May 9...
Do you think you can guess what I did today? If you said hiking, then you would be correct to some degree. But, if you noticed the miles for today then you would see only 3.9. Before I tell you, I will tell you how my day started off. I got up with the rest of the "new" group (still not a complete group since we don't have DS, DM, SB, and SS) and began hiking around 7:30ish. The plan was to hike the 2.2 miles to US 501 and catch a hitch to Glasgow, VA for a resupply and breakfast. Then get back on the trail and hike some 10 or so miles to the second shelter in. Well, we made it to the road in about 30 minutes as it was a pretty flat walk and all of us wanted breakfast.
We did cross the James River Foot Bridge right before the road. As one can guess, it is a foot bridge over the James River. However, you might not know that it is the longest foot-use-only bridge on the AT. Ok, moving on. We had heard it was a pretty easy hitch. We watched about 10 cars fly past in the first 5 minutes and realized it probably was going to be a longer wait than normal. We noticed a suburban was in the parking lot and joked how nice it would be if that person just gave us a ride. Finally a guy stopped, but only had room for one. We waited another hour and 15 minutes with no results. I tried all methods: the normal thumbs up, the bandanna that says "HIKER TO TOWN," the polite wave, the just sit by my pack and look miserable, and the trucker honk you horn. That is when we saw 4 elementary aged kids come out of the woods. Following the kids were two men. I knew this might be our shot. They walked up to the parking lot, and I asked if they had room to give some thru hikers a ride to town. The men had a short personal discussion and then said they would. We jumped up and down. Ok, we didn't, but we were happy and still hungry. One man waiting with the boys while the other drove us into town. I gave him my blog and meant to get his name too. If you are reading this, thanks again. Feel free to leave a commit about us smelly hikers.
Once in town we realized their wasn't much. The book makes it sound like everything is together. However, the grocery and Dollar General are two miles from the cafe. We resupplied at the Dollar General. As all of us still wanted a cooked breakfast, we decided to start walking the two miles to the cafe. We were a few hundred yards down the road when a small Subaru pulled over. I was actually talking to Michelle at the time. I got her off the phone as quick as possible and ran down the road to jump in with the other 4. I never got the ladies name, but she was on her way to church. She dropped us off at the Country Cafe. Before leaving, she asked if we wanted tickets to the Natural Bridge. All she said was that it was just right down the road and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the New World. We gave it a laugh and took the tickets. She told us she would stop by after church, with her son, to see if we were still there. If so, she would give us a ride.
We all ate breakfast. I had a western omelet, home fries, and coffee. I followed it up with a strawberry milk shake. We walked outside and started to discuss if the lady had driven by or not. Almost instantly, a truck pulled in the parking lot. A guy rolled down his window and said, "Y'all must be the hikers I am to pick up." We looked at each other and decided we were going to the Natural Bridge.
So, to answer my question earlier, we spent the rest of the day being tourist. We saw the Natural Bridge which is a rock bridge about 90 feet high. A young George Washington even surveyed the land back in the day. One can even see his initials on the rock wall. We visited an Indian village based on the indians who used to live in the area. At the village, one of the historians told some other tourist we were hiking the AT. They all gave off some ahhhs. We thought about going to stand behind some rope and be an attraction our self. We walked past the village to a waterfall. We were all a little disappointed in it. We were also upset cause we all wanted to go play in the creek. Normally we don't have restrictions in doing so, but we figured we might get in trouble if we tried it. We also realized that we couldn't just go behind a tree to use the restroom. This tourist trap actually had modern day restrooms which I think I forgot existed. We also walked around the toy museum and toured the on-site wax museum. I spoke with a young couple who asked about the trail. I enjoy answering questions. I feel people know so little about it or how we get by. After all was said and done, I think it was about 3 in the afternoon.
Oh, Samurai and PM got civil hats from the gift shop. No lie, someone actually asked them if they were actors doing a Civil War reenactment. They were lost for words.
It took us a little bit, but we ended up getting two hitches back to the Cafe. We couldn't get on the trail on an empty stomach. We all ate, and again waited for some time for a hitch back to the trail which was about 6 miles away. We got our hitch and got back on the trail around 6:30.
I was certain it was 4 miles from the road to the shelter. I turned out to only be 1.7. We got to the shelter still on our tourist high. Also at the shelter were We'll See and Donner. They had caught up from Troutville/Daleville.
Before going to bed, three deer walked around the camp area. PM tried to go pet one, but it started to grunt at him. That is when he started to listen to us in that it wasn't a good idea to begin with. The deer returned around midnight. For the rest of the night I could hear them walking by my tent and grunting. I thought about turning on my head lamp, but I didn't want to turn on and see them like two feet in front of me.
Not a lot of hiking, but a lot of impromptu fun. Happy Mother's Day to the mom's, grandmothers, and mom's to be.
May 10...
This morning was freezing cold. I was ok until I got out of my tent. My hands didn't want to work. The morning began with a 2,300 foot climb. Not too fun, but it warmed me up. At the top of Bluff Mountain, I could see the ridge we had been walking on the few days before as well as the radar tower we passed on the 8th. Also on top was a memorial to four year old Ottie Cline Powell. In 1890, Ottie went to go get firewood for his school house and never returned. He was found on the mountain some 7 miles from the school.
After the mountain, we had lunch along the Blue Ridge Parkway. We pretty much follow the BRP (also Skyline Drive) for nearly 200 miles. As we only planned 18 miles for the day, we took a 2.5 hour lunch break relaxing in the sun. I remember when 18 miles were long days. Now they seem like nothing.
We saw a group of girls from a local outdoor boarding school. They couldn't believe it when TW told them she had been hiking for almost two months and was doing 18 miles today. They did a total of 24 miles over 3 days and were all excited to be done and to the road.
SR also scored some trail magic from some Canadians. They didn't offer me anything after I answered their questions for about 10 minutes. Maybe he just looks more malnurised and they felt bad since he was at the end of our group. There has been a lot in the shelter trail logs about trail magic. However, I have missed out lately.
The rest of the day was an easy stroll, and we took our time. We made it to the shelter around 5. Prophet, Yanni, and Sonic all showed up too. Sonic has recovered from his giardia. Prophet and Yanni have actually been hiking on the BRP for the last 30 miles and not on the AT. They eaten at restaurants along the way. I guess it is cool that they did that, but how can they say they've hiked the entire AT? To each his own, I guess.
I wrapping up, a few fighter jets have been flying over us tonight. It is too cloudy to see them. They seem to be quite low and are very loud. They make me think about my brother who flies F-16's in the USAF. I will see him getting married here in a few weeks. I thank him for what he does and am looking forward to seeing him. As I finish, take the time to thank a service member when you pass by. It might not seem like a lot, but I'm willing to bet it does.
Night, friends.
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