Day 146: Slack Back to Weary Feet

Start: US 52, Bland, VA (AT mi 591.8). Stop: VA 606 (AT mi 610.2). Today’s miles: 18.4 miles. Total AT mileage: 1592.3 miles.

Same thing, next day. I got up at 6:20 and was ready to go by 7, this time with my day pack and my full pack. I didn’t put my shoes on, just my crocks, since I was going to get my new shoes later this morning. Groovin took me and Butterfingers on our way right on time.. and stopped at Hardee’s for me, the 3rd day in a row! I got the 4 biscuits again, since they were so easy to eat and so filling yesterday.

Butterfingers got dropped off first and had a look of determination on his face-he was ready to crush my 9:50 time, and I was ready to see him do it. Groovin then drove me over to Weary Feet Hostel. I thanked him immensely for his kindness over the last few days and then walked to the patio area. This hostel is an older house on a gorgeous farm.. just lovely really. A man came out to talk with me, and as we were discussing the plan to take me to the post office after dropping Lizard and Finch off (so I could ride with), Lizard came out!

Y’all. It felt like seeing a childhood friend after years of being apart. I know that’s dramatic, but my God I had missed her SO MUCH! Just being able to see her and give her a hug and catch up made my whole heart happy! And to make it better, Finch came out the door too! And it happened all over again. I’ve really missed my people. Robert, the hostel guy finally calmed us down and got us to get a move on for the morning.. they went to finish breakfast and packing, I took my pack inside, and then Soundscape appeared, too! He was going to do the same slack as me! Heck yes! Today really is just perfection!

We all load into the truck and we talk the whole way to the trailhead. Lizard and I make plans to be in the same town on Saturday, so we can live stream Lizard’s girlfriend, Hannah, and her band playing a show! (Hopefully that’s not supposed to be a secret, I don’t think it is-but also, how badass is that?! Hannah is in a band! I’m excited to see her perform!). If I’m still a day behind Lizard, there’s multiple roads going into the same town, so I’ll still be able to get there.. if anything it’s more motivation for me to get to the same road crossing-so the next day we can hike out together! Here’s to praying that happens!

Anyway-we said our goodbyes for now and then Robert and I headed to the post office. I got my new shoes mom sent along with my favorite hiking pants. The shoes felt funny at first and I knew they’d require some breaking in, so once I was dropped off at the trailhead I gave myself some grace and took it slow for the first few miles. I had to stop and fix the laces, then retie them, then loosen them. Every 10-15 minutes I was messing with my feet.

The trail started off by a highway, but there were some gorgeous views out over mountains and down into the valleys with their cities below. But once the trail turned into the woods, it was the same old woods I’ve seen for days and days. Please don’t take that as a complaint, because I enjoyed them very much. I love the trail being an actual trail and not the obstacle courses of the north. It’s just sometimes it feels monotonous and gets more difficult to describe.

I was moving right along without a care in the world for most of the morning. A little after noon, I passed Soundscape and Moose sitting down eating lunch. Moose was hiking southbound and we were hiking northbound-and Soundscape and I were already half way at this point. I stopped to talk a minute before carrying on. I ate my biscuit while walking about 30 minutes before this.

I checked my phone not long after that encounter and discovered my phone battery was only at 26%!! I must not have fully charged my phone last night, if barely at all. I remembered disconnecting it from the charger this morning, but it obviously wasn’t all the way connected or something. Since I still had 9 miles to go I put my phone in airplane mode to try to save the battery I had left. Which also means I had no podcasts or music to listen to. It was fine though, I was decorating and designing my dream bedroom, bathroom, and closet. Ha-I’m sure that scares the crap out of my Uncle Keith..

At a road crossing, I ran into LongShot. He was headed to the shelter I had just passed. He told me he took a road walk around this last 5 miles, which was almost the same mileage, but the road walk went by farmhouses, fields, pastures with cows.. basically it was more enjoyable to him because of the change in scenery. I decided to take the road walk instead of the trail. I saw the pastures on the way here in the car 2 days in a row now, and I just wanted to see some pretty Virginia country. Was it technically the AT? Nope. Do I regret hiking around it? Nope.

The road walk was beautiful! There was a pond, so many cows, some goats, a gaggle of turkeys, and even a beagle that wanted to snip at my heels a bit before being called away from me. There were farmhouses and barns, and stunning mountain views the whole way. I loved it! Seeing these older homes and country life made me envious of these people and their rocking chair front porches with their cows mooing just over the little fence.

At 3pm I got to Trent’s Grocery, a little convenient store that cooked hot food and sold everything a hiker could want, including fuel. Zebra, Smash, and Sunshine were there! I ate 2 corn dogs and some potato wedges while talking with them and some of the locals. The three of them headed out as Cactus and Bones came in. We chatted, and then Robert appeared. He offered to drive me back to the hostel in his tractor that he was there filling with gas! As Cactus always says, “If not now, then when?” Ok!

He climbed up in the tractor and pulled down the buddy seat for me. That thing was the most fun riding in! It was only just over a mile to the hostel, but it was so much better doing that mile in the tractor than walking! I got all checked in at the hostel, showered, washed clothes, and sat out on the porch awhile. I don’t have service here, so I couldn’t upload the blog posts.. so I just enjoyed the company I was with. Mrs. Julie, Robert, and a section hiker named, HikerPole.

A bit later, Robert went to get Soundscape from the road crossing and returned with him, Cactus, and Bones. They all settled in. We talked on the porch and then had dinner together. Julie made BBQ chicken, macaroni salad, butternut squash, baked beans, and a roll. She topped it off with red velvet cake. I need you to know I am suffering while I lay in this bed typing this out. I ate absolutely too much food and can barely breathe! Tomorrow is going to be a tough one with a full pack. I’m already dreading it.

Knowing that hiking out tomorrow will get me closer to catching Lizard and Finch, and hopefully Sauce and FarOut, too, is really my only motivation. It’s easier to say that while lying in bed, so we’ll see how tomorrow pans out! Haha I have a feeling when I wake up in this bed in the morning I’ll be fantasizing about taking a zero here and having another home cooked dinner..

Sweet dreams y’all. It’s time to drift off into my food coma!