Day 96 - Friday, September 16

Linda

Woke up to the sound of rain in the night, but by morning it was mostly fog and drizzle. It was a good morning for a hot breakfast, though. Even lingering over breakfast a bit longer than normal, we still managed to be out in an hour.

The first 4 miles to Bailey's Gap Shelter was pleasant walking - mostly on the same road we were on yesterday. After Bailey's Gap, the rain had started again, and the going was miserable. We were headed to Pine Swamp Shelter for a big hot lunch, but it wasn't nearly as easy as the previous 4 miles. The trail was very overgrown and wandered up and down for no particular reason, because the trail paralleled a stream and a road, and ended up at the same elevation it had started. Pine Swamp Shelter was very inviting when we finally arrived. It had a fireplace and a picnic table inside, so we could cook in comfort and stay dry. We experimented with baking a corn muffin mix, to complement our Mac and cheese. They turned out looking awful, but they tasted good. We'll have to work on perfecting on our baking techniques. Now that autumn is upon us and the days are cooler, there's something appealing about hot fresh baked breads.

We were well fed and rested when we started off again for the 8.5 miles of walking on an uneven ridge. We readied ourselves for a rotten afternoon. After a typical rocky ascent to the ridge, the walking wasn't bad at all, except for the leg eating thorns and stinging nettles which we've grown accustomed to lately. They're even worse when they get wet, because the water makes them flop over into the trail, and they seem to just reach out and grab at you.

As we walked along the ridge, we began hearing a pitiful little cry, and up ran a shivering, wet, frightened beagle puppy. He looked so happy to see a friendly face. We've been several days behind a guy named Tom Connally, who we knew had a beagle named Ozone, so we figured little Ozone had run off after a rabbit and gotten himself lost. We were heading Pearisburg tomorrow, and planned to stay at the hostel at the Catholic Church, so we decided to take him with us and see if Tom had left word with Father Charles where he could be reached. Ozone trotted along with us, and when we stopped for a break on Peter's Bald, he wolfed down all the cheese, raisins and coconut we gave him in seconds. Guess he hasn't eaten in a couple days - unless his hunting skills were better than we thought.

After lunch, we headed on to the end of the ridge with Ozone in tow. Ronald apparently had been plotting another mileage push, because at the end of the ridge he whipped the biggy on me. "It's only a few more miles to Pearisburg", he said cheerfully, "What do you think about going in tonight?" At first my cold weary bones didn't want to try, but then I figured why not? I'm sure that was the response Ronald expected all along, but he wouldn't have dared ask me earlier in the day.

The trail came down a dirt road for a while, then to a powerline which was one of those dive-right-off-the-edge descents. My toes and knees were aching after that, and poor Ozone wasn't too thrilled either. After the powerline, the trail leveled off and the rest of the way to town was no problem, until we had to walk along Rt. 460. The puppy had never been trained about the potential danger of running out into the middle of a busy highway, and we almost had a major crack-up with a truck and several cars when he suddenly decided it would be a fun thing to walk right down the center line. We came very close to bloodshed and carnage. That did it for Ronald. He'd been mumbling to just let the stupid dog get run over if he wouldn't stay along the side of the road, but both of us would have been heartbroken if he really had been hit. Ronald was already getting attached to him, since he's a beagle lover from the very heart. He was remembering his own beagle Kate that he had when he was a kid. We had no choice but to put him on a rope for his own protection. Well, Ozone didn't like that one bit, and Ronald had to half drag him along for a while until he resigned himself to being leashed.

We made it across the New River Bridge and to the outskirts of Pearisburg without further incident. I went into the Rendezvous Pizza Parlor to ask directions to the hostel at the Catholic Church. They didn't seem to know anything about it, but by the time I came out, a guy from Virginia Tech had stopped to ask Ronald if we needed a ride, and he knew right where it was. What luck! He drove us there and even walked around to show us where we needed to go.

As we came around the corner, Father Charles was standing there with Nancy Wolfe, a hiker we had met at Caledonia Park in Pennsylvania. She had been hiking the southern 1,000 miles of the AT with a guy named Leo. It was a very odd coincidence, because she had just asked Father Charles if we had been through Pearisburg yet, and here we come around the corner. We certainly never expected to meet her again. She had finished up her hiking and had just taken a job working with the juvenile court in Pearisburg and had arrived that day to look for an apartment. Father Charles was letting her stay at the rectory until she found a place.

After standing there chatting for a few minutes Father Charles showed us around the hostel, which was a restored barn. They had moved the barn from a farm a couple miles away and done a beautiful job in the restoration. The upstairs was a sleeping loft with foam mattresses on the floor. The loft overlooks a small sitting room which was in the original corn crib. That was my favorite room. It had a brick floor and bench seats built in around the walls and there was a table in the middle with a hanging lamp over the table. One entire wall was a huge sliding door that opened to the outside, and overlooked a beautiful rolling meadow, complete with grazing cattle. The doorway framed the pastoral scene as though it were a painting. I could have sat there for hours drinking in the peacefulness of the evening.

