5/12/06 Friday: Wapiti Shelter to Pearisburg, Va (16.6)

Well, I was up and out again by 0715 under chilly temps and partly cloudy skies but no rain... The terraine was relatively easy and by 1030 Skunk and I had covered 8miles and arrived at the next shelter for our late morning break... The cool and cloudy day continued, kinda nice if your hiking :), and we soon arrived at our destination; Pearisburg. I had not been able to get any cell phone reception the 3 days prior to our arrival but had intended to stay at the only hotel that advertised having internet conection. When we got into town we quickly found out that all the hotel rooms were sold for the weekend graduation of some Tech School and our only option was a Church hostel almost 3 miles away. We stopped at the Rendevous Motel, across the street from the AT and waited for the manager who also said she was booked. She offered to drive us to the Hostel and even stop at the Post Office so Skunk could pick up her resupply package. She was a God send and soon had us at the Hostel and her recommendation for dinner within walking distance. There was a Wal-Mart mall .25mi from the Hostel. I had a wonderful time at the Hostel that eventually filled up with 10 hikers that night.

PICTURES:
1. Had some nice views of Virginia throughout the day...
2. A view of Pearisburg from a point near Angels Rest
3. A beautiful location for this hiker hostel on a hill behind the Church with a Gazebo you see here on the right and hostel appearing as an old barn on the left.
4. The hostel had a beautiful balcony for viewing the valley shown on this pic.
5. The sleeping quarters upstairs in the loft slept 10 I think. Down stairs had a kitchen, dining, woodstove and lounge area, and toilet facilities. Very nicely done and apparently all done with donations from the hikers...