Date: 2013-05-17
From: Unnamed Paved Rd., north of Pearisburg, VA

To: VA 632, mi 663.6
Miles today: 30.0
Weather: few clouds

In the late afternoon of May 16, while hiking out of Pearisburg, Meg Swearingen, Britta's mom, had introduced me to her colleague and friend, Marcy Campbell in Roan Oak, VA. She texted Marcy's phone number to me and left it to me to set up a tentative meeting time. My goal today was to contact Marcy somewhere from the ridge crest north of Pearisburg and figure out a rendezvous location. I made the steep ascent to the ridge line in the early morning. Before reaching the top of the ridge, I noticed a hunter in camouflage holding a large rifle with scope on the trail ahead of me. I approached him ever-so-cautiously, fearing that if he was startled by the slightest wrestling of leaves under foot, that he'd turn and shoot. When I reached him, he commented "I can't seem to find my target this morning". I thought to myself, I needed to distance myself as quickly as possible from this person. It became quite evident at this point why hikers were encouraged to where bright-even fluorescent clothing. I picked up my pace and did not look back until I turned a switchback. He was out of my sight. A short distance south of the Rice Field Shelter (which is not visible from the AT, hidden in the dense forest cover at the edge of the grassy bald), the AT begins straddling the state border between West VA and VA. Rice Field Shelter is east of the AT, in VA. By mid morning, I arrived at an ATT cell tower. I sat for a moment, studied AWOL's guide and figured that VA632 was the only feasible option. It would be a 30 mile day. I sent a text to the phone number that Meg Swearingen sent me, then left a voice mail. I proceeded north figuring that Marcy would still be able to reach me as long as I was on the ridge line, and she did. The meeting was confirmed. Based on my distance, well established hiking pace, and d=rt, I estimated my arrival time to be between 7:30-8pm, factoring in terrain and rest time to the equation. After ascending the steep ridge north of Pearisburg in the early morning of May 17, with a pack weighed down by several days of food, I sent off a text to Marcy. I looked at AWOL's guide and estimated an approximate time to hike 30 miles. I told her to meet me at VA632 between 7:30 and 8pm. She confirmed she got the message and described her car and custom plates¢¦.."VAMAP4" I recall, which covered the section of the AT near her residence outside of Roan Oak, VA.   Further north, past the Rice Field Shelter, I caught up with an older portly man with a gray beard, who introduced himself as Bear Foot. We talked for a moment, and discovered that we now both knew the peculiar man from Oregon, named Chris. Chris had taken off ahead of me again, the previous day in Pearisburg after resupplying. I quickly learned what part of his resupply included, when Bear Foot mentioned Chris's noisy arrival into camp around 9pm. He not only woke up Bear Foot, but proceeded in consuming the other half of a baked Chicken. The scraps which he discarded nearby, attracted the rats into his sleeping area. Chris then proceeded in asking Bear Foot for trail directions. Apparently, Chris could not afford the 15.00 guidebook by AWOL, so he relied on everyone he pissed off along the way. I did not recall if Bear Foot was planning to through hike the AT, but believe he was. I wished him a great journey and continued my fast pace. By 7pm, I was making my final descent towards VA632. At 7:40 I had reached the gravel road of VA632. I looked to the left and found the only car parked in a small lot. To the right, perhaps 200 yds further down the road, I could see a person walking with a dog. I began hiking towards this person and discovered quickly it was Marcy Campbell hiking with here German Shepard companion. I thought to myself that she was a remarkably brave woman to be meeting a hiker she'd never met before, in the middle of nowhere on a now dark, desolate road. "You must be Mike" she said very cordially. "Yes, how did you know?" I said. Hmmm, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out. She asked me if I noticed her custom plates. I said "No, I hadn't walked to her car yet". She explained the meaning of the plates¢¦which at first glance looked like VAMP and got me thinking about Ann Rice novels. Maybe this was my interview with one. I quickly discovered Marcy's passion for the AT, her devotion. On the way to her residence, we drove through Roan Oak, VA, where she took me out to a very nice bar and grill in town. We each ordered a special, non-alcolhol fruit cider, salads, and gourmet burgers. Some 3 hours later, driving most of the distance in darkness, we arrived at her two story house with privately owned lake shore. Her hospitality reminded me of some very dear friends back home in California. I slept soundly upstairs, in a king-sized memory foam canopy bed, after a soothing hot shower. Marcy had provided a home away from home!