Date: 2007-06-18
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I guess it's that time again for another journal entry. Right now I'm in Pearisburg, VA at mile 622. I can't believe I've already hiked this far! Me and some folks decided to take another zero day at Damascus and it was definately worth it. Squirrel, Barbarossa, Blue Song, Big Cat, & I paid a shuttle service to drive us 17 miles up the Creeper Trail and provide us with bikes. The great thing is that the entire bike ride was generally down hill so we just spent the whole afternoon taking our sweet time outside, stopping at swimming holes, and a cafe along the way. Although Barbarossa had his back tire blow out and a crash ensued. He was alright though, we didn't even realize this until I biked up the trail (after realizing he went missing!) several miles to find him. That night we camped in Dennet's backyard again. There was trivia night at Baja Cafe so we all went down there and had a great time drinking with the people and fellow hikers. Unfortunately, Damascus was Pain Train's final destination so we had to say good-bye to him that morning. He's dearly missed The next morning we finally were sucked out of the vortex of town and got back onto the trail. A few days later we hit the Grayson Highlands and that was an amazing experience. We had packed out 2 pounds of carrots to feed all the wild ponies and they were everywhere! It was so neat to be hiking for awhile and then run into a herd of feral mares and fouls just lounging around the fields. The landscape there was gorgeous, it was full of balds with jagged rocks everywhere and the rhododendrums were in bloom. Purple flowers eeeeverywhere.I met a great guy who goes by the name of Fish Man. We ended up staying at the same shelters as him for about 4 days straight. He's the retired dead of wildlife and fisheries biology at Auburn University and is awesome. He makes crazy big "Fish Man Fires" and really had a good time hanging out with us. It was pretty funny b/c Barbarossa, Squirrel, & I rolled into Partnership Shelter and the first thing he said was that all day he was thinking about our futures (his new name's Oracle). So he sat us each down and psychoanalyzed us and told us what we're going to be in the future. I'm supposed to be an educator and get a masters in Marine Biology and he really wants be to join this program at Auburn where I get to study marine organisms off the east coast and scuba dive all the live long day. That doesn't sound too bad, first I have to get over my irrational fear of fish Speaking of Partnership Shelter, that place was amazing b/c it's right next to a ranger station and you're able to order pizza there. We got 2 large & 2 medium pizzas, 2 orders of family sized cheese sticks, and pop... and ate it all. It was awesome.We definately took our sweet time from Damascus to Pearisburg, laziness set in a bit but I've decided to pick up the miles a bit more now. It's not about the miles, it's about the smiles, right? We took a nero and stopped in Troutdale to stay at the hostel there. I ended up having breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Jerry's, the only grocery store/restaurant in town (population 423). Big Cat needed new shoes desperately so he got off there and is a few days behind now. He's also dearly missedSquirrel, Barbarossa, and I stayed at the Relax Inn in Rural Retreat, VA. When we got there Fish Man was already drinking a 40 (hilarious). Also, Blue Song caught up to us and stayed the night. He's been hiking with us for the past few days now and it's been a great time. He has an amazing voice, I like to hike behind him so I can just listen Anyways, that was a fun night. There was a girl named Christy that joined us, she got out of the Navy the day before and was driving down to Nashville the next day to visit her little sister. She was an amazing person and played many songs for us on her classical guitar.There's so many things to write about but it's hard to remember them right now! Last night the 4 of us stayed at Woodshole Hostel which was a neat little place, the bunkhouse was an old log cabin with a loft for sleeping in. It was free, the rent was doing a little bit of yard work. The owners there, Tillie and Neville were amazing people. They woke us up at 7 AM with the ringing of a large bell and served us breakfast in their dining room. Squirrel said grace and we enjoyed homemade eggs, biscuits, and sausages (well, I got fruit!). They made about 40 biscuits and made us eat them all!Now I'm staying at the church hostel in Pearisburg b/c the Rendezvous Motel was all filled up. There's a party going on there later so I'll be joining friends down there later. Baltimore Jack, Miss Janet, Fox, and Otay are all staying there so somehow we'll find a way to get 4 miles down the road. That's about all for now. Time to go run various errands.-Spill the BeansThe next stop was at the Relax Inn a couple days later where I had a package waiting.