Date: 2016-11-10
From: Paul C. Wolfe Shelter

To: US 250 & BRP / Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: clear sky

I didn't get much sleep last night as I don't carry a foam pad anymore since going to a hammock and I was sleeping on the hard wood shelter floor. Also it must have in the low 30s. I created what padding / insulation I could with my rain jack, puffy jacket, and small foam sit pad and laid on that in my sleeping bag in my long John's. I left the Paul C. Wolfe Shelter at 7 am and began the 5 miles to US 250 and the BRP. Waynesboro is 3.7 mi to the west and is a town of 22,000 people with a reputation for being a hiker-friendly town. Coming out of the woods and up the road embankment, there was a small sign on the back of the guard rail with a list of Trail Angels who will provide free transportation in the Waynesboro area. I took a picture of it withi my phone as it suggested. It had really gotten cold and windy so I put another layer on and called the first name on the list, Steve Doherty. Steve answered, I told him where I was, and he was there in 10 minutes. Wow! Steve wouldn't take any money as this is strictly a volunteer program. Steve lived and worked in Manhattan for 31 years in the publishing business. He retired from that and he and his wife wanted to find a less congested place with lower taxes. They fell in love with the Waynesboro area. He now works for an online publishing company from his home downtown so it is no problem for him to pick up a hiker whenever he gets a call. Steve took me to the Quality Inn where Steve the Hiker arrived last night after hiking as far as he could (50 miles) from Mountain Home Cabbin in Front Royal, VA where he parked his truck on Tuesday and got a shuttle the rest of the way here yesterday evening. We will start hiking back to Front Royal in the morning covering the 100 miles through the Shenandoah National Park over the next five days. My food drop got delivered to the Quality Inn and I started going through my food and the revised itinerary for the next part of the trip (5 days vs. 7 days). I decided to mail my excess food back home after giving Steve some to try while we are hiking. The Quality Inn is close to the small downtown district and within easy walking distance of where we needed to go. We went to the post office to mail my food and then we found a nice place to eat called The Green Leaf Grill on the recently renovated Main Street. I was famished as I hadn't cooked breakfast and only had a couple of snacks while hiking to the Waynesboro trailhead. I had a pulled pork gluten-free wrap, fries and cole slaw for $9. It was excellent. From there we walked to Kroger to pick up a few items we each needed. I picked a few "dietary approved" non-cook items to supplement my dehydrated food so we could maximize our hiking time during the day. We walked back to the motel and next I needed to go Rockfish Gap Outfitters. RGO was not in walking distance so I got out my trail angel list again and called the second name, John Lowdermilk. John was there in 10 minutes and dropped us off at RGO. Wow, I am liking this town! John grew up in Waynesboro but left and lived in CA for 40 years. He convinced his wife who is from NY to move back here 5 years ago. She was skeptical but they both really love living here now. The main reason for the trip to RGO was to get repair items to splint the broken carbon fiber rod on my backpack until I get the fiberglass replacement parts mailed to me in Front Royal. RGO was a great store and the owner helped me find everything I needed. We needed to get a ride back to the Quality Inn so I got out the trail angel lost again to call the third name on the list, Dubose "Yellow Truck" Egleston. I asked the owner if he knew Yellow Truck and he said "he's sitting right behind you". Dubose, a slightly portly local fellow said he would be glad to give us a ride. A lady ran into him In his yellow truck so he is driving an old gold truck while he waits for a new yellow truck. He only had a single cab so Steve got in the back (there were no chickens). When I opened the passenger door to get in, several empty beverage cups and a couple of empty gallon plastic jugs fell out onto the pavement. Shine perhaps? Nah, probably just sweet tea jugs. I threw them back in, jumped in, and we were off. Dubose is picking us up at 8 am to take us back to the trailhead. We ordered Pizza Hut delivered to the room so we could start getting our backpacks together for tomorrow. I had a gluten-free pepperoni and sausage pizza with no cheese which was quite tasty, especially when you haven't had a pizza in 6 months! Back on the trail in the morning! Waynesboro is a great town with the friendliest people you have ever met that go out of their way to cater to hikers. Wow!