Day 55: Troutdale Baptist Hostel to Partnership Shelter

14.5 miles

Don's brother is trying to do an insane hitch back to Grayson Highlands - some 50 miles back. So he got up at 5am to go stand by the road and increase his chances. We took our time getting ready - it looks like it will rain outside but without cell service or anything nearby there is no way I want to stay another day.

We needed to hitch a ride back up the mountain (about 3 miles). Lots of cars and trucks passed - some people would even wave - but no one stopped. Finally a little old lady in a giant maroon truck pulled over. "I hate to ask this, but would you get in the back?", she said. "Ma'am we are so delighted to get a ride - we would love to get in the back". We rode to the top of the mountain - where we thought we wanted to get off - but once there realized it wasn't quite where we wanted to be. But, we got out anyway. She asked - is this where you wanted? and OWL said - well not quite but it isn't a problem, we'll walk from here. The lady said - well get back in the truck and we'll go! So we did.

We thanked her profusely as we left. She said - my husband...well he's deceased now...but he always would stop to pick up hikers. He always asked them to get in the back, though.

I said - Really I would prefer to ride in the back. She looked at me, kind of shocked, and said "really?". Yep, I said. I am dirty, all my stuff is dirty and I don't want to mess up anyone's truck. All I want is a ride.

She smiled - we thanked her again - and then drove off. Super sweet lady. I hope our interaction encourages her to pick up other hikers - but I understand people's apprehension of hitchhikers, especially in a town a little bit off the hiker path.

The wildflowers are absolutely gorgeous today.

Got to the Partnership Shelter - this is the Taj Mahal of shelters with a shower, a sink, and an outhouse. There is cell service from the parking lot, a dumpster for trash, PLUS there is pizza delivery and a shuttle into the town of Marion. Saw a note from OWL saying she had ordered a hawaiian pizza - my favorite!

Rango, Torch, Half and Half, and two others are staying upstairs in the shelter tonight.

The Virginia Creepers are here again tonight. I like talking with them a lot. A few of them are trail maintainers in the Shenandoah area. They also gave us some salad to go with our pizza - I'd never had lime vinegarette before but it is delicious!

OWL & I split a two liter of Sierra Mist (thinking we were being smart by ordering soda with no caffeine) - and were up until midnight riding a sugar high.

Day 54; Old Orchard Shelter to Troutdale Baptist Church Hostel

10.2 miles

Rain, rain, rain. And wind. Woke up at 4am to pee - had to put on my rain jacket and pants. Woke up at 6 - OWL & I just looked at each other and went back to sleep. Kept that up until 7:30 or so. We were still the first thru hikers up. It is hard to get motivated on such a miserable day.

No trail magic left at the road - others were expecting it would still be there but I have learned not to count on it. (That's what makes it magical). Hiking the AT has been a meditation in keeping expectations low, and then being pleasantly surprised when things work out better than expected.

When it rains you can see fifty shades of green.

By the time I got to the shelter, OWL was already there, huddled in the corner with her socks off. She was freezing and miserable - said it was the most miserable she had been on the entire trip so far. Lucky for her I am familiar with miserable, so I got her warm jacket out, gave her some dry socks, put on some water for tea. She warmed up pretty quickly, we ate lunch, and decided to go to the hostel in Troutdale.

We got to Dickey's Gap and tried to hitch a ride but no one stopped. (It didn't help that there was another couple of hikers there, trying to hitch the other way). No cell service so we started walking up the road. Got to the county line and had cell service, so we called the hostel. The pastor's wife said the pastor would be there in 5 minutes, and not to move! So we waited :)

The hostel was nice - two rooms with two bunk beds apiece, hot showers, a portalet, basically everything we needed...except cell service. Still, Mary (the pastors wife) had sent lunch leftovers for us - spaghetti with broiled chicken, cheese biscuits, green beans, and no bake cookies! An amazing homecooked meal - I was so thankful to have it.

Titan and "Don's Brother" are here, too. Titan moved his stuff over to the other room so we could have a "girls room" - so nice. A few hours later a bicyclist, Sungduk, showed up. He is on day 5 of a TransAmerican bike ride; he just finished his masters degree and starts a PhD program this summer.

Day 53: Thomas Knob Shelter to Old Orchard Shelter

11 miles
Weird night. Woke up in the middle of the night to the weird section hiker screaming at someone: "are you a thru hiker? ARE YOU A THRU HIKER?" and an unknown hiker saying "yeah I'm a thru hiker but you need to lower your voice...you're raising my blood pressure and that's one of the reasons I came out here to begin with". I'm not sure what was going on but it was really strange.

