After spending a night in the shelter that time forgot, we were both looking forward to moving ahead. I was feeling a bit off when we first started out at 10am, but quickly recovered. We had Dragon's Tooth ahead of us, and had been hearing some rather scary predictions of its difficulty, so I was going to need my strength.
Our plan had turned into a 6 mile hike to the road, where we'd walk to the hostel and get a lift to The Home Place, an AYCE that we kept hearing about. Of course those first 6 miles went over the Tooth, and that slowed us down considerably. This was the most intense, technical, dangerous piece of hiking we've done by far. There were sections with metal rungs drilled into the rock because you had to climb straight up or down. It was made especially challenging by the realization that I have almost no tread left on my boots. That, combined with the holes forming around high stress areas on the tops, means it's definitely time to go shoe shopping. Thankfully there's a proper gear shop coming up tomorrow to solve this problem.
Once we made our arduous, painful, journey down from Dragon's Tooth, we were deposited on the road we had been so desperately waiting for. As we walked toward the hostel a car pulled over and Tapeworm yelled a happy hello from within. He had been visiting with his sister and brother-in-law, and they yellow blazed him up to the hostel from Pearisburg.
The hostel was just a big garage, but seemed like a cool place to relax with friends. A very high school kind of atmosphere, where no one has anything better to do and that's the way they want it. We enjoyed seeing a few hikers we knew, and got ready to go hitch, as the owners weren't home to shuttle us around.
Just as we got ready to leave, Tapeworm and family returned with beer and snacks in tow. We obviously had to postpone lunch to grab a beer and meet his family, which lead into them giving us a lift to The Home Place before they started back for Illinois. It was a wonderful surprise and they are definitely good people.
Lunch was fantastic. All you can eat that they set on your table and refill as you need. Fried chicken, roast beef, country ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, corn, and biscuits arrived and we all went to town. This was of course just the preamble to the peach cobbler a la mode. We ate too much, and left the place with a massive line of people forming out front. Apparently The Home Place is the place to be.
A quick hitch back to the hostel brought us back together with Meta and Shenanigans, who had each arrived while we were eating. We chatted a bit, but then left to get back on the trail and do another 6 miles. The plan was to hike to a shelter, and then in the morning hike the 17 miles into Daleville. This time we are planning a real proper night in town by staying at the Holiday Inn Express. Only the best for us trail weary vagabonds. Tapeworm plans to attempt a 23 mile day tomorrow and meet us there, so people could be crashing on our floor.
Tomorrow isn't only great because of a gear shop, proper resupply, comfortable bed, washer/dryer, wifi, and shower. We'll also hike to McAfee Knob, which is one of the most photographed spots on the trail. It should be rather spectacular. Whoever said that all of Virginia is the same is a madman!
