Date: 2016-07-08
From: Laurel Creek campsite

To: Bland, VA
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 5When I got up, I put on wet clothes and packed up a wet rainfly. Everything except the shorts I sleep in was wet. Rolly and I were heading in opposite directions. I was ready to hit the trail before him because he sat at the picnic table and rolled his daily supply of cigarettes. He told me about a gas station in Bland, VA, the next town north that had a diner in the back with great food. I thought about heading into Bland and drying my clothes, even though I knew it was a temporary endeavor. It was 9 miles to the road and then three miles into town. Once I hiked up from the creek side campsite, it was fairly level hiking. I had two trail companions. One was a deer who didn't seem to mind that I was hiking on the trail about ten yards away. She did stop eating and watched me pass by. Later I passed a large skunk. I don't think it ever noticed me. I stopped to get a picture. I decided it was an optimization problem. I wanted to minimize my distance while taking the picture, but maximize the likelihood of my escaping without smelling any worse than I already did. I knew my chances of hitching a ride into town would be greatly diminished if I got sprayed by a skunk. So I kept a safe distance and snapped a photo.As I got closer to the road crossing I heard lots of traffic. It is always a bit strange to hear the sounds of civilization invade the wilderness of the trail. But I thought, "With that much traffic, I'll have no trouble finding a ride." Then I reached the road crossing. It was a narrow, quiet, country road. The traffic noise was from the adjacent interstate that had an overpass, but no exit onto the country road. There were two hikers at the road crossing. They had just gotten dropped off to start a section hike going north. "Too bad you weren't here 5 minutes ago," one of the said. "You could have gotten a ride into town." I thought that sometimes it is better to just not know information like that.I didn't want to walk 3.6 miles to town, so I had to hitch hike. There was a curve in the road and a large gravel parking area at the trailhead. That would make it easy for someone to pull off and pick me up. If I started walking down the narrow, winding road, drivers might be afraid to stop. It seemed that the best plan was to hitch at that location. After standing and waiting for a ride for 30 minutes I began rethinking my plan. I needed to either continue on the trail or start walking to town. With a wet tent and all wet clothes I decided I needed to get to town. As I walked down the long and winding road, several cars passed but did not stop. I did get noticed by a dog as I walked past a house. I had to move to the other side of the road. That didn't stop his barking or his interest in me, but he never came closer than about 6 feet. People always talk about bears on the trail. So far my biggest fears have been (1) running out of water, (2) rattle snakes, and (3) dogs.Several cars went past without stopping or even slowing down. I always look for patterns - it's one of the curses of being a math teacher. In my hitch hiking experience I have noticed the pattern that rides seldom come from new shiny cars, they come from older cars that are existing beyond their expected useful life. When an old truck came sputtering down the road, I had hope for a ride. Sure enough, he slowed down and offered me a ride. I threw my pack in the back, cleared enough stuff off the seat to make room for myself, and climbed in. I thanked him for the ride and he said he always picks up hitch hikers because he has needed rides before. There's a pattern that makes sense...if you knows what it's like to need a ride, you offer rides to others in need. I think there is s bigger life lesson there somewhere.So I made it to the gas station/diner in Bland, VA and had the best hamburger I had in ages. In truth, I usually get a veggie burger at restaurants, but this wasn't the kind of place that had veggie burgers on the menu.There was no laundromat in town but there was a hotel. I decided to spend the night and do my laundry there. I asked about the laundry and the hotel clerk took me around to the back of the hotel and showed me two tubs, a hose, and a clothes line. "I'm afraid this is the laundry." "I guess that will work," I said. I put on the shirts I sleep in and put the rest of my clothes in the tub of cold water and added some of my camp soap. I washed them and rinsed them, wrung out as much water as I could, and hung them on the line. I also hung up my tent and rain fly to dry them out. Within five minutes a big black cloud came over the mountain and it started to rain. I quickly took down all my laundry, took it into my room, and spent the rest of the evening turning the heating/cooling unit from heat to cool and back to keep the blower going until the clothes were dry. It took the whole evening, but I was ready to hit the trail in the morning with a dry tent and all dry clothes.