Jun 3 - Northern Virginia

DAY #79
START LOCATION: Sam Moore Shelter
FINISH LOCATION: Random Stream/Spring Campsite near the VA/WV border
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 5.8
TRIP MILEAGE: 996.5
MILES TO GO: 1,182.6

Let me start by saying... Yesterday's mileage was 19.8 not one. Also,
it got us to 990.7 miles. I realized I missed that when I copied the
header over from yesterday's post. Oops.

We got up around 8AM this morning with grand plans to push through the
remainder of the Rollercoaster, stop at Bears Den Hostel for pizza and
ice cream, cross out of Virginia and break 1,000 miles. Buuuut...We
went to the bar instead. Here's how it went down...

We rolled out of S-Mo at 9:30. The rollercoaster continued it's
onslaught. But it was ok... We were only 3 miles from the Bears Den
Hostel... A 1933 vintage stone mansion built by a wealthy Washington,
DCian capitalist who's wife at the time was a well-known opera singer.
As a result, the acoustics in the hall were nearly perfect. I know. I
tested them. I belted out "The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" and I sounded
exactly like Gloria Estefan.

Smokestack & I poked around and a hostel worker came out and looked
surprised... "Was that front door open?" We're thinking... Umm, we are
here inside aren't we? He said the hostel is closed but welcomed us in
and escorted us to the hiker food store. No pizza. They only serve
pizza after 5. It was 11AM. Again, we continue our knack for hitting
up hostels at the wrong time (See Apr 17 and May 31). But, they had a
good selection of other hiker food. I grabbed a bag of peanut M&Ms, a
Kit Kat, a Gatorade, a Coke and a pint of B&J's Phish Food ice cream.
He then took us downstairs where an array of other thru hikers were
enjoying the critically acclaimed animated film classic 'Ice Age.'
Smoke and I wanted to leave immediately. When we soaked up enough air
conditioning to make going back outside tolerable, we jumped at the
chance.

At the picnic canopy outside, Smoke and I finished our ice cream and
then ate our typical hiker lunch wishing it was a pizza instead. As we
wrapped up lunch, I glanced at my guidebook and was floored by the
amazing luck I'd stumbled upon. I yelled... "Smoke! There's a third
generation family owned pub/restaurant just 0.6 miles from here at
Snickers Gap that serves beer, burgers and fries!". Just after I said
"beer" and just before I said "burger" he shouted "We're going!"

The 0.6 to Snickers Gap, a very hiker treacherous road intersection
with VA-7 and VA-679, was merely a controlled stumble away from the
Bears Den. After a little confusion we found our way down to the
Horseshoe Curve Pub. It was 12:30. It opened at noon. We walked in
and were the only customers. The bar, the decor, the beer selection
and the very nice co-owner's wife Tracee made us feel right at home.
We had a delicious Cheeseburger plate with natural cut fries and then
proceeded to drink beer for the next 5 1/2 hours... We also laughed at
the poor hikers watching animated cinema all afternoon in a stinky
bunkroom just to eat a store-bought frozen pizza. We mixed it up with
locals who even bought us two rounds... The first came when Smoke and
I mentioned we should leave before the impending thunderstorm. The
second came after the aforementioned thunderstorm passed and the sun
came back out. How do you say no to that?

At 5:45 PM, Tracee filled our water bottles, we said goodbye to our
new friends and we headed back into the bush... Completely blitzed. We
had another 7 miles to the Blackburn Appalachian Trail Center where a
free thru-hiker only cabin is equipped with running water. We made it
2.2 miles before we said... "Let's camp here." So we did. We're at a
campsite next to a stream and ohh... about 1/4 mile shy of the
Virginia/West Virginia border.

Pathetic right? We think not. We had a great time today. With all the
serious miles we've done lately, it was so nice to relax and blow off
some steam... A great way to cap off the 528 miles of Virginia that
began 35 beautiful hiking days ago. I'll save my final thoughts on the
Virginia AT for tomorrow. After all, I still have 1/4 mile of it left
to see.

-natedog