Apr 2019 21:34:26 -0400
Location: Four Pines Hostel Catawba VA NoBo Mile 704.7 of Appalachian Trail
It was just me and Pa On The Trail last night in the Pickle Branch Shelter. He's really nice. He just retired from Blue Cross Blue Shield and everyone at work is following his blog. He just started a couple weeks ago so I'm a veteran to him.
It was a pretty day but 7 tough miles over Dragon's Tooth to Four Pines Hostel in Catawba VA. There's a good group here tonight including Pa, Mule and his Shepard Mishna, Boot, and girl from Finland. Joe and Donna the owners were really nice with a good dose of sarcasm. It's a nice property nestled in the hills with chickens and a lake with ducks.
I stopped at Catawba Grocery first and met several hikers. I ate 3 meals at lunch and finished it off with apple pie ala mode and coffee. We all returned in the evening courtesy of Nature Boy the caretaker. I had a pizza and beer and bought enough food to hold me until Daleville in 30 miles.
We bought supplies for a big pancake and farm fresh eggs breakfast tomorrow morning.
Love you ❤️ Miss you 😘
Google Maps link to my location: http://maps.google.com/maps?z=
Sent from the Guthook's AT Guide app
