Date: 2012-05-19
From: Woods Hole Hostel

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 58: The morning dawns sunny and cool. In the upstairs level of the bunkhouse, several hikers are up at the crack of dawn to get an early start. Shortly after they leave, I begin to pack up all of my gear while SilverGirl lingers inside her sleeping bag for a bit longer. At 7:30, Neville, our hostess at the hostel, rings the bell for coffee and tea time over in the house. Over cups of tea, SilverGirl and I enjoy a half hour of nice conversation with Turtle and Snail before breakfast. Our German friends have been on a number of hiking adventures all over the world, including Kilamanjaro and the Himalayas. It is interesting to listen to their stories even though they can only covey them to us in broken English. At 8:00, we are all called inside for breakfast. There is a tradition at this hostel that before each meal, all of the guests are asked to join hands, and then one by one, each person introduces themself with their trail name, says where they are from, and then expresses something that they are thankful for. It's a nice touch and it gets the day off to a positive start. After breakfast, we settle our bill and get ready to leave. Red, one of the other guests here who has a car, offers us a ride back up the trailhead, which is 0.5 miles up the gravel road. By 9:30, we are back on the trail. We only have 10.4 miles to hike today to get into Pearisburg, where we will be spending the night. During the morning, our walk is very pleasant. The rhododendruns and mountain laurel are in full bloom here now, and we enjoy the profusion of blooms alongside the trail as we walk along. Just before noon, we break out into an opening where power lines come through and stop for lunch. We are on top of a ridgeline here and the view is impressive. Moving on after lunch, we continue along this ridgeline back into the woods. About an hour later, we arrive at a sign pointing us to another beautiful overlook called Angels Rest. From here, we have a great view of Pearisburg below. We can also see the bridge over the New River which we cross tomorrow as well as the next ridgeline we will climb. After a steep descent from Angels Rest, we arrive at the Rendezvous Motel in Pearisburg at about 2:15. The office is locked when we arrive, so we call the cell phone number on the window to get someone to check us in. In a few minutes, Skeeter, who works at the motel, arrives. He is very pleasant and helpful as he gets us checked into our room and retrieves our maildrop package for us. Thankyou, Molly for sending us Mom's ATM card and Pat for the Mothers Day and Birthday cards. Skeeter also offers us, along with another hiker, Gimpy,  a ride up to the laundromat in town about a mile away. 15 minutes later, we are in his car on the way to town. Thanks, Skeeter! SilverGirl and I and Gimpy get our clothes into the wash, and then walk over to the Rite Aid Store for some drinks and ice cream. After our laundry is done, we all walk to the Food Lion to pick up some food for tomorrows breakfast. Finally, we finish our day with a very ample dinner at the BBQ Restaurant in town. It has been another good day for us today and we are back in a groove. Tomorrow, our plan is to hike about 20 miles to the Pickle Branch Shelter. Daleville will be our next town stop in 5-6 days.