Friday, June 5th - Up at 7:00 am, in moderate rain, after a noisy overnight with at least 2 sessions of extremely heavy rain. As I noted in yesterday's report, we ended up getting 6 inches of rain out of this front, so not just another "average" rainstorm. We delayed long enough to eat breakfast, and headed out just before 8:00, still in moderate rain.
Only 2 miles down to the James River Foot Bridge (which is dedicated for use on the A.T.); this is the longest footbridge on the entire A.T., and it's quite a structure.
There's a railroad bridge nearby, so I guess that's what folks had to use before the footbridge was built. Reaching the parking lot on the opposite side (on Rt. 501) at 8:45, we had a guy in a pickup truck pull over and ask if we wanted a ride to Big Island - but we were trying for Glasgow (the other direction), so we turned him down, with thanks. Unfortunately (and quite unexpectedly), we then found that there was absolutely no cell phone coverage in the area, and no one else seemed inclined to pick up wet hikers, so we were stuck in place. Then another pair of hikers came out of the woods heading southbound, and also starting thumbing towards Glasgow, a hundred yards up the road, kind of stealing any chance we had for a ride. I sure wished we had gone to Big Island and made a call from there!
After an hour of this we were both wet and cold, so we started hiking towards Glasgow with the intent of getting warm, and getting to a ridgeline to pick up a cell phone signal. About 45 minutes later the two southbounders came up from behind us, doing the same, and just as they passed us, finally another pickup truck pulled over and offered all of us a ride. So we piled into the back and got into Glasgow about 15 minutes later - only to find that the only hotel, both restaurants, and the primary grocery store, were all closed (due to the economy). After asking around, we found that one gas station/mini-mart/deli was the only game in town, so we went over for lunch (which was surprisingly good) and to try and figure out what to do next. We had two choices - resupply, hit the laundromat, and head back out, or get a ride to Buena Vista (a much larger town), our intended stop the next day. Neither Mark or I had much enthusiasm for heading back out (it was still raining), and so after talking it over we decided to take what was behind Door #2.
After getting our groceries at a Dollar Store, we got a shuttle ride from "Legs," a 1995 Through-Hiker who runs his own hiker shuttle service. On the way we stopped at the Post Office, and ended up staying at the Quality Inn. After a quick shower, I had Legs bring me back to the library, where I did some quick emails and one blog report (the library closed at 5:00, so I only had an hour and a half). The weather finally cleared while I was inside. When I got back to the hotel, Mark had done our laundry, and had also laid out all our other gear in the parking lot. Solar System and Naneek, and also Geeza and TopShelf, had also arrived - as was evident from all their wet stuff hanging outside (they had stopped to camp whereas Mark and I had pushed on to Matt's Creek Shelter). They told us that the rain had actually come up through the bottom of their tents overnight - ouch.
After getting our stuff back inside, we hit the Burger King across the street for dinner. There were decent restaurants in town, but all of them were a pretty good hike from the hotel, so we decided to go for convenience instead of quality. Back at the room, we repacked our gear, sorted all our food, and watched some Weather Channel and other TV. A bit later we watched "Saving Private Ryan," it being the eve of the 65th Anniversary of D-Day. Bed around midnight. So, only 2 miles on the A.T. (plus 2 more miles on Rt. 501), and a lot of running around - a very frustrating day! But at least we're good to get back to it tomorrow....
Only 2 miles down to the James River Foot Bridge (which is dedicated for use on the A.T.); this is the longest footbridge on the entire A.T., and it's quite a structure.
There's a railroad bridge nearby, so I guess that's what folks had to use before the footbridge was built. Reaching the parking lot on the opposite side (on Rt. 501) at 8:45, we had a guy in a pickup truck pull over and ask if we wanted a ride to Big Island - but we were trying for Glasgow (the other direction), so we turned him down, with thanks. Unfortunately (and quite unexpectedly), we then found that there was absolutely no cell phone coverage in the area, and no one else seemed inclined to pick up wet hikers, so we were stuck in place. Then another pair of hikers came out of the woods heading southbound, and also starting thumbing towards Glasgow, a hundred yards up the road, kind of stealing any chance we had for a ride. I sure wished we had gone to Big Island and made a call from there!
After an hour of this we were both wet and cold, so we started hiking towards Glasgow with the intent of getting warm, and getting to a ridgeline to pick up a cell phone signal. About 45 minutes later the two southbounders came up from behind us, doing the same, and just as they passed us, finally another pickup truck pulled over and offered all of us a ride. So we piled into the back and got into Glasgow about 15 minutes later - only to find that the only hotel, both restaurants, and the primary grocery store, were all closed (due to the economy). After asking around, we found that one gas station/mini-mart/deli was the only game in town, so we went over for lunch (which was surprisingly good) and to try and figure out what to do next. We had two choices - resupply, hit the laundromat, and head back out, or get a ride to Buena Vista (a much larger town), our intended stop the next day. Neither Mark or I had much enthusiasm for heading back out (it was still raining), and so after talking it over we decided to take what was behind Door #2.
After getting our groceries at a Dollar Store, we got a shuttle ride from "Legs," a 1995 Through-Hiker who runs his own hiker shuttle service. On the way we stopped at the Post Office, and ended up staying at the Quality Inn. After a quick shower, I had Legs bring me back to the library, where I did some quick emails and one blog report (the library closed at 5:00, so I only had an hour and a half). The weather finally cleared while I was inside. When I got back to the hotel, Mark had done our laundry, and had also laid out all our other gear in the parking lot. Solar System and Naneek, and also Geeza and TopShelf, had also arrived - as was evident from all their wet stuff hanging outside (they had stopped to camp whereas Mark and I had pushed on to Matt's Creek Shelter). They told us that the rain had actually come up through the bottom of their tents overnight - ouch.
After getting our stuff back inside, we hit the Burger King across the street for dinner. There were decent restaurants in town, but all of them were a pretty good hike from the hotel, so we decided to go for convenience instead of quality. Back at the room, we repacked our gear, sorted all our food, and watched some Weather Channel and other TV. A bit later we watched "Saving Private Ryan," it being the eve of the 65th Anniversary of D-Day. Bed around midnight. So, only 2 miles on the A.T. (plus 2 more miles on Rt. 501), and a lot of running around - a very frustrating day! But at least we're good to get back to it tomorrow....
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