Date: 2008-04-25
From: paul c wolf shelter

To: waynesboro, va
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Only 5 easy miles into Waynesboro today so we attempted to sleep in but failed miserably. Up a little after 6 like usual and out of camp a little after 7 - earlier than normal. We were all proud of our pack weight with no food and water and we flew into town.Along the way we came across two points of intrigue. The first was a seemingly ancient settler cemetary. The headstones were simple flat rocks, and there was only a faded inscription on one of them that we couldn't read. The next was a chimney from a long abandoned farm. Still standing and even looked functional. Its really cool that the trail brings us past points of interest in addition to striving to hit the top of every mountain in its path no matter how steep or rocky.Came out of the woods at Rockfish Gap which is where the trail crosses I-64. It also marks mile 0 of the BRP so we got our pictures with all the signs "proving" we were there. Went to the visitors center and there was a list of trail angels who gave free shuttles to the city (its illegal to hitch on an interstate or in a national park, and under a few other circumstances). The third person was free and there in a couple minutes. His license plate was PCT HKR so small talk was easy on the way to town. He even drove us around and gave us a tour.It was still early so we went to the laundromat first and did some much needed laundry. 13 days in the hot sun makes clothes smell pretty good and they were pretty stiff with dried sweat. You could even see it on the clothes. Very attractive.After laundry it was lunch time. For my first time out here there was finally a Chinese buffet. We hit it at the lunch rate and put a real hurting on it. It was $6 after tax, so a dollar a plate wasn't too bad. We all ate a lot and I'll just say that the decision to remain in my rainpants with the drawstring and elastic waist band was probably a good idea. They even had ice cream, so we had 3 of those. I think I'm becoming a little lactose intolerant though since I'm not really having any dairy on the trail. Felt a little queasy from that but we were full.We hit the PO, and I had an optimistic feeling going in. Unfortunately my package hasn't shown up after 16 freaking days. I have a bad feeling I will never see my summer gear and I may have lost a couple hundred dollars to the USPS. Awesome. Some of that stuff was brand new too. In addition to some minor stuff, I'm missing my summer sleeping bag, crocs, water filter, platypus with drinking hose, and fleece. Boo.I figured out how I can stretch my gear to cover it for the time being with the help of BH and TB. I'll buy some knock off crocs at the dollar store, switch to aqua mira for my water treatment (I wanted to get off the iodine anyways), and I'll pay more shipping to have my extra camelback sent from home. A real shame.BH and I went to the YMCA to check in for the free camping and use of their facilities. We dropped our packs and started to wander the city aimlessly. We went to the library and used the internet for an hour or so. Sent some emails and got up to date and confirmed that the normal world was still in existance. I also got to listen to some of "my" music for the first time on the trail. What a relief. Some of these songs have been going through my head non stop for the last couple months and no industrial or metal was starting to get to me. Bluegrass just doesn't cut if for me. Went to a few stores, not really looking for anything. It started to rain even though there was nothing in the forecast. Cursed the weatherman. We loitered a bit at a strip mall waiting for it to stop and discussed how easily someone could confuse us with vagrants.The rain was attempting to stop so we hit the fast food district. Did some food at BK for dinner and headed back to the Y. Took free showers with towels and soap thanks to ana anonymous donor and washed the dirty water wash down the drain. Feels good to be clean.Hit up the library again for some more surfing and glorious music. I also let BH hear some music so he could finally understand what I was talking about all this time. I also listened to some of his, and I'm sure he thought the same thing of mine as I of his.Went to the city park to set out our tents. I got mine up quick and laughed at BH as he struggled to set up his tarp poncho for about an hour. He eventually got it good enough and we headed to the gas station for some beer and snacks. Unfortunately they just closed. We saw a kid walking down the street so we asked him if there was another store we could get it from and he gave us directions and walked with us along the way. He was..interesting, though the conversation eventually wandered back to hiking and the trail. Sometimes it does get old answering the same questions over and over again, especially when you know it will all be soon forgotten.Anyways, we made it to the gas station and settled on some beer and chips. Hit it up back at the campsite and went to bed around actual midnight. Late day.