5/10/01
Despite the late evening festivities last night, I was anxious to hike this morning and was the first member of our thru-hiker group to pull away from camp. It was 7:40 a.m. and I was breaking the morning spider webs. Early in the hike I saw my second snake, another garter. The trail was easy and the miles were flying by. I stopped briefly at the Wapiti shelter for a snack and a trail register entry, then continued north to tackle the 1500' climb head of me. The climb seemed fairly easy and by the time I crested the mountain I realized that after all these miles I am definitely in trail shape. Barring injury, the physical challenge shouldn't get any tougher and I'm feeling confident that I can climb with relative ease. I stopped at some rocks with a beautiful view of the valley far below. I called Paula to check in at home and verify the weekend rendezvous point. Since I was 14 miles from Pearisburg and it was still early, I was contemplating hiking all the way in then doing more miles north of Pearisburg tomorrow. I decided to hike to a crossroad and eat some lunch where I could study the profile map and data book to see what was feasible. It was decision time when I reached the next road. I knew from reading detailed trail information that the Wood's Hole bunkhouse/hostel was a place "not to be missed". It was only half a mile off the trail, down a gravel road, where I was eating lunch. After studying all the data I decided not to hike another 10 miles to Pearisburg and instead decided to go for the hostel.
It was the right decision. After the half mile walk down the gravel road I turned into the driveway of the old farmhouse (built in 1880). Next to the farmhouse was the hiker hostel. The hostel was actually a converted barn which was originally built in 1850 with chestnut and hickory logs in a hand chinked log cabin style. The first floor was open, with chairs, a sofa, a hammock, a small kitchen area with refrigerator (full of sodas and candy bars), a dart board and book shelves with books and magazines. The loft was filled with single bed mattresses for sleeping and had window openings on both sides. Next to the structure was an outdoor solar shower. An elderly man was asleep in a rocking chair on the front porch of the main house when I walked up the driveway. I was greeted by the bark of the mutt slumbering on the sunny lawn in front of the house. "High Pocket" awoke and greeted me, telling me to take off my pack and make myself at home. After checking out the bunkhouse, I returned to the front porch to introduce myself and "sit for a spell" with High Pocket. He informed me that Tillie (the proprietor) was inside taking a nap. When he mentioned that the solar shower would be warm, I decided it was time to clean up. The shower was bearable, but I didn't have any desire to stay there long. I unpacked my gear, grabbed a soda and a candy bar from the fridge, then settled back in the hammock on the porch to catch up on the daily journal.
I was interrupted by the small stream of thru-hikers as they arrived at the Wood's Hole hostel. First The Little Guy, then Hip, then Rocky and The Bedouin. The group was complete. Tillie Wood opens the hostel in May and June every year for the thru-hikers. The "rent" for staying there as posted in the hostel is to pull two or three weeds around the place or add a rock to the rock wall in the yard. Tillie makes breakfast for the first 8 hikers who sign up at a cost of $3.50 per person. I was still catching up on the journaling in the late afternoon when The Bedouin approached me. He said that Tillie needed some work done around the house and it would mean a free breakfast. Say no more. I hopped up to the loft, put on my hiking boots, and reported to High Pockets for duty. For the next hour and a half, I mowed the lawn. I tried to make sure Tillie got her money's worth for that free breakfast, so I mowed the backyard, the side, and way up the hill. It was a workout but lots of fun. Besides, I really will "work for food"! The Bedouin complemented my work with the weedeater until he ran out of battery power. Tillie and High Pocket both took the time to thank me for my efforts so I figured I'd get an extra biscuit or two at breakfast.
After cooling down for a few minutes, I rejoined our hiker group with dinner preparation and cleanup. A lone hiker was suddenly spotted heading down the gravel road. When he turned toward Wood's Hole, we knew we had an additional bunkmate for the night. Ian from Scotland had hiked a whopping 32 miles to join us at Tillie's place. He displayed no evidence of fatigue and hammered the refrigerator for sodas and candy bars. Ian's energy ignited my flame to keep the faith with those big mile days. He is filming a documentary of the Appalachian Trail journey for the BBC across the big pond as he hikes northward. The group was settling down for the night and we found our beds for the night before darkness fell. The Bedouin, Rocky, Hip and I claimed the loft while Ian and The Little Guy slept on the first floor porch for the night. "Oddly", the farm dog, kept watch over us as we lay in the loft trading stories and laughs as we slowly succumbed to peaceful sleep for the night. It was another virtually perfect day in a little slice of paradise in the Virginia hill country. Today's stats; low 47 degrees, high 73. Sunny. Today's mileage: 13.3; cumulative mileage: 607.4.
