Woke up on a cot in the Highlands General Store and Inn. I slept pretty well. I shared a room with Mulligan who was still asleep. So I laid there quietly catching up on some writing from the past few days. I wasn’t able to get any NicheLabs work done because the Internet was down at the inn… and I didn’t have cell reception either. Catching up on some work was one of the reasons I got off trail too. Not good. When Mulligan woke up we went downstairs to the inn for breakfast.

We both had sausage and egg sandwiches with coffee. The food was good. We missed the early shuttle back to the trail so we would need to wait until about 10am for the next. We headed back upstairs to pack our stuff and get ready. We checked out and hopped in the truck and headed back to the trail. We were starting at mile back in the Grayson Highlands.

We got to see more ponies to start our day off. No complaints there. The terrain was pretty easy. This has been my favorite place on the AT so far. I definitely recommend it to anyone in the Virginia area looking to get out doors and see some wild life and beautiful landscapes. We crossed several foot bridges with nice flowing creeks and small waterfalls. Some of the creek beds had really colorful rocks too. Again, this is a really pretty area.

We knocked out 5 miles before I knew it. I think partly because we were hiking together, and somewhat still getting to know each other, so the time flew by. Mulligan got a message from some guys he’d been hiking with and trying catch up with. They were off trail and close. He asked me if I would be interested in getting off trail to meet them. “Sure” I said. Because I wasn’t able to get any work done this morning this would give me the chance to do so.

We had two possible areas we could get off trail. One spot was in 5 miles and the other was 13. So we’d either have a 10 mile day or 18. Though we got a late start we decided to push for the 18 mile spot.

Because cell reception was bad we had a hard time calling shuttle drivers to pick us up. We got ahold of one person who just took a message that we needed to be picked up at a certain place and time. She said she couldn’t commit for the driver though. But she’d give him the message. Well it was the only person we could get ahold of so it was our only shot of getting picked up.

We passed a huge burrow in a tree which reminded me of the wood turning artwork I was creating with my dad before I left for the trail. I really enjoyed it and missed doing it. I had Mulligan stand next to the tree so you could see how big the burrow was. Burrows have the most amazing natural patterns in the so they can be worth a lot of money…. to a wood turner anyway 🙂

We arrived at our pickup spot and dropped our gear on the ground and waited. We waited and waited and waited and no one showed up. We were stranded in the middle of nowhere with no phone reception. The sun was setting and the temperature was dropping. We thought we’d have to setup camp right there, spend the night, and press forward in the morning.

As we contemplated our options a truck pulled up and a guy hopped out. He was fly fishing. He asked us some fishing related questions about the area. Though we weren’t much help, the reason for us being there came up in our conversation. Intrigued by our quest to conquer Maine, he asked us quite a few questions related to our trek. We chatted for a bit and got to know each other.

He name was Terry, an ex-State trooper from West Virginia. He lives in Cross Lanes which isn’t far from where my Dad grew up in Poca, WV, and a lot of my family in WV still live. He was really nice. He asked us where we were headed that night. We told him we were trying to meet up with some friends off trail but our shuttle never showed up. He asked where we were trying to get to. We told him a hotel in Marion, VA. It was a good 20-25 min drive away. He said he’d be happy to take us. “Really!?” We blurted out. We excitedly took him up on his offer and climbed into his truck and were off.

On our way to Marion, Terry told us about a case he worked years ago. Two young girls were hiking by themselves. They ran into some bad guys in the woods and when the girls refused to have sex with them, they killed them. They caught the guys and arrested them,  but they got off because they threatened a key whiteness, and he didn’t testify. The case went cold. It’s something Terry never has forgotten.

He dropped us off at the hotel where Mulligan’s trail friends were staying. We offered him money but he wouldn’t take it. We thanked him and told him how much we appreciated his kindness. We went in to get a room. The lady at the front desk said the price was $80 a night. Meanwhile I was on my phone checking different sites for better pricing. I found a better deal for $65. I mentioned it to her and she said she gave us the “walk in rate”. Whatever that means. After a little back and forth with her she gave us the $65 a night rate. I’ve learned to never walk into hotels and get a room. Often times they have the same rooms listed on their own website for less. It’s like these people at the front desk get paid commission or something. Anyway, we checked in, dropped our stuff off, and met up with Mulligans friends down the road at a Mexican restaurant.

When we arrived, his friends were finishing up, so we grabbed our own table. We chatted with them for a bit about their experience on the trail since they got separated. They told us they were camping a few nights ago, one guy was even cowboy camping (no tent or hammock / sleeping on the ground), and a bear came into their camp site and got into one of their food bags. They heard the noise and woke up and scared the bear off. It tore up their food bag pretty badly though it only got away with a package of spam. We discussed plans for the next day and possibly hiking together. Thier names were Grizz, Riggs, Ozzie, Bullseye and Sweat Cicle.

We headed back to our room, showered, and I caught up on some work items, and some more writing, before passing out in bed.

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