Waynesboro, VA...857 miles into the hike  

We hiked into Waynesboro about noon Saturday and will take a zero day here before heading north through Shenandoah National Park. The best news is that the weather forecast is for little to no chance of rain and lots of sunshine. Yeah!

From Daleville the AT loosely follows and occasionally crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway giving some nice views from parking areas on the road. We followed the James River for about a mile until we crossed it on the longest footbridge on the trail which was built in 2000.

We went into Buena Vista (locals cal it BUna Vista) to resupply. This is a fairly new official AT town and they are very hiker friendly. We were asked by two women if we needed a ride before we ever tried to hitch! And believe it or not, the majority of our hitches have been from women.

These days also included my birthday and it was marked by some wonderful trail magic from a lady who is driving support for her husband who is mainly slack packing. This means that he hikes and she meets him at the end of a day at a designated spot on many days. She was surely my trail angel that day as she brought out pop, snacks and Oreos just after we'd stopped for our morning break.

Another treat turned out to be the decision to take an alternate trail that cut off about 4 miles of official trail, but would be shorter and harder. Not much harder as it turned out and very scenic as it led us down several hundred feet to the bottom of a creek and then back up following the cascading waterfalls for about 1/2 mile. It was beautiful and a nice diversion from the normal trail.

We walked about a mile of an area next to another creek one afternoon that had a few rock wall remnants of freed slaves who lived there from the turn of the century till the 1920s. Suspension bridges, views of and walks across some Virginia countryside, more flowers, and yes, more rain.

 

We occasionally see trail maintainers who are volunteers who we appreciate greatly and Ridge Runners who are employees sort of like park rangers who spend several days hiking the trail talking to folks and keeping things safe.

 

Last night we were in the Grace Luthern Church hostel, in the basement of the church. It is very nice with internet, kitchen, and super volunteers. Had dinner at a locally owned Mexican restaurant and it was great! Relaxing  zero day today and on the trail to Harper's Ferry Monday.

It was a lovely stay at Woods Hole Hostel which included smoothies (blueberry/blackberry/banana/ice cream) served in quart Mason jars and dinner of salad (a hiker's favorite dish), pasta and homemade Amish blueberry ice cream cones for dessert. The next morning was beautiful and we had great walk into Pearisburg to resupply and then onto that night's camp. There were a couple great views along the way including one where we ate dinner looking out over West Virginia. We actually walk some of the VA-W.VA state line here.

Along the trail the next couple of days we passed a monument to Audie Murphy who was the most decorated American in WWII and who died in a plane crash near the monument spot. Also passed by the Eastern Continental Divide and the Keiffer Oak, 300 years old and the largest in the south on the AT.













The weather once again turned bad with fog and drizzle but Dragon's tooth was still a godd diversion as it is not about views but about the rock formation.  Very much missing the views though was McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs. I suggest googling McAfee expecially as the view would have been spectacular on a good day. We'd planned it right - there before sunset - but didn't plan on the fog!

                                                      Jane out on McAfee...

While the skies were gray I found diversion other sights. The Rhodedendron are finally blooming as are Mountain Laurel, azaleas, pink ladyslippers, lily of the valley, fire pink,columbine and many others.

On wet days the trail brings out many little orange salamanders and we have seen 2 box turtles.

We got to Daleville for a nero day and dried out all the once again. This blog is late as the hotel computer was not good for blogging. Next leg of the trip coming up soon. We did have some great sunny and even hot days after we changed from winter to summer gear in Pearisburg (thanks for the mailing, Vera!), but the fickle weather continues. Summer can come to stay anytime now!!!

No Pain - No Rain - No Maine

That's the mantra for AT hikers and we have definitely had our share of the rain part!!

Let me start where I left off in Damascus which was a great zero day. After a good breakfast of egg and sausage biscuits at Cowboys we left town following the Virginia Creeper Trail which parallels the AT basically but is flat and a beautiful walk for about 12 miles. It is a Rails to Trails trail that was named because of the slow haul up the hill the freight/passenger train took. Joining the AT again we went uphill meeting fog and the day went downhill from there. We summited Mt. Rogers, VA's highest point, but didn't see it due to rain; did get to see the wild ponies in the late afternoon before pitching a wet camp; went through the Grayson Highlands next morning in a continuous rain & fog, wading through creeks; then the magic happened. There was a Baptist Church Hostel 2 miles down a road crossing and we caught a ride to it where we found hot, hot showers and a heated building of bunks where we could dry out the wet stuff which included feet that looked like something that had been in the ocean for 1000 years.  Next morning the pastor's wife picked up 4 of us to transport back to the trail and she came with fresh hot heaven sent egg burritos.

The day was looking better with some sun, a decent trail and some nice views. The magic continued a few miles down the trail with the Valley View Baptist Youth Group box of magic that included everything from first aid to all kinds of food. We ate our share including a couple of tapioca puddings. Yum!

