Day 40

Well we have a lot to catch ya'll up on. I'll start back with Tuesday. Tuesday was exciting because we did our longest day yet! 27.7 miles! This was not the plan from the beginning of the day though. We were planning on around 20, until we went about 10 miles and were told that there were no more water sources for the next 18ish miles. It was a very long day and we decided that we don't like doing that much in one day and should never do it again! Over all it was a good day and we made it to camp around 7 and were able to end the day with a giant pot of oatmeal. Wednesday was a great day because we were able to do shower and laundry! We had already hiked 22 miles and decided to go .5 miles off the trail to a hostel so we could get cleaned up. We were then planning on camping near by. However the owners insisted that we stay, eat supper with them, stay in their bunkhouse, and they would cover the extra cost! How could we refuse :) so we stayed and enjoyed a delicious meal with about 15 other hikers and were able to sleep on a soft mattress that night. We woke up to pouring rain and were even more glad we had accepted the invitation to stay, since we didn't have a tent to take down. After enjoying several cups of coffee we set off towards Pearisburg which was around 11 miles from the hostel. We were planning on re-supplying on groceries and and also stocking up on calories at a pizza buffet. Despite the rain we had a very enjoyable hike into town and were offered a ride to the pizza buffet without even trying to hitch a ride! After eating way to much pizza we sat there for a while letting our stomachs settle. By then the rain had stopped and we made our way to a Food Lion right down the street. After we finished shopping there was still no rain and we started thinking that we might get lucky and be able to hike the 6 miles to the next shelter without getting more wet then we already were. No such luck! About 15 min after leaving town the rain came. The first 3 miles were not bad, but then it started getting quite cold and windy and the rain only seemed to get harder. I'll admit to being a huge wimp when it comes to being drenched and cold and having no choice but to keep walking. We eventually did arrive at the shelter, only to find it full. We then took on the task of setting up our tent in the rain. Our hands were so cold by this point that it took longer then normal to get everything snapped into place, but we eventually got it set up, the water sort of wiped out, our clothes changed, and into our sleeping bags we dove!  The next morning (Friday) we rang out our wet clothes from the day-before and  hung them from our packs hoping they would dry throughout the day.  The day went fairly well and ended even better when we found 3 cinnamon raisin bagels in a bag by a rock. Daniel immediately downed one, we used another one to clean the last of our Mac and cheese from the pot,and then Daniel downed the other one. Calories! This morning we were very excited when we woke up to the sun and no wind! We once again hung our still damp clothes from our packs as we started out. They finally dried out, but stink like none other. We made it 22 miles today. We are at a shelter with two other guys tonight named Chili and Whitey. We have been seeing them throughout the last few days so it was fun to hang out with them tonight. 

-Zae

The Hostel