Date: 2003-05-02
From: Dismal Creek Falls Trail

To: Pearisburg,VA
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I guess when you play, you pay. Fly, Smoothie and I wanted to get to Pearisburg today, so we planned on a 22 mile day, which would be my longest. We left the falls, but didn't really want to. (It's added to my "Places to Revisit" list.) The first part of the hike was very nice, with the trail following Dismal Creek for quite some time. A groundhog or woodchuck was near the trail, and went running away. I now believe the critter I saw a ways back was one too, and this is the third I've seen. After the first 6 miles and a break at Wapiti Shelter, we had our major climb of the day, about 1300'. I don't know if it was the beer, or the 5 hotdogs from last night, or just a bad lungs day, but I was really sucking wind! I told Fly and Smoothie that, and Fly said the same thing. Maybe Virginia had just lulled us into false sense of security with the rolling hills before smacking us with this. Somehow, I made it up to the top, and from then on, the trail mostly followed rid! ges.The miles kept flowing by, but so did the time. We got to Doc's Knob Shelter at 4pm, and had just under 8 miles to go. I was glad to have that break. Before that, I was hot, and tired, and getting low on water, and wondering if I'd make it to Pearisburg today or not. After the break, I was ready to get to town!Once again, the trail mostly followed ridges, except for one sudden turn straight up the mountain. It didn't last long though. We'd heard from a guy that helps out at Woodshole Hostel that Angels Rest is an awesome scenic overlook, and I was anxious to get there! Plus, it was only 2 miles to town from there, and that was extra incentive. When I got to the overlook and walked toward the rock ledge, the view made me dizzy! It was awesome! The valley below, and the mountains across the valley and into the horizon looked like a painting. Just incredible! Photos were taken, and the three of us sat there for about 1/2 hour just looking. Had it been earlier, or town not been so close, I'd have stayed much longer. Reluctantly, we packed up and left, with FOOD on our minds!From there, the bottom dropped out of the trail. It was steep! My already hurting feet were being crammed toward the front of my boots, but the day's miles had numbed my toes enough to make it tolerable. Or maybe it was that town was getting closer.There's no greater feeling than seeing buildings, and walking right into a neighborhood from the trail, when heading to town! And once a road is reached, there's no worse feeling than not getting a hitch, especially when I've already hiked 22 miles. We decided to walk the mile toward the hotels and food, and thankfully, a man in a pickup truck stopped and offered us a ride the rest of the way. Thank you!We got a room at Holiday Motor Lodge, found out Hotdog was here too, and decided to get something to eat before showers. Since it was around 9pm now, we went right next door to Allsports Cafe. What started as just dinner, turned into a night on the town, in stinky hiker clothes. Hotdog was clean, having arrived much earlier than us, but didn't seem to mind. We made friends with some of the locals, and ended up drinking too much with them and thruhiker Field (Mad Dog), and dancing like fools (the only way I dance). We closed the bar down, and got kicked out at 3am! It was very cool. Some of the locals had no idea what the AT was about, or that people try to hike the whole thing like we're doing, but all of them were very supportive and wished us well. After 2am, and before getting pushed out at 3am, the arm-wrestling began. It was pretty funny, starting out as a guy thing, but before long, Smoothie and I were joining in the fun too. It was very cool to meet all these people, and talk to them. Just another reward in this adventure.