Date: 2015-04-15
From: VA 606 (Trent's Grocery)

To: Sugar Run Rd. 
Miles today: 15.2

Day two of rain, should I count? Actually, today was OK. When we left Trent's the radar looked pretty intense, and we wore our ponchos and expected a monsoon. But no rain fell for the first hour or two. We spent that time hiking through rhodo thickets that were soaking wet, so the ponchos were necessary anyway. Yesterday's rains have left their mark, the trail is getting very muddy, and the brooks and creeks are pretty full. There are lots of low spots along the trail that instantly turn into puddles after even a small rain. Now those puddles are growing much larger. Hikers try to walk around the edges, but then those get muddy and the puddle gets bigger. Rocks or branches in the mud are helpful, but they can be deceptive. By the end of the hike our boots, pants and even our ponchos are mud-splattered. Most hikers wear gaiters. On dry days they keep debris out of your boots and save your legs from briars and sticks. On wet days they keep the mud out and some (but not all) of the water. Swollen streams can be a tougher problem. Today the trail through the rhodo bushes wound along parallel to a creek a long time. We never had to cross the creek, but we did have to cross all the smaller streams that fed the creek. Larger streams usually have wooden footbridges, but we typically have to "rock hop" across smaller streams. The trail winds around to a point where the stream is narrower with some large rocks above the surface that you can step on to get across. However on rainy days, the streams rise and sometimes cover the rocks. And if the rock gets slippery, you can end up in the water. Enough trail details. After miles of the lowland rhodo tunnels, eventually we started to climb. We passed a notorious shelter that was an unfortunate crime scene years ago (and we didn't stop). The climb was pretty strenuous, up to a ridge around 4,000 ft. And most of the rest of the time we hiked along the ridge, or on a woods road that was parallel to the ridge. We were in a cloud most of the time on the ridge and the windchill was uncomfortable. Our end point today was the Woods Hole Hostel, about a half mile from the trail down a gravel road. The original cabin that eventually grew into the hostel has a long and interesting history. Too long to go into here, but one indication is that Neville (the current owner along with her husband Michael), is the granddaughter of the couple who settled here and started the hostel. They are working toward a self-sustainable enterprise and have created a delightful place to stay. Some time ago the AT Journal featured a story on the hostel and its history. Princess stayed here last year for several days and quickly became friends with Neville. Coming back is a lot of fun. It's getting close to ten o'clock and the conversation and laughter is still going on downstairs -- unusual for serious, tired hikers. There are over 20 hikers here and we know quite a few of them. Brother Louie is doing a "work-for-stay" and will likely be here for a couple more weeks. We saw Mowglie (spelling change), Tree Ninja, Cookie Monster, Happy Feet, Laugh Track, Irish Mint, and others. We're only staying here one night, tomorrow we head toward Pearisburg and the MacArthur Inn in Narrows, VA. We don't have any cell service here, but the last time we checked they forecast more rain tomorrow.