Date: 2011-07-02
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Miles today: 0.0

The Magic of Wood's HoleIt¢s just after 6:00 am and I watched the sun come up over the nearby mountain in a blaze of color. The birds are singing, dogs are barking, and it¢s anything but quiet. Anyone who thinks to escape to the woods for quiet has another think coming. It¢s anything but quiet in the woods sometimes! Last night was a prime example. There were several bull frogs competing to see who could croak the loudest for a long while. Soon thereafter an owl called out repeatedly into the darkness on her nightly rounds. Meanwhile, the crickets played their song consistently throughout the night. It was quite a symphony to fall asleep to, but I can think of no better lullaby than the night sounds of the natural world. I slept like a baby once I was able to drift off (except for that owl¢¦I couldn¢t sleep through her calls, but I love the sound of owls, so I just laid back and enjoyed it while it lasted). I¢m at Wood¢s Hole Hostel, a delightful 1880¢s log cabin tucked away in 100 acres of beautiful Virginia forest. It¢s wonderfully charming, and the owners, Neville and Michael, are some of the most hard-working people I have ever seen in my life. They¢re up at dawn and never stop moving. They have an amazing organic garden from which they harvest many of the vegetables served at their table. There¢s always homemade bread rising on the kitchen counter, and there are pigs, dogs, and hikers who are constantly being tended to by the couple. Both Michael and Neville are certified massage therapists, so massages are available for those who want them. (Carl, I¢m waiting until I get home for a massage, and by then I¢m going to need a really good one, so you¢d better warm up those hands and get the tiger balm ready!)Neville and Michael offer meals to hikers (the cost is in addition to lodging, but optional), and I am waiting to enjoy one of their legendary breakfasts. I missed dinner last night because I made the mistake of enjoying a pint of Amish-made peach ice-cream with fresh blueberries (picked here, of course) at about 3:00, so by the time dinner rolled around I wasn¢t hungry. Those hikers who partook of the dinner came away groaning in ecstasy that they had eaten too much but the food was so good that it couldn¢t be helped. It smelled wonderful, and I regret that I didn¢t eat with them while I had the chance. Oh well. There are many delicious meals to be enjoyed elsewhere.My plan is to catch a ride into Pearisburg after breakfast, where I¢ll mail some stuff home, some stuff to my mail drop. Then I¢ll return to Wood¢s Hole and hike out. I¢ll get a late start, but that¢s how it goes on town stops. There are things to be mailed, resupplies to be made, equipment to be cleaned and tended to, baths to be taken, etc. Yesterday was spent making a trip to the nearest decent-sized town, about an hour away, to replace my footwear. That took up a good portion of yesterday, so I didn¢t get to focus on my blog as much as I would have liked.My boots decided they¢d had enough after about 400 miles or so. I¢d had those boots for a long time prior to this trip, so I really don¢t know how many miles they had on them, but they¢d seen a lot of terrain, to be sure. So when it came time to replace them, Pat bought me an identical pair. The first pair had served me well, so why mess with a good thing? Well, the second pair fit differently, or perhaps my feet had changed. At any rate, my feet were in terrible pain, and the pain grew increasingly worse with each passing day. I¢d hoped that in breaking them in they would become more comfortable, but that¢s not the way things worked. Each day the pain grew worse until I was nearly in tears. I was forced to hike in my Crocs, which felt amazing, but is unsafe. They don¢t grip the rocks as hiking boots do, and of course they afford no support or protection. So yesterday I paid $50.00 to get to a town, where I paid way too much for a comfortable pair of boots, but what choice did I have? Hopefully I¢ll be back in business with less foot pain. In addition, I met a hiker here, Crow Feathers, who works in the footwear department for REI, and he showed me a way to lace up my boots such that there is less pressure on my pinkie toes, which was the primary source for my foot pain.Momentarily I will head to town for my mail drop. I will also use the time to get my hair cut, very short. Very short. VERY SHORT. I¢ve had numerous ticks on my scalp, and after 3 or more days without a shower my hair feels disgusting to me, so I figured, ¢What the heck¢¦when else will I ever have the opportunity to get a buzz cut?¢ I¢m going to do it. Sorry Pat, but you won¢t have to see it for a while, and by then it will have grown out to what you¢re used to anyway. And it will feel GREAT on the trail! I¢ll get a cute bandana to tie around my head so I look like a girl. More later¢¦Happy Trails!!!!P.S. Pat, please forgive me¢¦.I did it. My hair is quite short, perhaps a bit shorter than I¢d intended. It¢ll grow soon enough; my hair grows fast. In the meantime, I¢m going to feel so much better. I know you¢ll understand.