Date: 2004-08-18
From: Thomas Knob Shelter

To: Troutdale, VA
Miles today: 14.2

I am up and leaving the shelter as the others are starting to move about. The trail stays in the near treeless terrain. I don't have that claustraphobic feel that a thick forest sometimes gives. A deer is off the trail less than 50' but pays me no attention. I pass a few other tents and what looks a Boy Scout group campsite. Instead of following the AT route in the Grayson Highlands State Park, I take the old AT route now called Pine Mt Trail. It shortcuts the AT but returns to it near Old Orchard Shelter. I think there's a name for thru hikers who take shortcuts. Probably cheater but I still don't consider myself a thru hiker, just an AT hiker. I breakfast at Old Orchard Shelter where there is one fellow there. He is reading a novel and isn't too talkative. He does tell me there isn't a motel in Troutdale but an old church hostel. Sounds good to me. He has thru hiked the AT but now just occasionally wanders along it at a low mileage, no hurry pace. A nice breeze is with me as I hike this day. It feels good on my bare chest. The trail is mostly downhill today, tho true to AT standards there's always a 300', 400' or 500' ascent thrown in to keep muscles on alert. I cross Fox Creek and pass a trailhead by the same name. It's great that water is never too distant. And a threesome going south passes me in the late morning. About 2:30 PM I reach highway #650 which is a couple of miles outside of Troutdale. I try hitching a ride for about 15 minutes with no luck so I walk the asphalt road into town. The trail is so much more friendly to my feet. I pass several friendly people in the yards as I make my way into the small berg. I spot the trading post/restaurant/gas station/store. It looks like what I want. The waitress and customers are friendly. I have a hamburger and some cold southern sweet tea that tastes like nectar from the gods. The waitress says the hostel is the church just up the road. And she says just go up and help yourself cause there's no one there. I make the short walk. It's a beautiful place sited on a large grassy hill. I learn it's the former local Methodist Church but now owned by the Baptists. I quickly find the showers and cleanse myself of three days hiking. Aaaah! There's a phone there so I call the church's preacher and leave a message. The men's hostel building is under construction so I set my tarp up in the soft grass in front of it just as the preacher drives up. He welcomes me and says they haven't had a hiker in two weeks. He seems glad I am there and of course invites me to that night's bible study at the Baptist Church across the street. That would be the first time in about 40 years for me, but I say "maybe, I will". I strip down to the least stinky pair of hiking shorts and wash everything else I have, which is two shirts another pair of shorts, some hiking long pants, 1 pr. underwear (for special occasions), 3 pr of socks and a bandana. When I finish it's back to the Trading Post for more sweet tea(I never put sugar in my tea at home), some postcard writing and one of my favorite off-the-trail pasttimes which is to just sit and watch what goes on. And at about 6:45 I head to the church for bible study. Hey, there's no TV in my tarp and the preacher was a petty good dude. Plus Christians are always fun to watch. And as it turns out, the folks are quite friendly and the bible studying, while maybe a little too much Jesus talk for me, wasn't too bad. Afterwards I returned to my bedroll and was fast asleep by 9 PM