Date: 2005-04-22
From: Partnership Shelter

To: Relax Inn - Rural Retreat, VA
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: scattered clouds

First things first, this entry is dedicated to my Momma, who takes time out of her busy schedule to send my maildrops while I'm out on the trail. Happy Birthday, Momma!Miles hiked today : 11.6I woke up this morning at 7:25 p.m. after a night of very strange dreams. It must have been the pizza and soda before bed. I woke up during the night and had to make a privy run. I also wanted to filter some water, so I was rooting through my pack for my filter and accidentally dropped my stove. It landed with a huge BANG, which was especially bad, as I was in the upstairs section of Partnership Shelter and it had to have been loud downstairs as well. In the morning, I apologized to my fellow hikers.My toes are doing better today, though I still put fresh moleskin on them and I was on the trail at 8:40 a.m. 0.1 mile down the trail, I stopped for a 15 minute break at the Mt. Rogers NRA headquarters to use the restroom, which smelled incredibly sterile compared to some of the privies I've used in recent weeks. I also purchased a post card for Ammo and Mason, filled it out, and mailed it before continuing on at 9:00 a.m.The trail was very good today and I arrived at USFS Road 86 at 10:55 a.m., having covered 4.1 miles. I stopped momentarily to check the data book, then covered 2.9 miles to Chatfield Shelter, arriving at 11:55 a.m. I was floored by the speed at which I was hiking today and stopped for a 15 minute snack break.I arrived at my next stop at 12:45 p.m., 1.8 miles up the trail at the Settlers Museum. There was an old schoolhouse on site that had operated from 1894-1937. It was open to tour, had a register for hikers to sign, as well as several relics from the past. There were copies of reading and spelling books on site that had copyright dates no later than 1920. At the teachers desk, I found a bell and rang it loudly, which caught the attention of the other hikers. I announced to the classroom that the reading today would be from "Our Islands And Their People," which was on the teacher's desk. When a couple hikers looked away, I picked up a thin, 2 foot long bamboo switch and loudly rapped it against the desk, telling them to pay attention. It was amusing to all (I believe). Looking around, I found another thin bamboo switch, though it was 3 feet long. I imagine that it must have been quite the painful punishment for a misbehaving student. After visiting the schoolhouse, I walked about 100 feet to the Settlers Museum Visitors Center, which was little more than some antiques and brief historical information.At 12:30 p.m., 15 minutes before I arrived at the schoolhouse, rain had begun to sprinkle lightly. It stopped sometime during the 30 minutes I spent at the Settlers Museum, though it began to pick up again at 1:15 p.m. as I was leaving. At 1:30 p.m., it began raining so hard, so quickly, that my shirt was soaked before I could pull my rain jacket out of my pack.From the museum, it was 2.7 miles to the town of Rural Retreat, VA at the intersection of US11/VA683. I hiked as fast as I could, especially when the thunder and lightning began, arriving at Rural Retreat at 2:05 p.m.I took refuge in the gas station and found Geri waiting. We were soon joined by Red Rover and collectively decided to split a room at the Relax Inn. Before that, however, I braved the wind and rain to hitch to the post office in Atkins, VA to pick up an anticipated package. I was picked up by Ron, who was kind enough to stop and allow a soggy hiker into his vehicle.Back at Kincora's Hiker Hostel, I had contacted a representative at Jetboil Corporation via voicemail about a test program they had where they were giving stoves to thru-hikers in exchange for long-term feedback. While in Damascus, I received a copy of an e-mail stating that I would have a stove waiting for me in Atkins, which is just down the road from Rural Retreat.Well, the package wasn't there and the postmaster told me that two other hikers had been in yesterday looking for packages from Jetboil Corporation, only to leave empty handed as well. I took down the telephone number for the Atkins post office and will call from Bland, VA to see whether the package arrived and have it forwarded somewhere up the trail.I got a hitch back to the gas station within a few minutes and the driver, Allen, told me a bit of trivia about the area. Apparently Marion, VA is where Mountain Dew was invented and Dr. Pepper was invented in Rural Retreat. Rural Retreat is also the former cabbage capitol of the U.S.At the gas station, I ran into Gravity and Danger and accompanied them to dinner at Rhonda's Restaurant, which looked like a fancy barn from the outside. Grilled cheese sandwiches were only $0.85 each and french fries were $1.00, so I had 3 grilled cheese with fries, only spending $3.73 with tax. Such a deal! We stopped for dessert at Dairy Queen and I went back to the gas station to meet Geri and Red Rover.They had already left to get a room, though I easily found them. Geri had paid with her credit card, which made it somewhat difficult for me, as I had no cash with which to reimburse her. I paid the $4 fee to have a third person in the room with my credit card and ended up paying for Geri's dinner, did her laundry, and will buy her breakfast to pay for my share of the room.There is a forecast of 1-2 inches of snow for tomorrow, which should be interesting. The first 4 days of weather in Virginia was beautiful, so it was due to change eventually. Hopefully the snow doesn't last for long.I talked to Holly this evening. She's still hiking with Serenity (MJ) and they're currently in Erwin, TN, approximately 200 miles behind me. They had to hole up in Fontana Dam Village for 3 days to wait out a snowstorm. Probably the same snowstorm that I walked through on my last day in the Smokies. So, it's unlikely that she'll catch up with me, though we may meet up at Trail Days.Bedtime at 11:45 p.m.