Date: 2012-05-10
From: Stoney Creek

To: Sinking Creek Valley - Hwy 42
Miles today: 18.5

We got up early today and packed up the car for moving on from Woods Hole. After saying our goodbys to Michael and Neville and some of the hikers there, we headed for SOS's start point. After dropping him off, I drove on to our next home in Christiansburg, VA. Neville and Michael had called friends of theirs who live in the new town and asked if we could stay with them. They said, Yes! so that is where I headed. Michael said that I could not miss the house because of its shape and he was right. I didn't stop because no one was home at the time I got there. On to a museum which is a combination of county history and the work of a folk artist named Lewis Miller. I took the 2 dollar tour, learned lots of things, and enjoyed the art work. Next I drove downtown to see what was there. An big antique shop was the first stop where there were more old postcards that I have ever seen in one place. It has a huge section on Indiana with about 20 cities all separated out. I spent a long time looking at them...and found several to buy. I also bought a very unusual egg cup to add to my collection...for 1 dollar! The coffee depot was my spot for lunch and then I headed for the Barnes and Noble to catch up the journal. When I picked up SOS, we called Alan and Jenny to say that we would be later than expected...they said come on now and have dinner with us so we did. They told us the history of the house. It was built in 1919 by a woman who had lived in Rhodesia for many years and wanted the African influence in her home in VA. It consisted of 4 round brick buildings with metal cone shaped roofs. 3 of the buildings are connected and one is separate. It was the guest house for her but is now a storage room. The house has been added onto in the back to make a kitchen, dining room, and deck. No one knows where the first owner had her kitchen. The most unique house in the neighborhood by far! After talking awhile, we were all tired..Alan from driving his city transit bus, Jenny from being a veternarian, SOS from hiking, and me from just being and driving! The Road Name of the Day is: MOONSHINE LANE It made me wonder about the namer(is that a word?...I know that my brother in law, Greg, would have called it a word) of the road. Did the namer love the big white circle in the night sky...OR...did he love the illegal stuff made in the hills???? Again, we will never know.SOS here.Today was the second most grueling day on the trail as far as weather. It was rainy and cold most of the day with lots of mud. My hiking pants were soaked with mud. My socks ended the day soaking wet because my boots will only keep the feet dry so long. When it is rainy all day eventually your boots become saturated and it is like hiking with bare feet. The conditions did not make for a comfortable day.Rain gear does stop the rain, but it also makes you sweat more so that you become drenched anyway from the perspiration.There were two high points for the day. The first was when a young buck deer appeared on the trail just in front of me. The deer gave me this inquisitive look, like what are you doing here. He only left the trail in front of me when I shooed him away. He bounded up the mountain and stopped about 50 feet above me and continued to watch my progress. On the next switch back there he was again.The second high point of the day was finishing the hike for the day and knowing Trail Mama would be waiting for me with a warm car and would take me to a place where I could shower and put on dry clothes.I am very impressed at how good she has become in finding the trail crossing at the road. This crossing was not easy to find. A side note to this crossing, it is the very place where I started my section hike with my buddies in 2010. The last time I was at this point I hiked South. It was the middle of October and the fall foliage was vibrant shades of yellows, oranges, reds and browns. It was a beautiful Autumn day and nothing like the rain I experienced today. Looking forward to being back in Indiana for Annual Conference in Indianapolis in June ¢ Hope to see many of our readers there.