Date: 2015-05-17
From: Pearisburg 

To: the Captain's 
Miles today: 21.1

We looked out the window as soon as we woke, it didn't look good. It was FOGGY! We could only see 20 yards. We contemplated taking a zero day, but the trail was calling. We packed our backpacks and put our rain pack covers over our packs. Then, we headed out the door. We couldn't pass up eating a "real" breakfast. So, before leaving town, we ate at Hardee's. This is the only place open in Pearisburg on a Sunday morning for breakfast.    We were not lucky enough to get a ride the .8 miles to the trail. So, we walked. We started on the AT at 8:00, a later start for us, but our tummies were full. And we hit the trail hard. We had a very steep decline to US 460. We had actually just did the climb on the road going to the start of the trail. Often, it is frustrating to think, we just climbed a hill we are now going down. But, that is hiking on the AT. We crossed over US 460 and saw Nurse just in front of us. We had hiked with him leaving Damascus. We spent the morning hiking with Nurse. It is nice to hike with others as the conversations make the miles pass faster. We climbed and climbed, about 1700 feet. We also met Pappy Al at a water source during the climb.   We stopped for a few minutes at the top of the climb by a shelter. Well there, Pappy Al accidentally took Count's hiking poles. They both have the same poles. But, Pappy Al is taller. He said he wondered if his poles were shortened. We had a good laugh as they exchanged poles overlooking West Virginia at the top of the summit. The fog had lifted and we had a stunning view. We had a long stretch of 7 miles of hiking on the ridge line. We were hiking fern forests. There were lots and lots of ferns, all different heights. The ferns looked like frilly waves of green as the wind blew across. But, the fern forest ended and turned into rocks. The trail was very rocky and makes for slow going especially since the rocks were wet from the fog. We found a nice water source at noon. So, we took an early lunch after filtering our water. And, we had a nice lunch of Calzone that we carried from town. A cold Calzone tasted mmm so good.    We continued the ridge line hiking. We went into an area of fruit trees in a meadow. It appeared to be a homestead years ago. The bees were busy as we heard them buzzing around the flowers on the trees. The meadow turned into a forest soon enough as we descended down to a gap. And, the gap ascended into a steep climb.   We continued hiking across a few streams and through a rhododendron forest. Until we came to a sign for "The Captain's". Just as we approached the river to go to The Captain's, the heavens opened up and it rained for 5 minutes. We took shelter under a very large rhododendron bush. Then, the rains stopped and we took a zipline across a stream to "The Captain's", where we camped for the night. As Lavender was getting off the zipline, she saw a 5 foot black snake. I don't think she will be sleeping much tonight! The Captain opens his yard for hikers. And, he allows us to use his back porch. He also has a fridge full of complentary sodas. We had dinner with a soda sitting on his back porch. Nurse is also tenting here. So, we had a nice dinner conversation with The Captain and Nurse. It is going to be hot and humid sleeping tonight as it rains for a bit and then stops. Between the snake and the temperature, it may be a long night.Be sure to check out our photos of lavender on the zip line and the black snake.