 

Banter, Aqua Man, Grizzly, Sky Pilot (from Tucson), Zen Master and Canadian Bacon are some of the trail names we have met and crossed paths with over the days. In small world happenings for Flagstaff friends, Zen Master works for and opened up Natural Grocers last summer there!

 

 Partnership Shelter is a few miles out of Marion and is at a Forest Service Visitor Center. We got there in the early afternoon, did a quick resupply in town and then enjoyed the rest of the evening which includes ordering a pizza from the shelter where Pizza Hut delivers. One large supreme pizza later we were all happy campers!

 But it's not all about food...really! There are some nice forest views and the flowers are beginning to come out in Virginia. 

There was also a stop along the trail at an old schoolhouse (early 1900s to about 1930s) and a small museum about the settlement that was a real trail treat.

 OK, maybe it is all about food! More rain and more magic...at Walker Gap, a dirt road that crosses the trail, a family for the past 6 years has done this magic on the day before Mother's Day. It was a spread that included hot dogs, chili, slaw, cakes, drinks and especially fresh veges and fruit. They even handed out postcards and said to write them and they would mail them. This kind of kindness happens very often on the trail in in towns and is so very appreciated.

Mother's Day was sunny but windy and cold and when we got to Bland we gave in and got a room where we got laundry done and all the gear dried out. 
Fortunately the forecast is good now and they days are at least partly sunny. Lunch yesterday had a nice view. We crossed many footbridges including this one suspension bridge.

 We still have several Rhodedendron tunnels.

 Today we walked into Woods Hole Hostel early in the morning. It's an old farm owned now by the granddaughter of the original owners (I may not have this straight though). The main building you see here is of actual chestnut wood. They have a bunkhouse for hikers and we'll eat dinner from their organic garden tonight. A truly relaxing place and we decided to take the day off just to enjoy it. We are in Pearisburg currently using the library and will hike into this same town tomorrow morning to pick up the maildrops with our summer gear that didn't make it in time to Damascus. That was a fortunate thing though as we are still enjoying winter bags!

Last but not least, thank you all for the comments and emails. I wish I had time to reply to all of you, but know that we both appreciate all the good wishes you send.

Hostels along the trail are common and vary greatly. The best so far was Elmer's in Hot Springs, TN where I left off last blog. The whole town is historic, but Elmer's dates back 170 years and is complete with vintage furniture, a music room with a piano, guitar, clarinet, flute, etc for hikers to play, sitting room with plenty of videos to watch and they request that you eat at least one meal with them to get to know other hikers. We chose dinner which was an exquisite gourmet vegetarian meal. It began with a chickpea soup; salad in a huge bowl that was a work of art with feta and cherry tomatoes lining the rim; main course was rice with what I'd call goulash (sweet & red potatoes and various squash types in a curry sauce); and the grand finale, key lime pie. I gained back any weight I may have lost!

Our next town stop was Erwin, TN where we took a nearo day at Uncle Johnny's to resupply and relax. When we left there the weather was warm and the forecast good, but that was not to be true! By day 2 the wind had picked up and it was cloudy and chilly. Roan Mt, the "Roan groan" was a great trail and beautiful forest and I would love to do this trail again when you could see the views. The top of the mountain was totally fogged in. Still the day was good...until we hit the balds on the other side. Totally exposed with nowhere to go but onward, we fought to stay upright on the trail in 40-50mph gusts on the ridge tops, fog and eventually some rain. It was a relief to finally get to lower elevations, warmth and little wind.

Along the way, even on the bad weather days, are interesting things to see. We pass by several grave sites of Civil War infantry and at Overmountain Shelter (a big bed Barn converted to AT shelter), an interp sign telling of the Revolutionary War troups marching from there over 100 miles in snow and cold to fight the Brits. I thought a lot about those Civil War and Rev. veterans who suffered why more than we were!

                                                    near "Jane's Bald" in the wind

                                                   one of several bridges over creeks

It had been 2 weeks since we'd had any trail magic and my faith in the magic was fading. As we crossed Watuaga Lake Dam though, there was a pickup truck sitting on the other side with dam worker/trail angel Safety Bob. He'd found out about AT hiking and magic from a couple that needed help due to injury and he's been providing magic ever since. His bananas and brownies made my day, and then it got better. About 1/4 mile later, walking a short stretch of road, here comes a lady walking her dog who stopped to chat and offered up organic oranges she carried just for hikers. After several days of clouds and running low on day food, this magic appeared at exactly the right time.

May 5, early morning start, more high winds, cold and threatening to rain, when we hit a road about 12 miles from Damascus, VA, we bailed on the trail and hitched into town where we are spending 2 nights in the Dancing Bear B&B while it rains. We'll head out tomorrow and hopefully the weather will improve. By doing that I missed the official VA entry, but here is the sign on entering Damascus and that'll have to do. We are now in state #4 and have done 466 miles.  And yes, I am still having fun, loving the green and looking forward to hiking the state of Virginia!