Date: 2012-05-06
From: Thunder Mountain Shelter 764.7

To: Glasgow, VA/US 501 779.3
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: broken clouds

We woke up (late because it really wasn't light) to a very misty morning. When we went to a "viewpoint" we saw only mist. As we hiked along the trail, we saw two red efts, a caterpillar, some millipedes, and a snail walking across the trail. One of the efts was literally choking down an inchworm half the size of him! We climbed one big hill, but mostly descended. Near the end of our hike, the mist finally cleared, since we were at lower altitude. We crossed the James River Foot Bridge, and old railroad bridge that has been remade into a foot bridge. Once across the James River, we followed the white blazes until we got to the road. We hitched to the edge of town with a gentleman in a late model Chevy SUV, who had driven past us, then turned around to pick us up. He said we were only the second hitchhikers he'd ever picked up. We asked why he stopped, and he said since we were older we looked more harmless. We were glad being older was good for something. He let us out at the T intersection a mile from town. After walking that last mile into town, we found the Family's Inn Restaurant, and were soon eating delicious burgers at the only restaurant in town, open every day but Mondays. It was a good thing it was Sunday, so we could get dinner. We had hoped to catch breakfast there as well, but...oh well. The owner of the restaurant, who was also a kindergarten teacher, told us about the Glasgow town hiking shelter. Glasgow wanted to be known as a hiker friendly community, and had recently become an official Appalachian Trail trail town. The people and town really went out of their way to welcome hikers. One way was to build a hiker shelter, which was close to the restaurant, post office, Dollar General store, bank, and grocery store. The shelter itself had a concrete floor, with a bench, chair, pegs for packs, and canvas on three sides. There was a nice fire pit, a pump for cold water, a propane heated shower, and a pit toilet complete with TP...Everything a thru hiker needed except electricity for charging electronics. Not that anyone was complaining. A city caretaker even came around in the morning to find out if we needed anything. (Random thought: There was a brand new cell tower near the shelter, but I didn't dare use my phone since I didn't have anywhere to recharge the battery, and my battery was already low, so I made sure my phone was off.) We went to the shelter to set up our bags, then went to the store to resupply, then back to the shelter to make dinner. Thanks, Foo Fighter, Easy Turtle, and Hot Sauce for the hot dogs. Somehow, when we were resupplying, we forgot to buy the hot dogs. After dinner we just sat around and relaxed. After the rest of us had finished dinner, Whoop and Resource came in. (Random note: Sometime in the middle of the night I felt something on one of my legs. I was awake in an instant, and quickly but quietly got up, left the shelter, and turned on my flashlight. Yikes! What I had felt was a tick! Not good. I managed to dig it off with my thumb nail...not recommended but at least I got all of it... but the rest of the night sleep eluded me. Time would tell if I would get sick from it.) Life is good in trail towns of the AT, especially when everything is close together, and the people are so friendly!