Got up in the middle of the night to pee and the two section hikers were sitting at the picnic table, smoking cigarettes and drinking tea. So strange.

It is really incredibly pretty here at Grayson Highlands, even with overcast skies. The ponies are cute and unafraid. The terrain is varied but pretty easy.

Went through "Fat Man's Squeeze" - one of the Boy Scouts told us about it last night. OWL said - do you think I'll make it through fat man squeeze ok? And the kid thought *real* hard and finally said, "you'll *probably* make it but there's a trail around it if you can't". Well, you would have had to be a giant fat man to not make it through! It was pretty neat to walk through the rock to the other side.

Speaking of Boy Scouts, we were walking and heard someone singing a song. There were 3 kids up on a rock, singing a song that went something like "chicken in a biscuit, chicken in a biscuit, dipped in mashed potatoes....poTATOES!". Sounds pretty good....

We stopped at Wise Shelter for lunch - mile marker 500.0! In anticipation of the event I downloaded the proclaimers song, and much to the amusement (or dismay) of the section hikers eating at the picnic table, I played the song and OWL & I did a fancy dance in the shelter. (Before you ask: no video exists of this dance).

Started to rain a bit when we got to the corral. There were longhorn cattle with calves in the next section we walked through. Be careful, M80/Trooper/Willow!

Got to the shelter - Torch, Rango, and All The Way are here in the shelter. All The Way has a stick named "Stick With It". Hammer, Mallet, and Half and Half are here too, hammocking. Supposedly there is trail magic (cheeseburgers and beer) a few miles up, but it is supposed to rain for the next few days and I would rather be here, warm and dry for the night, than risk not having a spot at the next shelter

When I went to get water I talked with two of the ladies from the section hiking group; Blue Blaze & Fran the Snake. They are section hiking as part of a group, The Virginia Creepers. They started at springer seven years ago and pick up every year where they left off the year before. Pretty neat - I admire the hikers who are doing this a section at a time. It is a big commitment to thru hike - but now I am definitely a creature of the trail. I think it would be even harder to come out year after year after year, starting over with fitness and feet, and hike a section at a time.

After dinner we heard someone yelling, "Trail Magic coming your way!!" - one of the Virginia Creepers came up to the shelter with a few pieces from a giant WARM chocolate chip cookie! It was so delicious! The fact that it was warm was so completely unexpected - I'd say it's the best trail magic yet. Bill carries a backpacking oven that runs off a canister stove - and he cooks something nice for dessert every night.

Day 52: US 58 to Thomas Knob Shelter

11.1 miles
Gypsy Dave shuttled us up the mountain. He's a cool guy who thru hiked in 2003 (the "wet" year). Then after his hike he became a truck driver ("I just couldn't take anyone telling me what to do anymore"), then moved to Damascus because he loved it...super nice guy. He told us that it seems like the men get weaker and the women get stronger as the trek goes on. I hope that is true :)

Techie was at the drop off spot (we saw him yesterday hiking up the Virginia Creeper trail). Saw HandStand waiting for a ride back down the mountain.

My new shoes are ok so far; it takes me a while to get them tightened correctly (they have some weird pull laces instead of traditional laces). We'll see how they go. Lots of ups today but they were pretty gradual. There were so many section hikers out today I thought it was Saturday!

Saw Smiley at Buzzard Rock - he is going 5 miles further than we had planned. He was trying awfully hard to talk me into pushing further but I'm not having it. This is the one section of the hike where the AWOL guide says "take your time on this scenic section of the trail", and so I am going to follow those instructions!

Lots of great views today - the top of Whitetop Mountain and then a nice spruce forest when going up Mount Rogers. It is amazing how the scenery and ecosystems change from mile to mile.

SAW PONIES OMG SO CUTE!!! There were six of them grazing right on the trail about a half mile before the shelter. They are "wild" but not afraid of humans at all. I wasn't expecting to see any ponies until tomorrow! Gypsy Dave said that the ponies were used in (mining? or logging?) this area, and when the industry shut down the companies started killing the horses. The folks who had been working with the horses for years didn't like that very much, and so they made a sanctuary for them.

Got to the shelter and there was a black pony there, licking the legs of a kid sitting on a rock. (The ponies LOVE salt). There is an entire gaggle of Boy Scouts here. Lucky for me, they camp in tents instead of sleeping in the shelters. The scouts are polite and inquisitive - one Boy Scout even took our picture!

Techie, KFox, Titan, and 2 section hikers are here. One of the section hikers, BoJangles, did a thru in 1999. The other one is kinda sketchy - had to ask him not to smoke in the shelter - but am trying to ignore him and go to sleep.