Date: 2019-05-27
From: Bland

To: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 49.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Monday May 27, 2019Greenie and I were up at 6:00 this morning. We made coffee and breakfast in the room. I also grabbed a quick shower - - because I could.Bubba picked us up at 8:00 but while we were waiting for him we had a chance to talk to a couple who were going up to the trail to do some trail magic. Apparently the woman had done some of the trail but while she would have liked to thru-hike it, it never happened. The friend she had hiked with now had cancer - so it will likely never happen.We were on the trail around 8:15 or so after a photo opp with the couple from the motel. She wanted a photo with "real hikers"...so I guess we qualify.Today was mostly in the woods. We stopped and spoke to a couple of hikers at the 600 mile north of springer mark. They asked us to take a picture of them. One of the hikers was recently retired from SAP. Oddly enough, we ran into a young man on the trail today who was pumped as he had just found out (on the trail) that he had been hired for his first job after college.We stopped at the Jenny Knob Shelter for water and then hiked on one more mile to where we will camp for the night (0.2 miles south of VA 608).It looks like we will be the only two camping here for the night as most would either stop at the Jenny Knob Shelter or keep going.Tomorrow is our big day, 17.9 miles.Sighting today was a Goshawk near our campsiteTuesday 5/28/2019Up this morning at 5:50 AM, broke camp and was walking by 7:15. Crossed VA 608 in short order and began our larger climb for the day up Brushy Mountain. We crossed through some fields at the end of Brushy Mountain and then over a really neat suspension bridge that spanned Kimberling Creek.The trail was largely flat so we made good time reaching our originally planned destination near a crossing of Dismal Creek at about 12:30. WE had lunch and pushed on another 2.2 miles to Wapiti Shelter.Along the way we saw a pileated woodpecker (I mistook his call last night for a Goshawk) and also saw a young deerThe shelter has some nice tenting areas and a great stream nearby. Someone had created a deep pool in the stream by stacking rocks - so we had a great place to bathe and clean up. Washing up in the stream felt really sweet!A hiker here from Japan and as it turns out, had lost his water filter a few days ago. Greenie gave him some extra Aquamira drops he had in his pack that would hold the guy until he got to town to purchase a new filter. The guy was beyond himself with gratitude, so after Greenie refusing money for the drops the guy gave him some origami birds he was carrying with him as gift.Going further today only leaves us 8.2 miles to Woods Hole tomorrow, so we should be done by noon at the latest. In all today was a great day. I cannot believe that this is our last night camping on the trail in VA and only have two days left to finish the south. After this it will be off to Maine to finish the 100 mile wilderness, climb Mount katahdin and complete the entire AT.One downer of a note today - my shorts snap broke so I am going to have to wear my sleeping shorts the balance of this hike.Wednesday May 29, 2019The days are obviously getting longer as first night had me moving at 5:40 Vs 5:50 AM. We broke camp and ate breakfast at the shelter. "Just John" joined us at the shelter. Our Japanese friend had hit the privy and disappeared without saying goodbye.We started with a climb today of about 1,170 feet. Once we reached the ridge it was fairly easy hiking. We stopped at some of the viewpoints including the summit of Sugar Run Mountain. We arrived at Woods Hole by 11:30, got showered and got our laundry going. Our shuttle to take us to get our rental car showed up prior to 2:00. After getting the rental we stopped at the Food Lion to get some happy hour and lunch food. We got back to Woods Hole before a thunderstorm started coming in hard core.Tomorrow will be 16 miles and we have to be done by 4:00 to meet Don (AKA Ratface) our shuttle so we can get back to the hostel as we will be going into town for dinner and we are helping provide transportation to other hikers. Tonight dinner is at the hostel. Tomorrow will be Korean BBQ.One point to note: Two small canisters of gas got us through 4 nights on the trail plus breakfast in Bland. Greenies canister died this AM but mine still had enough to get us through breakfast this morning.Thursday May 30, 2019Last day in Virginia! Greenie was up at 5:00, but I slept until 6:00. We had coffee and a trail breakfast and pushed off at 7:00 walking back up to the AT. We hit the AT at 7:10 and finding the treadway fairly easy we put down a good pace averaging 2.7 MPH. We stopped at an overlook, took in the view and moved on. We took a quick look at Doc's knob shelter, which had a really nice deck out front, and hiked on.We stopped at a rock ledge overlook to view the valley below and also stopped at a powerline cut to take in the view and call home.Before Angels Rest Overlook we ran into "Just John" again while he was taking a break. We talked to him for a while. Another hiker we had seen on the trail a few times showed up as well.We pushed onto Angel Rest and called Don (Ratface) to move our pick-up time up to 2:30 from 4:00 We then started our downward climb, passing an old defunct power line tower now surrounded by the forest. We crossed Cross Ave and stopped for water at a small waterfall taking some pictures before moving on. We stopped at the parking lot near the Pearis Cemetery to have lunch. We received some trail magic from a driver from Angels Rest Hostel who stopped and gave us some cold sodas! While having lunch "Just John" showed up. We talked , took some pictures of the three of us and moved on.When we crossed the bridge over the New River we met up with a few thru-hikers we had seen over the last several days - spoke briefly - and moved on. Passing a manufacturing facility and a landfill, the air smelled nasty. Two young hikers we had passed, passed us. Greenie took off like a shot to keep up with them. Greenie was also farting up a storm today....as in all day....payback for all of my indiscretions in terms of letting my gas pass.We finished VA at 2:00 PM. 16 miles today in just over 6 hours.We have now officially walked from Springer Mountain Georgia to Monson Maine. The final chapter begins in August!