Date: 2007-05-08
From: Rusty's Hard Time Hollow

To: Waynesboro, VA - campsite
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: clear sky

Some may call Rusty Nesbitt an eccentric, but his Hard Time Hollow is, without a doubt, one of the most kick-ass places along the trail.The hollow is a 19-acre, back-to-basics, Appalachian farm unique in every respect. Walking down the drive, you realize you will soon be in the presence of a most extraordinary man, and your heart leaps with anticipation, and quite possibly a bit of fear, at the opportunity to meet him. The trees along the driveway are covered with signs, laying down the law of the place, but you wonder if they're for real or just a good laugh, such as "Rusty's Bed and Wreckfast," "Don't even think about putting me or the hollow on the internet or anybody's website," "If you have an attitude, give us all a break and get off the trail," "Absolutely no firearms permitted on this property." Yet my first greeting to the hollow involved two other thru-hikers having a grand ol' time with rifles, and I was further confused as to whether I should be thrilled or scared to be there. Turns out, Rusty's is likely the most chilled-out, simple-living, life-is-good place I've been so far this journey. The grounds include a common area with kitchen and kitsch, bunkhouse over the barn, outhouse covered with pictures inside, rain water shower and washing facility, wood-heated sauna and hot tub, natural springhouse. Up until two years ago, Rusty lived without electricity, until he thought about selling the place and had to run the wires to add to its market value. The market value of the place is likely already sky high, but since Rusty isn't about money, I hear he now has the grounds willed to a group of hikers agreeing to maintain his same spirit once he is gone. His is the only private land holding in the country whose driveway is on National Park lands, his plot surrounded on three sides by National Park, and on the fourth by the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). All this means, according to Rusty, that his land can never be taken away, as opposed to plots that border National Forest Lands and can be taken by the government, which is what angered many land owners in Tennessee. His spring waters will never be contaminated, nor do the local police have any jurisdiction over his lands, as I understand makes Rusty a bit of an outlaw. More than 12,000 hikers and bikers, the reputed number of visitors to the hollow over the past 20-odd years, are glad Rusty didn't sell, for his place couldn't be more valuable in our eyes. And Rusty is one of the kindest, craziest, most big-hearted, honest-living people I have ever met. He welcomes hikers with a pack of hot dogs, then cooks his special pancakes over a wood-burning stove each morning. He sets up expired canned foods and fire extinguishers for the boys to practice their shots, while the rest of us engage in a contest to see who can hit a soda can the farthest. Rusty then crushes the aluminum in his driveway by running over it with his tractor. He mows the world's largest AT symbol in his yard each spring, and builds a bonfire 8 stories high for the New Year's hiker bash. When we're ready to keep on heading north and leave the hollow, and trust me it's tough to go, he loads us in the back of his truck, which although looks like it won't run, tears down the BRP with its race-car engine revving, back packers screaming. Rusty is a consummate redneck through and through, and I just couldn't stop hugging the guy as I said good-bye. A few special people touch our lives, not necessarily changing the way we think, but definitely tweaking our perspectives, leaving a lasting impression on our hearts and souls that can never be erased. Some may call Rusty Nesbitt an eccentric, but I think he's just plain wonderful.