START LOCATION: Partnership Shelter
FINISH LOCATION: US11/VA683/Atkins, VA
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 11.6
TRIP MILEAGE: 538.8
MILES TO GO: 1,640.3
Woke up around 630 to find I'd left my boots in the rain overnight!
Can't believe I did that. I'm so good about taking care of my stuff.
Thankfully it didn't rain to bad, and they weren't any wetter than
they were in the Smokies. Dry socks, fair weather and my breakfast of
leftover pizza would take care of it.
Little Brown, Moonpie and I left the dozen or so sleepyheads in the
dust around 830. With my aching feet from the rocky 19 yesterday, I
wanted to go easy on them. A short hike to Atkins and Moonpie's and
Little Brown's relaxed pace was the easy treading I needed. We had off
and on rain all day, but it was very easy terrain and I was gliding
nicely.
Saw some great things towards the end of the hike... Big grassy
pastures and rolling hills. Great photos! A really cool thing was a
one room schoolhouse built in 1894 that had a sign inviting hikers in
to check it out. On the chalkboard, beneath a painting of George
Washington, was a quick history of the school and nice messages left
by other hikers cheering us on. A really cool diversion.
Cruised our way to the road crossig where a barn style restaurant
awaited advertising a 1lb hiker burger. We all partook. It was
heavenly, and the crinkle fries were delectable.
Just as we were wondering how we were going to make our resupply
happen... Up walks Panda out of nowhere! Hugs all around and she tells
us she decided to get of the trail and perform trail magic for awhile.
Smokestack kept hiking and was probably a day behind at Partnership
Shelter. She said she'd give us a ride to town in her rental car!
Trail magic indeed. We hit up the Walmart, the dollar store, the
Ingles grocery and the post office. So amazing the stuff that happens
on this adventure.
Split a room at the Relax Inn with Moonpie and Little Brown and even
had Boston come by. The motel is right on the trail no less. And even
more trail magic... We all watched bonus coverage of the horribly
pitched sox/jays game on ESPN because the feature game, dodgers/mets
was rained out!
Got my laundry done, paid some bills and caught up on old texts.
Anxious to see Smokestack tomorrow. With rain forecast for tomorrow,
I'm even willing to zero tomorrow to meet him. Should be a fun
reunion. Then it's off to Pearisburg, VA, my next resupply stop.
Loving Virginia so far!
-natedog
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