Date: 2019-05-31
From: Brushy Mountain Outpost

To: Lickskillet Hostel
Miles today: 13.1

I waited for all the tents to disappear and finally got up and went inside the store. Rain and Sprinkles were having breakfast and I went to join them, when who should I see but Hobo!! I was so excited. Hobo¢s such a awesome guy. He was super friendly and I was so happy to see him. He had just come back from mile 688, where he skipped ahead to to do some hiking with his kids. That whole section was Dragon¢s Tooth, McAfee Knob, and Tinker Cliffs, the Virginia Triple Crown and a well-visited section. He did that whole section with them to Daleville and then they left and he had come back to where he had skipped ahead from. He was happy to see me too because he said had been really sad to see his kids go and it was nice to have a familiar face. Rain and Sprinkles and Hobo and I had breakfast together and Rain and Sprinkles bought it for me, which was so nice. I had a sausage biscuit, eggs, and hash browns. I was discussing my plans for the day and Lickskillet was 13 miles away, so I planned to hike there and at least go to the hostel to have a night off trail and maybe slackpack. I convinced Hobo to join me in that plan, as he seemed a little hesitant to push bigger miles anyway. Rain and Sprinkles were out here section hiking anyway and decided to zero. We had a really nice breakfast together and I was thankful to be with them. Rain convinced me to get some ice cream. The ice cream was the best deal here! It was 3 bucks for a massive cone with a massive scoop. They didn¢t have chocolate or flavors I¢d like normally, but they had a caramel waffle one, and it was delicious. Not normally what I¢d go for, but it hit the spot today. I bought a new thing of fuel; I am very impressed with my stove for being so fuel efficient. The last fuel I got was in Hot Springs!! But I realized that it was almost empty the night before and figured I¢d buy fuel now. It was a bit pricey, but I was happy to help the small business. Creds to Jetboil for an amazing stove!! I was feeling hot and a bit off with the ice cream in my belly before exercise, but I headed out to do my 13 mile day! I called Lickskillet and put my name down for a bunk. The hike started with a road walk, which was HOT. It was a bad time of day too, but I felt like I was baking. I crossed a highway and continued down the road to the trailhead. There was a sign that said ¢no deer carcasses¢. I laughed a bit because you know, let me just put my dead deer down here before continuing my hike. Lol. But I understand that apparently people have dumped deer carcasses there before and they had to deal with them. The hike after this was a big up, and in the heat it was quite tough. I passed some girls that I had seen at the store earlier and they were meeting their boys on trail, who were out for a hike. I was sweating so much it was dripping off my face. I made it up to the top, which had no view of course. The next few miles were up down up down, and it was starting to get rainy. I wasn¢t seeing anyone except for one girl on the side of the trail. I find I don¢t see anyone while hiking anymore for the most part.I felt rain drops and accepted my fate. I put my pack cover on and my phone in my bag. It was too hot to wear my rain coat, but normally I¢ll do that so I can still have my phone in my pocket and my music playing. It rained hard for a bit and I was soaking, but it felt good in that heat. I hiked on and came to 600! Yay! Another mile marker! I was so happy. And the rain stopped just for me to sit and enjoy it!! I wanted a picture so I figured I¢d wait for 15 minutes and take a break since I hadn¢t taken one yet, but no one showed up. I find that the trail really is thinning out. Today I felt like I was hiking the whole thing alone. I set up my phone on top of my pack and took a timed photo, which worked perfectly! There was more up down up down up down, and then I got to a shelter. I was so thirsty. There had been no water basically since Brushy Mountain Outpost and I was parched. I stopped at the shelter and got water. It had started raining again, but at this point I was only a mile from the road where Lickskillet picks up. I drank a whole liter right then and there I was so thirsty. I filled the other liter and called Lickskillet to tell him I was a mile away. I began the walk down and it wasn¢t too bad. I went quickly and got to the road before him. The owner¢s name is Mongo. He showed up and I put my pack in his car and we headed off. He is so so nice!!Lickskillet is an awesome hostel. It¢s in a old church and it has a bunch of beds spread out, a stove and fridge with free sodas for hikers, a TV with Netflix, and showers and laundry. And it¢s donation based! One of the beds is also right in the old pulpit and it¢s in an old wooden ship. It was so so cool. Mongo is an incredible man and worked so hard to start this hostel after a long and difficult past. He is an inspiration and his place was truly a hidden gem. I saw Hobo and met a few other guys too named Crypter and Cucumber. Crypter started the trail like all the other 20-milers and got injured, so he had to stop and zero and recover. I obviously don¢t want anyone to be injured, but it does make me feel a little good when the fasties have to slow down a bit; they intimidate me so much. I didn¢t take a shower or do laundry because I knew I was headed to Pearisburg soon and could do it there, so I basically just stayed in the bed and had a soda. I made one of my mountain houses for dinner, but couldn¢t finish it. A girl named Tinkerbell and her dog Peter Pan showed up. They did a load a laundry and she threw my clothes in too, which I appreciated, even though I didn¢t need to yet. My clothes were still a bit wet from the rain anyway so it was good to clean them. We watched a bit of TV and hung out and then headed to bed. I was glad to have come in here. It was such a nice hostel. I would ask about slackpacking tomorrow. Little Debbie