Date: 2008-05-12
From: Pearisburg, VA

To: Daleville VA
Miles today: 92.7
Weather: light rain

We left Pearisburg late after finishing breakfast, using the internet and going to Dairy Queen for lunch just before we got back on the trail. With the late start we didn¢t go too far but still made about 12 miles or so and ended up on top of a hill with a great view of the valley and the day¢s sunset. There were a few deer in the area as well, they let me get close and take a few pictures. We were low on water as we are every evening, but this time instead of filtering water from a nice clean spring the only option was a algae and tadpole filled puddle, it must have a fresh source of water but standing there pumping water and watching all the tadpoles swimming around just gave me an uneasy feeling. But we did not get sick, the filter performed the job. On the second day after a long climb uphill we were greeted by a nice big cooler full of soda and sweets, it was the perfect spot to have trail magic and we thank Super Dave who left it there for us. We have been encountering a bit more wild life now, I think the warm weather is making all the animals come out. We saw a lot of deer, more snakes and some tortoise, which I never knew live in the woods, because we were nowhere near water as far as I know. We also walked by a big rock sticking out og the top of the hill know as Dragon¢s Tooth, we climbed up and took some pictures before heading down the very steep hill towards town. The town of Catawba was close to the trail and we got a ride from the parents of one of the hikers that is traveling at the same speed we are, Peanut. She has a journal as well if you want to check it out on trail journals. We got a few things from the store and then went to a very good all you can eat restaurant. It is the Homeplace Restaurant which serves all the food you can eat for 13$, and it is very worth every cent as we got a lot to eat and the food was very delicious. After dinner we got a ride back to trail from a hiker named Tugboat who lives in the area. We walked two miles to a shelter which we had all to our selves. We picked up some fresh chocolate milk at the store and placed it in an ice-cold stream overnight to have it for breakfast with some donuts, it was great. The next day was one of the most scenic days we had so far, a few miles after the shelter we got to McAfee Knob, a huge rock sticking out over the cliff. We took plenty of pictures and continued on since it was a very windy day. The next area was Tinker Cliffs, a half mile walk along the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley, another great place with wonderful views. I will add the pictures as soon as we find a computer that will let me. The last night we camped out about 5 miles from town for a very easy walk in the morning for a well-deserved break. Just as we got close to town the sky opened up and it started pouring, but being so close we only walked in the train for about 45 minutes. The stay here has been very nice, we got a room and dropped all our stuff and headed to a Mexican restaurant across the street. It was well worth it as the food was some of the best Mexican food I had in a long time. The rest of the afternoon we relaxed, got cleaned up and watched some television, which we had not done in a very long time. Dinner was at the Three Little Pigs, a BBQ place. We still got plenty of leftovers for lunch today. We also got our second pair of shoes as we both have walked over 700 miles in ours and it was time to replace them. As soon as we are done here we are of for another late star and a few miles before it gets dark. Hopefully the weather will hold out and we wont get wet.