Date: 2005-06-09
From: Rusty's

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: light rain

Up and gone from Rusty's at 6:30. I figured it was about 1.7 miles back to where I left the trail. As I wrote before I set up my tent in a field near Rusty's fire pit. In the morning the tent was covered with about three dozen slugs about an inch long (Yuck, slimy little buggers). I went back to the Maupin Field Shelter to see who was still there. The place was empty and the log entries that night told of the massive amount of mosquito's and the ever present shelter mice. Those who stayed inside of the shelter were bothered by both all night long.    I wrote in my log that it was a long hard walk from Rusty's to Waynesboro. Hard because of my lack of sleep the night before no doubt. I do recall seeing my second rattlesnake, one doe, two fawns and 19 orange colored salamander looking things. They are not really salamanders I have been told. The rain last night must have flushed them out of their ground cover. They were everywhere. The trail in part was above the water line and they were seeking higher ground.   When I got to Interstate 64 that led to Waynesboro I pulled out my guide book to figure out my next move. A gentleman in a pick up truck pulled over, looked at me and said, "I know where you are going". He was offering a ride to town and I took him up on it. He said he saw another hiker and asked if I knew him. He was trying to make a call on a near by pay phone and was having no luck at all. This was where I met Gozar for the first time. I asked if he wanted a ride and he too climbed in. The gentleman who gave us the ride was Bobby Napier from Roseland, VA. He took us to the Quality Inn and waited till we checked in to be sure we got a room. He then asked what we were doing in about an hour, he told us he wanted to take us to supper at a near by restaurant. I asked him why he would do such a thing and he said he liked to treat hikers to a meal and has done so for some time. Gozar and I shared a room, we each took a quick shower, threw on our cleanest dirty clothes and joined him. Bobby took us to Shoney's where we had some of the best buffet style food to date. They even served barbequed pork there, what a treat. The waitress informed me that Bobby brings in hikers all the time. We asked him if we could pay for our meal and he said, "no way, but you can leave the tip" (the waitress got a good one).   There were plenty of familiar faces there at the Motel. I ran into Hot Crotch and Phoenix Rising again. They were still providing trail magic and gave us a few rides while we were in town. Also there was Crazy Legs Crim, Professor Nut Bag and many others. There must have been 30 hikers total. Many more including Dandylion and Cowboy, were staying at the YMCA in town. Waynesboro was a nice place to stay, the Motel even had a pool. In fact I stayed an additional night I liked it so much. A Zero day the next day.    Gozar, my roomy, was from Tamarack, Idaho in Valley County. He was an Artist as well as a Geologist. He was on his hike for his own reasons so I will not elaborate (that is his business). One thing to note, Gozar wore collared short sleeve shirts. Hiker's said he had the "Business Casual" look and that he did. Over the miles I dare say he and I became friends. I lost touch with him many miles up the trail. Last I saw him he went and purchased a Hawaiian shirt and still had that business casual look, now though it was more like a "dress down Friday" appearance.   While in town I scrubbed my gear clean and figured that some items were no longer needed. I wasn't to sure on sending home everything so I did something different. I mailed everything forward about 100 miles to Front Royal, VA. I figured if I needed anything I would be able to get it back faster then going through the hassle of having it mailed back to me from my home. I am so glad I decided to do that. I wanted to try going lighter and sent the screened in portion of my tent in the package. Big mistake. I could handle the mosquitos with my head net however, I was covered every night by ants, millipedes, centipedes and everything else that crawled. I hardly got any sleep for the next week. I do not know how tarp users do it, they are "hard core" indeed, more then I. The lack of sleep really took its toll on me.