Date: 2022-05-03
From: Johns Spring Shelter

To: Va 624.ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ 4 Pines Hostel
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: overcast clouds

After a couple of hours of additional sleep, I got up & going as quickly & quietly as I could. Not really fast ¢ most of the others were up by the time I left. A mile down to Hwy 311. Last time here, I got some one to give me a ride down to the Catawba store ¢ it hadn¢t seemed very far. This time none of the people waiting were willing. So I got the dumb idea of walking down there. It¢s a treacherous winding road with defective shoulders ¢¦ or none. I worked my way down to the post office, thinking the gas station/store was just beyond there. Actually, it¢s about 2 more miles! Nothing to do but head back up to the Trail. I spent 20 or 30 minutes trying to hitchhike from the intersection before a woman finally stopped & took me back up the hill. Later, I was reminded that there are a couple of alternate side trails farther down that lead more easily to the Catawba store. After getting back on the Trail, I was passed by several of the people who had been camped with me last night. They weren¢t going much faster than I, but they eventually pulled ahead. Hikers I met included Sunken, Machine, Rocky-Road, Hey-Jude, Bourbon, Rocket, Wilson, Polaris, Prometheus, Aphrodite, PaCer, Booty-Pusher, Pilgrim, Speedo, Perseverance, & Long-Runner.Not very difficult trail for the next 6 miles, then .4 miles up Rt. 624 to the 4 Pines Hostel. That¢s where Honey-Toe ended up last night, after walking back to the motel to get her inhaler & getting a shuttle from there. This hostel is a large garage, with automotive tools still around the walls & a single bathroom in one corner. Lots of bunkbeds plus a variety of old sofas. I chose a bunk off in a corner; Honey-Toe had already been using a couch right in the middle of everything. There were only a few hikers when I first arrived, (Quinoa, Shepherd, Bonus) not more than 10 at bed-time. The caretaker, Sprocket, took some of us to the market [really very near the hostel ¢ my foray this morning was silly, wasn¢t it?] to get pizza. Apparently the family-style restaurant in this area doesn¢t exist any more. I had called earlier to see if the store had fuel canisters & was told No. Well, actually they do. Like many things in the store it¢s hard to find out the price. Lots of things are pretty high priced ¢ others are oddly cheap. One clerk said she didn¢t know anything because it was her first day on the job, but the other clerk & the manager weren¢t much better. They advertise that the second pizza is discounted. Another customer was charged full price for all 3 of her pizzas. When she asked about the discount she was told that if that¢s how it rang up on the register, that¢s what she had to pay. Obviously, I wasn¢t impressed.Since this is the last hostel for a while, we decided to slack-pack tomorrow & spend another night here. We arranged for a pick-up at Rt 621 & talked with Sprocket about a ride to Pearisburg the following morning. It¢s a long ride, but we don¢t have many days left together, & I wanted to let Honey-Toe experience some of the nicer hostels South of there. Besides, the Trail between here & Pearisburg isn¢t real exciting ¢ I¢ll come back & pick it up later.