Date: 2018-12-31
From: LambertÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Meadow Shelter

To: VA 624 Newport Rd
Miles today: 16.3

Woke up to rain so didn¢t start moving until 9. It was still drizzling but I was hungry and ready to hike. The other guys started packing up too and I enjoyed talking to them. They are hiking 10 miles then are headed to Roanoke to celebrate Christmas Eve. I had forgotten the date so called the hostel to make sure they were still open. Fortunately they were! We started hiking around 10 up to Tinker Cliffs. Unfortunately it was drizzly and foggy so we didn¢t have the great views like we had last year but it was actually was a pleasant day for hiking. Next we headed up to McAfee Knob which was fogged in too. There were a lot of day hikers up there which surprised me since the weather was bad but we did enjoy seeing them. Once we past the McAfee Knob parking lot, we saw no other hikers. For the first couple miles we walked on a ridge that probably had great views in good weather. Then we crossed some fields that looked spooky in the fog and walked by a rushing stream. By the time we got to the road the hostel was on it was getting dark so I put on my headlamp. The hostel was .4 miles east of the trailhead. Walking on the foggy dark road and turning in the long driveway to the hostel was creepy. We were greeted by a big black lab and fireworks.  I was shocked and happy there were other people at the hostel. Immediately when walking through the door I felt welcomed. I gave Rusty a quick bath to get the mud off him and then relaxed and talked to everyone. No one was hiking now; they just stopped by because they love the hostel: Tamborine, Ninja, Florida girl and her daughter Carebear. There were two cats that lived there that were curious about Rusty as he was of them but neither got to close.For dinner the hostel owner Joe made us the best venison steaks wrapped in bacon. I felt so lucky to be included in the feast!  I found out later that the deer was butchered right before I got there right in the room we slept. Carebear is a vegan and witnessed it though handled it well. Carebear is 18 and Florida Girls daughter. She is finishing up her Associates degree this year. Her mom is going back to school starting next week. She just sold her computer company and decided she should finish her college degree since she is only 17 credits away. Kind of a crazy way to start, but she is taking 6 classes this semester; it¢s been 20 years since she left college. One of her classes is at her daughter school which is pretty fun though they said they¢ll pretend not to know each other.  Ninja is a 2015 thruhiker and is planning on starting the Florida Trail next week. Tamborine is a 2006 thruhiker and is now an awesome trail angel.  She sleeps in her truck while helping out hikers.  After dinner they lit off firecrackers while I enjoyed my great mail drops! Then we sat around and told funny stories and enjoyed a lot of the treats I just received. Ninja shared some IPAs and Tamborine passed around her ¢Apple water¢ - yum! What a fun great group of people and great way to celebrate New Years Eve! Though we only made it till about 10 - very late for hikers.