Date: 2019-06-03
From: Sugar Run Gap, VA (WoodÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Hole Hostel)

To: Cross Avenue, Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: clear sky

I slept well last night and then got to get up in the morning and use a flush toilet and wash my hands in running water! Oh the things you appreciate while hiking. Breakfast was scrambled eggs with Swiss chard, watermelon, and French toast. I was eating my eggs and watermelon, listening to people talk about how amazing the French toast was and feeling sorry for myself.Anyway, the hostel owner sat down at our table to eat with us. She looked over at my sad plate of eggs and watermelon and exclaimed, ¢I almost forgot! We heated up some leftover peach crisp for you!¢ So, I didn¢t get to have creme br»l©e French toast, but I did get peach crisp, which only had a few stray peaches in there and was mostly crisp. You know, the way fruit crisp should be. Anyway, we did what we could to help out with cleaning up the bunkhouse, went to the bathroom 5 more times, took pictures with Spike¢s new friends, and basically did everything to avoid getting back on the trail. However, we needed to pick up a package in Pearisburg. Also, this hostel sucks people in¢we met so many people who were just going to stay the night and were there for 3 days. We needed to keep moving. We walked up the road to the trail and got started just after 10am. For the first few miles it was back to evil, rocky trail, but it¢s much easier to deal with when your feet are fresh.Today we had a gradual uphill, followed by a few views, and then a really intense downhill headed into town. Once we got to the road that would take us into Pearisburg, we knew we were too late to make it to the post office before it closed. We walked the mile into town and stopped at the first place we saw: DQ. They were out of pecans, but at least they still had ice cream!We were sitting there, eating our Blizzards, and I was contemplating our next move. There was a certain hostel I wanted to stay at, but it was a 2.5mile walk. Did I want to call a shuttle driver? Should we stay at the hostel that offered shuttle services if you stayed there?SC¢s phone rings and she answers it. She¢s saying, ¢I¢m at Dairy Queen. Where are you?¢  Apparently one of her brother¢s friends is a truck driver and had a run in the area (only 4 hours away?!) and decided to stop by and surprise her. We had dinner at a local Mexican place and then he drove us to the hostel! Plus SC got to see a friend from home. This hostel was very different than the one we stayed in last night. It is basically self-service. It has a kitchen with the usual stuff (including a lot of food), a flush toilet, a shower, towels, and a washer (dryer is to hang things on the porch). Sleeping quarters consists of a large loft. We set up our bedding in the loft and then both SC and I used the best cell service we had in some time to check in with family.I was sitting on the porch when a woman and 2 men walk up. The woman is giving the history of the hostel. I ask her if she belongs to the church that runs the hostel and she says that she doesn¢t but that she and her husband are local trail volunteers and help out with several of the local hostels. She then gives us her number and says we can call for a ride tomorrow if we need one!They leave, and a little while later 3 guys carrying Walmart bags and wearing packs appear from the trees. ¢Do you know where the hostel is?¢ one of them asks. ¢This is it,¢ I tell them. It turns out this is a group of ¢May flies¢: they start in May and ¢fly¢ up the trail. These young men had only started 12 days before we did and have managed to do 470 more miles. One of them told me that, ¢Trail legs are just a mental thing.¢ I wish the length of my legs was just a ¢mental thing.¢ I have to take so many more steps per mile compared to these young guys with their long legs.As it is currently 9:30, Spike and I will take this opportunity to go to bed. Everyone else is still eating (the guys) or talking to family on the phone (SC).