Date: 2019-06-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

After a full week of rest and self-therapy at home, Woofie¢s feet and ankles have finally begun to respond favorably. Returning home was the right call. Yesterday was the first day she could walk, albeit carefully, without pain. She still has a ways to go to be fully back to normal. And whenever that is, she¢s looking forward to returning to the trail, possibly in the fall, but definitely next spring. This year¢s lessons learned: if you have a problem with gout, stay away from sea food. Also, most importantly, listen to your body. At our age recovery time is much longer. So when something starts to hurt, pay attention to it. Although we worked hard to prepare ourselves, strengthening our arm, leg, and core muscles for months before this year¢s hike, feet and ankles don¢t get their workouts until the hike begins, and they have veto power over all the other body parts where hiking is concerned.Although this year¢s hike was shorter than we¢d planned, we still had a great time. We found some terrific places to eat. You can¢t beat breakfast at The Barn near Atkins. And the best burgers in the world are at the Brushy Mountain Outpost near Bland. A great place to visit or even stay for a day or two is the Woods Hole Hostel. Neville, the owner, makes everyone feel welcome and provides plenty to eat, including fresh-grown vegetables with every meal.We¢d like to give special thanks to the shuttle drivers that made our style of hiking possible. Thank you, Rambunny, for shuttling us from the Mount Rogers Nat¢l Rec Area Visitor Center, last year to the Grayson Highlands and this year to the Rt 42 trailhead. Thank you, Bubba, who shuttled us twice from the Big Walker Motel, so we could hike back to Bland. And thank you, Don Raines, not only for shuttling us twice from Pearisburg, but also for your guidance and help when we needed it. Less than an hour after we decided we needed to get off the trail, you were there, our trail angel come to collect us.Most enjoyable were the special people we met along the way. We tried to include as many of them as we could in our journal this year. Two guys and a dog that we met three times in three different places were Goku and Mowgli. We gave them hiking kilts, and they promised us that our kilts would make it all the way to Mount Katahdin. And the most interesting hiker was someone that we didn¢t really meet. He was the hiker that hikes carrying his lovely pussy cat in the sack of his shirt. He wouldn¢t talk to us as he passed by, but that just added a sense of mystery to the already unusual sight. So, we¢ll just remember them as Bagpuss & Boots.On our first section hiking southbound back to the Mount Rogers Nat¢l Rec Area Visitor Center, we met Viva. Rambunny picked her up on our way to the Rt 42 trailhead, and we hiked along at about the same pace, meeting several times and becoming good friends along the way. We last saw her when we shuttled her back to the trail from our motels in Marion, VA, so she could continue her southbound trek back to GA.And most enjoyable of all was the time we spent with Books and Castaway. We met them at the trailhead waiting for a ride to the Mountain Garden Hostel, where we were all planning to spend the night. Somehow, Mark, the hostel owner managed to cram all four of us hikers and our packs into his Prius for the drive to his hostel. With the exception of the seafood dinner that led to the end of Woofie¢s hike, we had a fun and interesting evening all together. Over the next few days we four formed our own small hiker bubble, winding up back at the Big Walker Motel again. And then a week later we found them again, doing work-for-stay at the Woods Hole Hostel, where we spent two days waiting for severe storms to pass. The hostel was a great place, but it was even so much better having our friends there with us. We hope we see them again.