Date: 2003-05-20
From: Dickey Gap - Pearisburg, VA

To: Dickey Gap - Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 116.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Dickey Gap - Pearisburg, VA113 miles (621.1 total miles)Mike dropped us off at the trailhead on day 43. It was really fun hiking with him. It was interesting to see the trail from the perspective of someone who hasn't been on it for 6 weeks. He kept telling us that we have no idea what great shape we are in. He was a good sport. He had taken a nasty fall, and hiked for 3 days with a huge gash in his forehead. I was glad to have met him.We did 14 very easy miles to Partnership shelter. We got a late start, but still got there by 2:00. The rhododendren is now in full bloom, adding some bright purple to the green forest. The sun was shining, but it wasn't too hot. The trail wandered gently downhill all day. Partnership Shelter is behind the Mt. Rogers visitor center, which ha a pay phone. So about 15 of us ordered pizza for dinner, and sat around the campfire.Day 44 was a tough one for me. It was another easy day of hiking, but I was beat tired all day. I knew I had been snoring that night, so I slept lightly, trying not to wake everyone up. The morning was full of PUDs, before the trail flattened out. I stopped for breakfast, and realized my pez despenser had fallen off! I left a note in the next register shelter, but no one had seen it. I felt bad.After 11 miles, we crossed I-81 at the Atkins exit. There is a truck stop and a Dairy Queen there. We still had 85 miles to our next re-supply point, so we stocked up on food from the truck stop, and ate greasy food and ice cream at the Dairy Queen. From there is was only 2.5 uphill miles to our shelter. It went through some farming fields with high weeds. Sure enough, I found a tick burrowing into my leg. I was glad to find it early. We were awakened on day 45 by a loud bird sitting near the shelter. The sun was shining, but the rain looked beautiful against the trees. I was out early, as usual. After a few easy days, the hills were very tough. We dragged up and down, through a mixture of mountain forests and farmland. I hit the first shelter at 11 miles just before noon. I decided to wait for the rest of the group. They arrived just as it started raining. We decided to wait out the rain, as the next shelter was in a high-altitude field. Every time we decided to leave, the thunder would crack overhead. Finally, we decided to just stay put. There was a little guilt in stopping at noon, but the afternoon nap felt good.Day 46 started off with a long, gradual downhill. It was fairly easy hiking. The trail was strangely empty with everyone off at Trail Days. We knew we had a long, dreaded hill, which we hit by 9am. It was hot, steep, and generally pretty miserable. Our lunch shelter was at the top of the ridge, with a great view of the farms below. The trail then followed the rocky ridge up and down. It was extremely painful on my feet. The water sources were scarce, and we got caught in the middle with little water left. Finally at 19 miles on the day, we pulled into the selter exhausted. This was the famous shelter with the psychadelic privy. My feet were throbbing. It was a long day.Day 47 was a longer day. Our shelter options were at 14 or 24 miles. The elevation map looked decent (which usually doesn't mean much), so we decided to shoot for 24. The first mile or so was steep. Then the trail dropped down to cross Little Wolf Creek about 15 times over just a couple miles. It would have been beautiful in the sunlight, but it was nice in the rain too. The slippery rocks made the crossings a little scary.After the creek there was a road crossing where we found a cooler full of juice from the local Methodist church. I really crave orange juice in the morning, so I appreciated the treat. The trail was very level, and we moved. It started to rain harder just as we were crossing the road to Bland. There was a church there with a covered doorway just big enough to keep dry for lunch. From there we crossed over I77, then 12 flat miles to our final shelter. I cruised. I had finished 24 miles by 4:00. My feet were once again throbbing, but I otherwise felt great.Day 48 was a wet one. It ws about 6 miles to a road crossing with a gas station. We got there at abou 9:00. I had breakfast and used the pay phone. As the day went on, the rain came down harder. We waited until after lunch time in the gas station. We had pizza and fries and soda. Finally at about 12:20 there was a lull in the rain, and I decided to make a break for it. The rain continued all day. We stopped at a waterfall where I really wanted to go swimming, but it was just too cold. It started raining harder. It got to the point that walking through the puddles and streams made no difference of how wet my feet got. That was fun for a while, but the novelty wore off after about an hour. Somewhere in the wet, muddy trail, we passed the 600 mile mark. We hit the shelter by 4:00, and all I wanted to do was crawl into my sleeping bag. We roasted hot dogs over a camp stove. It felt great to get into warm clothes and fall asleep.Day 49 was all about getting into Pearisburg. I put on my last pair of dry socks, which didn't stay dry for long. We had 16.2 miles to go. Everything was wet. The trail was a stream. But town was pulling us in. We trudged on up and down, up and down, then finally into residential Pearisburg. Aaah, town. I was so psyched to be in town. It had been 7 days since a shower, and 10 days since laundry. They were long, wet days. Our zero day in Pearisburg will be well deserved.Pearisburg is not easy to get around, so we wandered for a while. We found our friend Bedouin, and hit her husband up for a ride to the hostel. The hostel, run by the Church of the Holy Family, is way out of town, but has a beautiful view. Before we could get into the hostel, Bill the caretaker had our packs off, and whisked us back into town. He took us to the post office, then to Pizza Hut. After a relaxing dinner, we went outside to hitch a ride back to the hostel, only to find Bill out driving around, looking for hikers to drive around. Bill is a retired military man who enjoys spending all his spare time helping hikers around Pearisburg.We got back to our bunkroom, and opened our maildrops. It was like Christmas for all of us, as we each got unexpected packages.   Mine came from the fine folks I worked with in Boulder. It was so much fun! I got Boulder potato chips, cookies, candy bars, and some Barbie band aids. Ha! Thanks Yusko, Robin, and Darius. You all made my day! It has been a particulalrly tough week on the trail. It feels great to relax.