Date: 2021-08-16
From: Knot Maul Brook Shelter

To: Highway 11
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: light rain

Fred arrived last night just a lot 7:30 with a rumble of thunder and a gust of wind. I had been dozing in my hammock and got up to tie down the storm doors on my tarp (just in case).  When I laid back down, I could hear the wave of rain approaching through the trees and when it started it soon became a torrent. It rained hard for a good 45 minutes and I had a waterfall off the far corner of my setup. The rain finally eased and then was sporadic until 2am and then stopped altogether after that. Waking at 5:45, I found myself and my gear happily dry. I¢m getting very confident with my camp skills (yes, I¢m now preparing to eat those words at some point). Quiksilver had also weathered the rain just fine and we headed out at 7:15 for a two mile hike to the Bear Garden Hostel where we hoped to get water for the rest of the day. The sign posted for the hostel read ¢cold pop for sale¢ and Quiksilver said that had to mean that the owner was from the upper Midwest as we¢re the only ones who call it ¢pop¢.  Upon arrival we met the hostel owner Bob and sure enough, he was a retired school teacher from Michigan who had moved to Virginia and opened this hostel with his wife. He was on his way out, but told us to make ourselves at home and just leave money on the table for whatever we bought. In honor of our shared Big Thumb heritage, I chose a $1 Faygo orange pop from the fridge. We got watered up for the rest of the day and got back on trail at 9 o¢clock. There weren¢t going to be any views in the day, just trail through pasture land and a series of climbs and descents ranging from 400 to 900 feet as we made our way another 12.5 miles to Atkins, Virginia. Portions of the trail were very overgrown once more, through we did come across a farmer doing some trail clearing through his property with a big Case skid-steer with a brush hog attachment on it. We passed along our sincere thanks!Unlike the pastures I crossed up north, the Virginia pastures have been well stocked with cows, which is of course, awesome. The downside today was that it rained so hard from 9 until 12:30 that I couldn¢t unlock my iPhone due to all the moisture on my hands and on the phone screen. Consequently, I was unable to get any pictures or videos of my close enCowters.  Dang. We also passed to NOBO section hikers who were not enjoying the rain as much as Quiksilver and I were. We recommended they pop in (see what I did there) to the Bear Garden Hostel for the night and dry out. We were doing the same in Atkins as we had contacted a Trail Angel by the name of Murray-Ann who takes in hikers at her home about 10 miles off trail. I had found her name listed on Guthook and thought this might prove to be another memorable trail experience.We called her from the Mexican restaurant that is right on the trail by the interstate exit (8.75 lunch special: three chicken enchiladas - DONE!) and she picked us up there. She and her late husband bought an 1870¢s house and opened it up through the years to hikers. It¢s not a hostel, they do this just because. (see Hebrews 13:2 for her reasoning). Murray-Ann¢s husband George he thru-hiked the trail many years ago and even after he passed away in 2014 she continued and continues to take in hikers. The house is gorgeous, though like any old home, it¢s a work in progress. She made us vegetable beef soup with homemade bread for dinner and chocolate cake for dessert. We sat for almost three hours and talked about her husband, her remodeling skills (formidable), hikers she¢s met, our shared love of the trail and the people on and around it, and her three dogs. Just another unexpected, serendipitous evening on this journey. It¢s still raining hard here, but the tornado watches have expired and tomorrow afternoon we¢ll revert back to typical August weather in this neck of the woods: 80 degrees with a 30% chance of afternoon thundershowers. Quiksilver and I will be heading out with the goal of covering the 75 miles to Damascus by Saturday afternoon. I¢m not sure what cell service will be like along the way, but I¢ll endeavor to post promptly when I can. The Grayson Highlands await!