Date: 2013-05-02
From: Daleville

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Friday my friend Ben came up from Charlotte, NC to hike with me. He got the name Sugar Free after complaining too many times about buying sugar free life savers. He came up Friday after work and joe Mitchell, the owner of 4 pines Hostel at Newport Rd mile 697.8, shuttled him to the VA 42 road crossing. I spotted Ben before he could scare me, and we waited for Fly and Woodrow before hiking north to Sarver Hollow Shelter. Taco was just ahead of us getting there and we all shared a laugh about Ben almost jumping out and scaring him thinking that he was me! The shelter was almost half a mile steeply down hill to the shelter but it was a nicely built new one and we got water at an old home site where ruins of decrepit buildings stand. Sugar Free and I built a fire and after we had eaten we sat around and reminisced about old college times. Soon something began exploding in the fire! I thought somehow some .22 cartridges or something had made it into the fire, but it turned out to be one of the rocks of the fire ring exploding as it got too hot. I moved the rock away from the fire and no one was hit by the flying pieces. The next morning we were treated to a beautiful ridge walk before a steep descent and big climb up to the Audie Murphy monument on the trail. The climb up was the toughest we have had in a while but Sugar Free and I didn't have any problems and pulled into the shelter right behind a Canadian named Jelly. At the shelter we found Tricia, Cricket, their brother Rainmaker, Taco, and California (now going by Truck Surfer). It was occasionally sprinkling but once again we got a nice fire going and all told horrific workplace accident stories into the night. This was the longest hike of Sugar Free's life at 16 miles with a heavy pack and he ended it by sleeping in the shelter without a sleeping pad. I'm sure he was sore but he didn't act it! The next day we had a good climb up to the Dragon's Tooth in the rain. We had lots of great misty views and by the time we had reached the Tooth all we could think about was getting to the all you can eat Home Place Restaurant. Sugar Free and I descended to Newport Rd with Woodrow. We passed Rooster going back into the woods from Four Pines Hostel. He highly recommended the restaurant and the hostel and we continued up the street to it. As we did, several cars came flying past us in the rain at around 65-70 mph. This is a twisty , 2 lane country road and these guys were flying. We ran and got way off the toad just as a second group of cars came flying by and one of them went off the road and hit a tree where we had just been standing. I had zero sympathy for the driver and a dozen other cars stopped. It ended up being the Car Club of Virginia Tech, and apparently this is one of their primary activities. They all were wearing custom made CCVT t shirts. We continued to the hostel where we told the owner Joe Mitchell what happened. Inside we found our crew from the shelter as well as Old English, Chapinlara, Dozer, and Funyuns. The Home Place was awesome- highly recommend it. Have to go leaving town (Daleville). I need to get back on track with my journal.