Date: 2016-04-27
From: Devil's Backbone via Reid's Gap 

To: Stanimal's Hostel via Rockfish Gap
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: broken clouds

I slept pretty poorly last night until for some reason the two giant floodlights a hundred yards away got turned off. As the morning broke, I lounged around and slept in, knowing I would be waiting around for the 9:30 hiker breakfast anyways. Dill, Pendexter, Toast and I packed up as employees arrived, trying not to look like we'd just spent the night there camped out on the ground. Nobody gave us any trouble. Dill was adorably paranoid. At 9:30 we sheepishly entered the main pub area and were quickly seated at a table and handed more coffee and tea than we could possibly drink. We were soon joined by Wetbeard, Obi Trail Kenobi and Ski Pole, who hammocked out in the "correct" camping area. Breakfast was wonderful, a big plate of eggs, fresh bread, sausage and fruit. The coffee was delicious. We felt pretty pleased with ourselves for having been sheltered in from what seems like just a terrible storm up on the ridge, if White Rabbit's Facebook is anything to go on. Pendexter's grandparents showed up and brought the three hikers back to the trailhead. Wetbeard, Obi, Ski Pole and I piled into a truck driven by Tony, the "head of hospitality" at the brewery who brought us up at just about the same time. It was already 11 and I had 19 miles to do before town, so I began pretty much booking it down the trail. There were only a few small climbs today, mostly flat hiking, but the terrain was Rocky and tough in many places. My internal clock was thrown way off by my late start, but I cruised at above 3 miles an hour all day long, barely stopping. I pulled into Paul Wolfe shelter at about 4, met a sobo section hiker named Two Hip, and said hi to Fiber, who is staying the night here. I pushed on and about 3 miles in was greeted by the rain that had been forecasted all day. It came down consistently and totally soaked my clothes and legs and shoes. After a grueling hour of wet and clammy hiking, I pulled up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, in just about the worst fog I've ever been in. I could barely see 15 feet. Adam Stanley, owner of Stanimal's hostel, said he'd pick me up "at the popcorn stand," but there was none in sight in the tiny radius I could see. I crossed over the highway before deciding to look it up on google. I found that the stand was actually below me on the state route, so I climbed down and across the road and waited a few minutes in the fog and was picked up! Adam hiked the AT in 2004, the PCT in 2010, and is a very fit, intense, but accommodating host. I only mention fit because it's about the first time a hostel owner has been fit. We chatted about new haven and the hostel, and he dropped me off at Ming Garden, the must-stop all you can eat Chinese buffet where a few hikers had already gone. I went inside and found Large, White Rabbit and Spidey, who, despite having finished eating, hung around and talked to me as I brought out plate after plate piled high with noodles and syrupy chickens goodness. They are all camped out at the pavilion "tent city," which offers free showers at the nearby YMCA. The buffet was far more extensive than the one in Pearisburg, and an incredible deal at 10 bucks! Delicious.Adam graciously offered to pick me up again, and I headed over to the hostel, where I found Bolt and Sooner or Later, as well as a few southbound hikers. I chose a bunk and settled in. I struggled with the laundry machine for a while and apparently it is now broken. Adam assures me that this has been a LONG time coming. I did my wash in the sink. I facetimed Ali for a long time. I also had a conversation with Bolt and Sooner or Later about what to do with the fire detour. I was pretty sure I wanted to hike as far as I could along the trail and get shuttled around the fire by the Forest Service, but apparently the much more reliable shuttles are running from Waynesboro to Powell Gap. Nascar, a hiker I met around Hampton who hiked the miles from Rockfish Gap to the fire closure today, said he barely found a shuttle back out of the park. Sooner or Later had also been feeling the way I was, but finally was swayed because he is now planning a road trip back down here with his wife later in the summer to come complete the section he missed. When he returns, he says, he wants a real section of 40 miles to complete, not simply a 15 mile, one day cruise that barely merits the trip in the first place. That made some sense to me. I am not going to skip any part of the trail. I am here to walk in a continuous line from Georgia to Maine, and I will be coming back to the Shenandoah to finish it out at some point. So why not actually give myself a real section to complete when I do? I'll figure it out. Happy 50 days on the trail to me!