Date: 2018-04-25
From: Woods Hole Hostel

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: moderate rain

Woods Hole Hostel won the hearts of all of us in the group. The morning breakfast was eggs, sausage homemade from the farm, fresh peach cobbler, special apple and strawberry jam Neville had made and more bread!!! Such a great start to the day. We all helped clean dishes and the bunkhouse before squaring up our bills. We were all headed for Pearisburg, VA only 10 miles away on trail for a proper resupply. We couldn't resupply here so we had to do another modified nearo in order to do so. The hike was fairly uneventful except for the off and on rain. As I dropped down in elevation I came out of the cloud of fog that plagued the mountain and caught sight of Pearisburg as the surrounding became more green and flowers were beginning to pop. We had all joked we were hiking to Paris--- burg! And staying at the Plaza---- motel. All of which was true. Slider was going to have her birthday celebration in Paris at the Plaza haha.I arrived and walked the 0.9mi into town. Unfortunately there were no cars headed the right way on this back road for me to hitch so I walked. In town I met up with Sani, Gramps, Two Clicks and Slider at the Mexican restaurant across the street. It seems that every town stay involves a Mexican restaurant! I ate a cheap burrito with a Corona in hopes of saving some money then went to the Food Lion for resupply. I got ripped off but I'm trying to eat more without adding weight to my food bag.I got to the motel and sorted my food. I always separate snacks into days so I don't over eat and I'm so glad I do as I watch everyone struggle. I've recommended it though! From then on we all hung around the motel drinking beer and having a cake for Sliders birthday two days ago. When most went for round two at the Mexican restaurant, I stayed back with Baba, Honey bun and Two Clicks and watched a knock off "Planet Earth" while laying down drinking a beer. It was very relaxing. Everyone ended up staying up until midnight which was rough because I'm used to 8pm bedtime but I made it work and survived. Off to the trail tomorrow morning!P.S: I'm hiking with Gramps whose real name is Gram Duda. I mention this because my mom's family name is Dooda and we used to call my grandmother "Grammy Dooda." Such a weird coincidence.I also want to mention that the other night at Woods Hole Hostel as we were sitting down for dinner, Neville learned of a lost hiker. We had slept in the same shelter as two section hikers the night before and only one had made it to the hostel. We were under the assumption that the missing hiker was the other section hiker. Well, they ended up finding him eventually even with the rain and fog and getting him to town and in a motel. What was weird about this is that his hiking buddy who was also sectioning didn't seem phased that his friend never showed up and as we asked about the missing hiker he almost seemed bothered that we were all talking about it. Wicked weird! To follow up on the Wapiti Shelter murders, I did some research. If you get scared easily I would STOP READING. Back in the 1980's two hikers, a guy and girl befriended a local. They went to sleep in the former Wapiti shelter and when they did, the local shot the man first then the woman woke up and began running. She was stabbed repeatedly and both their bodies were found weeks later in shallow graves stuffed in their sleeping bags nearby. Items were also found scattered around the wooded area. Eventually the man was caught in South Carolina and pleaded out to 2nd degree murder. He ended up serving 15 years which for some reason was what Virginia law required or something like that. Once out and back in town, he continued to hike the AT. Eventually he did something similar to two fisherman in the same area near Dismal Falls and Dismal Creek, both of which the AT still pass by today. They were able to survive multiple gun shots and call for help. The man responsible was again arrested and died as soon as he got to jail. Crazy story! They rebuilt the shelter and relocated it but for some reason kept the name the same. I shouldn't have looked so hard into this before bed but I think it's so interesting and I still slept well!