Date: 2018-04-28
From: Chestnut Knob Shelter

To: Stealth Site - Mile 581
Miles today: 12.6

Remarkably, the sunrise from Chestnut Knob was more majestic than the sunset (must see photo). It was undoubtedly the best we have experienced thus far on our journey. The day was already perfect before we had even taken a step. Nonetheless, there was some walking still to be done. But first, breakfast. Yesterday afternoon I made a call to the Burke¢s Garden General Store to find out if it was feasible to get there from the trail for a hot meal and some re-supply. On Guthook¢s app there was an icon of the store below VA 623, which the AT would cross in about six miles. Other than a phone number, there was very little information (not even any user comments) and the little country store looked to be about five or six miles off trail from the road crossing. Oh well, it wouldn¢t hurt to call. A very nice lady named Elizabeth answered the phone and after introductions, I asked what she could offer in the way of a hot breakfast. She said that the General Store normally didn¢t open until 10:00, but they would be happy to cook something up a little earlier for us. This was starting to sound promising, so I inquired about shuttle options from the trail. She said that her husband, Joseph would be happy to pick us up at Walker Gap at 7:30ish. Wait, a quick look at the guidebook revealed that the trail crosses a dirt road at Walker Gap, only 1.5 miles below Chestnut Knob. ¢Just one more question ma¢am, how much would the shuttle be?¢ She replied in her sweet accent, ¢Oh, we won¢t charge anything if he brings the horse and buggy.¢ I replied, ¢Excuse me, did you say horse and buggy!?¢ She confirmed that it was in fact a horse and buggy that would pick us up and that it would hold six passengers. Without hesitation I told her that there would be six hungry hikers at Walker Gap at 7:30 sharp. I finished by telling Elizabeth that she had ¢made our night¢. She misunderstood my KenTexan dialect, thinking that I was asking if she was a Mennonite. Her soft reply came, ¢No, we¢re Amish.¢ We broke the news to Heartburn and Butter Knife when they arrived last night and they were all in. We had met a super sweet young couple the night before at the Quarterway Inn, Huck and Ray, and invited them to join us as well.  I called the store as we were departing Chestnut Knob Shelter, to reconfirm everything. Joseph answered and said he was going to get the horse ready. We all got down the mountain in record time and waited for our ride to show. After what seemed like a long wait, we finally could hear the clippity-clop of the horseshoes striking the gravel road from below. By the time he reached the top and made a right turn in the gap, Bob (the horse) had already worked up a good lather. Bob wasn¢t exactly pulling a buggy. Instead it was a tiny flatbed wagon sitting on iron wheels. After making introductions with Joe, we all somehow managed to pile on with our packs and started down the steep and rutty gravel road. Bob, a specimen of a workhorse, used all of his strength to keep from running down the steep winding hill with all of the weight that was pushing him forward. Like a hiker looking for a soft spot coming down a rocky hill, he spent most of his time in the ditch, which meant that the passengers on the right were fighting off stray branches as they simultaneously held on for dear life. In about a half mile we reached a paved road and Joe let Bob pick up to a gallop. We were now riding through the beautiful valley that we had been viewing from above early this morning. We passed by some immaculate old homes and lush farmland on the 5.5 mile ride. Joe was a very humble and friendly man, and an excellent tour guide. He pointed out things as we passed by, like the building that used to serve as a one-room schoolhouse and the ¢tallest willow tree¢ in the state of Virginia. I learned along the way that they were a community of 11 Amish families living in the valley referred to as ¢God¢s Thumbprint.¢ Soon after we hit the road and the mud came off the tires, we noticed that the front left iron wheel was flat on one side. At one point in the ride the whole rim fell off. Which Way said ¢Um. I think we just lost something back there.¢ When Huck jumped off to fetch it Joe instructed him just to throw it in the ditch and he would pick it up later. It gave me an opportunity to get off and get a picture of our ride. I took a quick look at what was left of the wheel and informed Joe that it was coming apart. He said it would be okay. We trusted him. The General Store we were limping our way to had just opened last year and we were the first hikers to stumble on this amazing experience. Joe was looking to drum up more hiker business and asked me for some ideas. I gave him some tips on hiker resupply and suggested that he be more descriptive on the Guthook¢s page and get added to AWOLs guide. Of course, the hiker grapevine works well, so I made a comment on Guthook¢s page and texted back to some other hikers. This place has so much potential to become part of the amazing AT lore! Peace & Blessings- Next Step (WW has it from here) When we walked in the General Store, the smell of bacon directed us to the back where we would find two of Joe¢s oldest daughters finishing up the most amazing country breakfast you can imagine. They already had homemade granola with milk on the table and freshly made bread with jam and berries. Also on the table were homemade pastries filled with cream cheese. YUM!!! The girls looked so happy just to see how happy we were. What a lesson for all of us!! They had made the fluffiest pancakes I¢ve honestly ever seen in my life, eggs with sausage and cheese and thick cut bacon cooked perfectly crisp. They definitely knew what hikers needed! We all filled our plates and dug in. This was beyond anything we could ever have imagined! And if that wasn¢t enough, as we were finishing, the girls were fixing up homemade glazed doughnuts!! Yes, we¢ll take four of those to go! We sat around telling stories and you could tell the girls were very entertained by our conversation. What a morning! But we had to get back to the trail, so we ordered deli sandwiches to take for our supper and went out to catch our ride back to the trail. While we were eating, Joe had switched out the flatbed wagon for the Cadillac cart!! This wagon not only had four working wheels but it had two 3 person van seats attached. We loaded in and sat back and just enjoyed the scenery on the way back. This time Joe dropped us at the end of the paved road and didn¢t make poor Bob make the trek back up the .5 mile steep rutty road. But we were glad to walk back up after all they had done for us! Several hikers gave Joe a generous tip for the ¢shuttle¢ and we had to make him take it. He said, ¢I don¢t do this for the money.¢ And we all knew that he sincerely meant it. Just a beautiful family!! We didn¢t get started on the rest of our hike until about noon. None of us complained about the late start after the amazing memory that had unfolded. We would never have thought that¢s how our morning was going to be spent, when we started our hike yesterday. There¢s really nothing I can say about our hike today that would compare to the morning¢s experience. We ended up hiking about 11 more miles including a quick stop at the Jenkins Gap Shelter around 5:30 to eat the incredible deli sandwiches and donuts. Heartburn, Butter Knife, Next Step and I decided to hike on up to the top of the next mountain to get us a bit closer to our next exciting stop - Woods Hole Hostel (where we hear they have homemade bread and Amish cheeses). We won¢t get there until Tuesday, but our plan is to hike as far as we can the next couple of days so that we¢ll only have a short hike into the hostel on Tuesday and can take full advantage of all they have to offer!! We all stealth camped on the side of the mountain which blocked the stiff wind and would make for a wonderful end to a glorious day! Don¢t get me wrong, the hiking has been BEYOND INCREDIBLE, but just as we had anticipated (and even more!!!) this journey is about so much more than the hike...Hugs- Which WayElevation Data:               Weather:Ascent ~ 2,250                  Day ¢ 65 degrees / Partly SunnyDescent ~ 3,630                Night ¢ 37 degrees / WindyGrade ~ 8.8Over the Horizon: McAfee¢s Knob