Even with the extra mileage, and the novelty of traveling with a puppy, we had arrived by 8:00, so we had the rest of the evening to shower, relax and enjoy our lovely surroundings. We fixed some soup and wrote and read until after 11:00. Ozone was literally one pooped puppy after his ordeal, and he zonked out immediately after wolfing down some cat food that Father Charles had brought over (beats eating roots and leaves…) We were glad to hear that Tom Connally had been through - minus his dog - and was planning to coming back on Sunday. We figured Ozone would be okay until then, since Father Charles and Nancy said they would look after him.

A downpour started around 9:00 and showed no signs of letting up by the time we went to bed, so I was doubly glad Ronald had talked me into walking the extra miles to be here tonight.

Ron

The pitter patter of rain falling on the tent first thing in the morning is not the most pleasant sound to hear. During the night it may soothe the soul. In the morning it only make you want to roll over and go back to sleep. Regrettably the miles to Pearisburg were too great in number to afford such luxury. A world of misty gray fog lay beyond the tent door. A world that was not all that inviting. I put the stove outside the tent door and fired it up to heat water for breakfast then rolled back over. I seemed to lack the steam to get it all together. With a hot breakfast of oatmeal and Harold King's honey, I finally emerged from the tent to answer the call of nature.

We packed up and were hiking by 8:00. An altogether remarkable time considering the speed with which we got prepared. Since our plans were to get within six or seven miles of Pearisburg, neither of us was in a hurry. The first few miles to Bailey Gap Lean-to went by like a breeze. At Stoney Creek the trail made a series of ascents and descents while never venturing far from the creek. It seemed to us like a worthless waste of energy. We stopped for lunch at Pine Swamp Lean-to at 11:30 after covering eight miles.

Expecting to spend tonight at a waterless camp along the ridge, we opted to have our big meal at the lean-to. We hoped that a long lunch would give the rain a chance to let up. We even took time to try cooking a package of corn bread mix. Our success was limited but maybe we'll get the hang of it. The macaroni and cheese filled us up so we packed the pudding away for a mid afternoon snack. When we left around 1:00, the weather had cleared some. Neither one of us was thrilled about the ridge ahead. If it started raining hard it would mean slow hiking.

We had just made it to the top of the ridge when a wet and crying beagle came running up. We know from the registers that there is a man and a beagle hiking a few days ahead of us. The beagle also has a tendency to run off. We guessed the beagle before us must be Ozone. I did not know if the dog would last much longer by itself in the woods. We decided that if the dog would stay with us, we would take him as far as Pearisburg. It's a good thing the ridge was not hard. We had to spend a considerable time trying to get Ozone to stay with us. I finally said the hell with it. If he wants to keep up fine - if not - well, that was fine too. Ozone must have figured out the message, because he kept up with us the rest of the day.

At our 4:00 break we fed Ozone raisins and coconut and made plans on where to stop for the night. I wanted to go all the way to town, but did not want to tell Linda. Instead told her that I wanted to camp somewhere off the ridge. I figured that once we were off the ridge, there would be no good campsites. We would then be forced to go into town. When we started off the ridge, Linda saw through my plans and wasn't very happy. It was still five and a half miles into Pearisburg and 5:45. I promised that if we made it into town we could take tomorrow off. That was all she needed and agreed to go on.

Ozone had been no problem for us until we reached Highway 460. He didn't like the traffic one bit. One big truck almost came to a full stop when he ran out in front of it. I didn't want the dog to get killed after all this way, so I put a rope around him to keep him close. Being a dog of freedom, he didn't care for that at all. He just sat down and would not move. After getting dragged a couple feet, he got the message and came along grudgingly.

I knew we needed to see Father Charles when we got to town, but I had no idea of where the Catholic church was. While Linda was across the street getting directions, a guy pulled up and offered to take us to the hostel. That's what I call service. We both were able to take showers and get something to eat. Even ran into Nancy Wolfe, a hiker we had met in Pennsylvania. She finished her section of the trail, and had just moved to Pearisburg to take a job. She was staying at the rectory until she could find a place to live. Father Charles graciously showed us around the hostel, then brought over some cat food for Ozone. He was lying in the corner dead to the world from his long ordeal. He managed to get up long enough to eat, then went back to sleep. Father Charles confirmed our suspicions about his identity. His owner, Tom Connally, should be back in town on Sunday. Tomorrow we explore Pearisburg.

(24.5 Miles - 1462.8 Total)