Date: 2010-05-28
From: Pearisburg

To: Pearisburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

28 May 2010, Pearisburg   When I woke up this morning and checked with Hopper to see how she felt. She told me she felt good today. I could tell by her demeanor that she was actually feeling better. She said she would be fine getting back on the trail tomorrow. I was glad to hear that because if she had not gotten better soon I would have had to move on without her.   As we were about to walk to town the manager of the motel here walked over and asked if we wanted a ride to town, of course we accepted. He dropped us off at the post office. I picked up my summer sleeping bag that I had mailed ahead from Damascus. I also mailed home some of my cold weather gear that I will not need again until later on in my hike.    We did our laundry together and then we both walked to Food Lion to get five days each worth of food to make it to Catawba. On the way to Food Lion we stopped at and all you can eat Chinese place. Hopper eat so much that I don't know how she ate it all. I knew we would be fine going back on the trail tomorrow after seeing her eating that much.   When I got back to our room, I packed up all my gear. I was anxious to see how much lighter and how much more room I had in my back pack with my summer sleeping bag. I noticed the room right away. I had a lot more room left in my pack. The weight was noticeable but not really drastic but I was also carrying five days worth of food. I have not carried that much since going through the Smoky Mountains.   Shortly after I got all packed up I realized that there was suppose to be another package at the post office for me. The next section of my guide book for the trail should have been there. I called the post office and told them I had been in earlier and got a package but there should have been another one there for me. The lady asked if I was Richard. I told her yes, she said that she had just realized that a little bit ago and was going to call my motel. When I asked her how she knew what motel I was in she said she saw the motel manager drop me off. She said she could have someone bring the package to the motel for me. I thanked her. She did not have to do that but she went out of her way to help.   When the mail truck showed up I walked outside to get my envelope. I saw Anthony sitting in a chair near the office. I met Anthony and his girlfriend Rachael back at the shelter before Unicoi Gap and also exiting Hawk Mountain Shelter on the first day on the trail. Rachael got off the trail at Unicoi Gap for a bad foot problem. I ask how Rachael was doing, he told me she was fine and back to work. She would need foot surgery at some time in the future. Anthony now has a trail name. He is now going by Stick Shift. Stick Shift was not staying here, he was moving on out of town. It was nice meeting up with him again and catching up on things and talking about the past.   Stick Shift also told me more about why Buckaroo got off the trail. He was hiking with Buckaroo for a while. He said that Buckaroo also had his pack stolen and that was why he got off the trail. I think he had confused Buckaroo with Babalu because I found out later in the hike that Buckaroo got off the trail to do some guided elks hunts out west. Stick Shift also told me that Radar got off the trail because he had enough. Radar carried a 35mm digital camera during his hike and he had some really good pictures.