Date: 2014-04-28
From: Woods Hole Hostel

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 10.4

Day 47-April 28, Woods Hole Hostel to Narrows, VA, 10.4 miles. We stayed long enough at Woods Hole Hostel to enjoy the communal breakfast of creme br»l©e French toast, scrambled eggs with very local pork sausage, orange slices, homemade bread and juice. It was just the fuel we needed to start our hike. We cannot say enough good things about Woods Hole. The people and facilities were top-nothch!We had a short day planned: 10+ miles to Pearisburg, VA. Our Trail Jeannie sent us a resupply box to the PO there so we decided to spend the night there to get ourselves organized. When it came time to leave Woods Hole, one of the section hikers who wasn't leaving until tomorrow offered to drive us the half-mile (uphill!) back to the trail! Love the trail community! The forecast called for rain today and that's what we got! It wasn't raining when we first set foot on the trail, but started within the hour. It was raining and blowing pretty good as we walked along a ridge line and we had to fight to keep our umbrellas from turning inside out! The rain let up as we reached the rocky overlooks of Pearisburg so we were able to look down on Pearisburg and surrounding communities. As we emerged from the woods, we knew it was about a mile to the post office so I decided to stick out my thumb and see if we could get a ride. The first car came by in 30 seconds and pulled over! The guy was a former hiker, hiked from Georgia to Pearisburg and never left this area! He took us to the post office and recommended a restaurant for lunch. Trail Magic-love it! Our box was waiting for us and lunch was tasty. While at the diner, I called the McArthur Inn in Narrows, VA where we had a reservation for tonight. The guy who took my reservation yesterday told us he would pick us up when we got to Pearisburg. Well, the woman who answered my call today said she saw my name on the reservation list but had no idea where the guy ( owner, Allen) planned on putting us because she thought the inn was full. This is not what we wanted to hear as there were no available motel rooms in Pearisburg because a construction project takes all the rooms during the weekdays. The woman said she would call Allen to pick us up and try to figure out a plan for us. After waiting almost an hour and no ride showing up I called back and was told they couldn't get ahold of Allen but they might have a room with a twin bed and a roll-away bed. About 10 minutes later the woman called me back to say Allen was on his way. That's when the fun started! I love interactions with the locals! Allen was at his lawyer because he was trying to sue Virginia Tech for $600,000 for some work he did. The story is wild and Allen is a great character! He brought us to the McArthur Inn, which he owns and is in the process of remodeling. Things were arranged so we got a room with a double bed. We will eat dinner in the restaurant on-site, where Allen's daughter is the chef. The next couple of days could be very rainy, wet hiking days. Big rains are forecasted but we think we are out of the range of the potential tornados. The tornados that blew through the south in the past day or so have been devastating and the loss of life is a tragedy. All is well.