Date: 2004-05-09
From: Atkins, VA - Relax Inn - Zero Day

To: VA Highway 42
Miles today: 11.8

Day 56Riva Queen, Bear Tracks, Jester, Scholar, Lady Kritter and I left Atkins to begin our first leg to Pearisburg (yes, Lady Kritter went hiking with us). The Slack Pack 6 was the name we called ourselves for the day. Most of us were recuperating from leg or foot injuries and needed this time to mend our bodies. After breakfast Riva's husband Dave and I drove our vehicles to a parking lot where the AT meets Va42. We left AWOL's truck in the parking lot loaded with everyone's gear separated in black lawn trash bags. The back of the cab looked like someone was going to the dump. Turned out to be a great cover. Who would want to break into a vehicle for trash? Arrived back at the motel around 8:30, met the other hikers and off we went. I was glad Jax decided to go so she could experience some of the trail, to live as a nomadic hiker. The trail had ups and downs like any other day and as expected Jax had to rest on several of the ups. Everyone was amazed how well Jax did on her first day out. I still remember many days after my first day, stopping to rest during ascents.What Jacquie accomplished this day was what I accomplished on March 15th. We crossed several streams and the middle fork of Holston River and ended the day¢s hike at O'Lustery Pavilion on highway Va42. Somewhere during the end of the hike two more hikers joined our group, Sanquine, a high school teacher from Rhode Island and Rooster, a section hiker from Roanoke, Va. Now, this is where the plan went astray; Murphy's Law visited us and the saying "adapt, improvise and overcome" becomes a motto for the survival of a thru hiker. I had planned to stay at Woods Hole Hostel near Pearisburg for the next 4 days of hiking. Map miles by Florida standards (flat land miles) it was not far ¢ only a quarter of an inch on the map. Mountain miles are a whole different story. What I thought would be a half hour drive turned into an hour and a half of twisted, turning mountain roads to reach the hostel. The sun was low in the late afternoon sky, the temperature was dropping and those riding in the back of the pickup were chilled to the bone. Jacquie was learning another lesson of a thru hiker. The spirit of a thru hiker is hard to break. A hiker can take a bad situation and turn it into an adventure that will become a part of his or her AT experience, an experience that will always be remembered. That is exactly what happened in the back of the pickup. I was driving and, not a part of the pickup bed follies, but I could hear the laughter and the singing and knew they were turning a bad situation into a good one. Lady Kritter was worried about them the whole time.Next, we arrived at the hostel that was nestled in a beautiful mountain valley. It was a late 1800's homestead. The main house was a two story log cabin constructed from Chestnut wood. The two-story log cabin hostel was constructed from Oak. The setting was gorgeous. The problem - the hostel's policy is only for one night's stay, no consecutives. Tonight was good, tomorrow night and the following nights we needed to find other arrangements. Stay tuned as the "Slack Pack Saga to Pearisburg" continues...