Date: 2019-03-25
From: Route 611

To: Route 606
Miles today: 9.6

We said goodbye to WE and Lee and Romeo this morning and had breakfast in the room. It's been several days since I've had oatmeal and I feel like I'm at a point where I will need a break from it when I finish the trail. Especially if it's in a quart size freezer Ziploc! River dropped me at route 611 and from the trailhead at the top of the mountain I could see the sunrise over the distant mountains. It was really beautiful and there was noticably more bird chatter this morning. I brought my MP3 player today but the battery is dead. I decided after hearing the birds that I was happy about that. I called Brian to say good morning and hear his voice. It was a memorable moment just the way the day was opening up. I enjoyed starting off with just one shirt and no extra outerwear because today was warmer in the morning. Today was a quick 9.6 miles and we hiked early to be done by noon and avoid the afternoon rain. Today I have mixed emotions. It's my last day of hiking with River. She's almost done and she saved 10.8 miles down by Damascus to hike with her wife and Dad. I'm so happy for her and I know she's ready to be done with the trail. I'll miss her company, the planning together, knowing she's near at night and in the morning and sometimes during the day. There's no one I know now on trail down here. It'll be different and I'll be just fine, but it just won't be the same. It's funny really because we both wanted to hike the entire trail alone. Yet God had a different plan and it was perfect. Even how our hikes got messed up and we had this past week of hiking together covering 103.4 miles. We didn't plan it, but God did and I'm glad. WE and River have been the best of friends and hiking partners and I feel we share a special bond. We cared for each other out here every day and shared pain and glory. They're my family now and I look forward to seeing them both again. So the Virginia blues for this hiker are different. Today I was on trail with River for the last time and it was emotional to think about it as I hiked knowing it would be the last time I see her with her purple leggings and plaid kilt. We met around halfway and hugged as my eyes welled. Then we hiked on to the end of our day so we could be done before the rain. I climbed up to the ridge and saw a brief view where the power lines crossed. The ridge walk went on a while and when I stopped to rest my behind signaled an urgency. I'd passed up a privy at Jenny knob shelter because it was a downhill trail and I thought my body would wait but it was done waiting now. I climbed across the ridge top and over some barbed wire finding a spot by a tree and digging my cat hole. I was actually at a nice little campsite I would never have known was there. Things were over quickly and I covered my business and hiked on feeling much better. As I hiked down off the ridge toward route 606 I could hear cows in the distance and I listened for them all the way down. I took a quick rest on a log drinking water and eating beef jerky but the water from the motel tasted a little like sulfur. I was struggling and then I realized that a half mile from the trailhead where the car is there's Trent's store. I boogied down and arrived at the car at noon and drove the half mile to Trent's where I scored a Snapple and an ice cream sandwich. Then I was off to pick up River for the last time. I arrived at her location at 12:25 just as the rain was starting to fall and she was waiting for me with her Mary Poppins umbrella. I'll miss that too as strange as it is to see a backpacker with an umbrella! We drove to the post office and picked up my food drop from Brian then showered and I packed my day bag, fleece and a few other things into a box and we shipped it out to Brian on our way to Wytheville to do laundry and have dinner. When the laundry was done we enjoyed steak and beer then stopped at McDonald's for a coffee to bring back to the room. If you don't already know, I wear my wool leggings and top on laundry day if I'm not wearing my rain gear. They look like pajamas and I call them that. Sometimes I forget how silly I must look. As we left the restaurant discussing coffee and relaxing in the room I told River I might even put my pajamas on (which of course I'm already wearing) and we almost peed laughing in the lobby. I'll miss laughing with her too. We did relax in the room with our coffee catching up on journaling until 7:30 when we wandered down to DQ for dessert and watched The Voice.