Pretty good hiking day. Another twenty miles, plus a couple for side trips. First time doing back to back twenty pluses, so we'll see how my feet are in the morning.
Woke up this morning to a sprained ankle. The swelling in both my feet had receded, but my right ankle was noticeably tender. Not sure when I injured it, and not sure how I didn't notice. I figure either my feet were so swollen that it acted as its own brace, or maybe there was so much pain in my feet that I didn't notice a little increase. Sure was sore this morning, though.
Left my solitary camp site at around 0730, and about an hour later ran into Survivorman. We hiked together for the entire day. I was planning on staying at Woods Hole Hostel, and he was going to the shelter two miles past.
Pretty early on ran into Beandip and her mum, Spirit Crusher. Not her real trail name, just what I was calling her. I can't remember what nonsense I was spouting, but she corrected me and said something couldn't be done, crushing my spirit. She thinks it's too negative (she really is sweet), everyone else thought it was hilarious.
Ran into other people, Violet and Santa included. Violet suggested not staying in the hostel, but the guidebook describes it as a little slice of heaven. Plus my phone battery was almost dead and so were my Powerpacks.
Stopped by the Wapiti shelter and Dismal Falls, the scenes of some extremely unpleasant events many years ago. Couple of murders and some shootings. Pretty places, particularly Dismal Falls.
Several beautiful views today, also. When we got to the Woods Hole, Survivorman stopped with me, since he tweaked his knee and decided to cut his day a couple miles short of planned. We are going to walk into Pearisburg tomorrow for resupply, about 10 miles. Maybe catch a hotel there, though we've been told there are no vacancies.
The hostel is interesting. From first appearance, it's pretty much what I expected. It's kind of like what I imagine a commune is like. It's an old farmstead, and the bunkhouse is an old barn, with a bunch of beds in the loft. Not a very updated old barn, at that. It has everything I really want, though. Power, an outdoor shower with hot water, laundry ($5), and Cokes. I actually have been drinking mango juice. And the mattress is the best I've slept on.
The house, however, is lovely. Those rooms were already taken. Apparently the owner also is a masseuse who you can book, and they do free yoga classes in the morning. At first I said I wasn't interested in either, but the utter bizarreness of doing yoga on a farm with a bunch of smelly hikers may convince me to sample the experience. I'm pretty lazy, though, so might not. Kind of irritated, though, since the guidebook said they had pizza, and they don't.
When we rolled up to the hostel, saw a lot more people that I hadn't seen in a while. Some of whom I was very happy to see. Hugs all around. The Machine, Dinosaur, Goat, and some others who I either barely knew or hadn't met. Beandip, Spirit Crusher, Low Gear, Rabbit, Trix, Flipper, Chef, Violet and Santa were all here. Stayed up later than I should have. I'm falling asleep right now so I'll try to finish this tomorrow.
Me on a bridge.
Me on a mountaintop. Never got its name.
Survivorman scrambling in his kilt.
L to R Spirit Crusher, Beandip, Rabbit, and Survivorman. Lunch in a clearing.
Hostel cat on a bongo.
Hostel cat and Santa. Kind of obvious where he got the name, huh? He also carries a bag of candy he gives out.
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