Ah town days. Amazing how easy it is to wake up and start walking heading into town and how hard it is every other day. Every time I woke up during the night I just wished it was already light outside so I could get up! Finally just past 7 I was on the trail, Wilderness and Strider not far behind. The first several miles flew by like few miles have so far. The weather was perfect, the trail was smooth and we were eager to get to Waynesboro.
We found some more trail magic pretty early on in the form of semi-cold sodas in a cooler near one of the places the trail crosses the Blueridge Parkway. From there the the trail got a bit rocky and there was one moderate climb. Saw another rattlesnake today, nowhere near the size of the one back near Atkins, this one moved quickly off the trail. The day warmed up quickly but the trail stayed friendly and we all ended up making great time and got to the road into town sometime after 3. We had heard Waynesboro was hiker friendly and it didn’t take long to experience it first hand. We were just seconds off the trail just kind of sitting around a parking lot near the trailhead when someone stopped got out of a car and asked if any of us were thruhikers. I said I was and he gave me a freshly made Starbucks iced coffee.
As we were getting our stuff together and getting ready to find a ride into town, I heard someone call, “Rylu!” from a passing car. Turned out it was Jupiter, back from the days in the Smokies, who had to get off the trail at Erwin. He had been to a wedding, a funeral, and flipflop hiked parts of Pennsylvania; but now he was starting Shenandoah. His parents were with him giving him a ride and after Jupiter set off, they gave the three of us a ride into Waynesboro. Looks like he’s going to be at the same shelter as we will tomorrow night.
We stopped by the outfitter; they replaced the broken plastic piece in my pack no questions asked and no charge. I think it had been cracked a while, a fully intact frame felt nice. From there it was straight to the Green Leaf Grill for an early dinner. I had herb crusted mahi mahi, which was delicious although not totally filling. We all went to the hotel, did some laundry, then Strider and I ended up going back for a second meal at the Green Leaf. This time I scored an amazing burger complete with gouda cheese, bacon, fried egg and bbq sauce. Not only one of the best meals on the trail but one of the best burgers ever!
So the laundry thing was a little side adventure. This town has two main roads. The laundromat is on the same one as he hotel, about 1/2 mile away. There’s supposed to be a bridge over this stream but the bridge was being rebuilt and only the metal frame was up. Somehow we decided to walk across the framework bridge holding onto the cable rather than go around the long way. It wasn’t really high, the beam was wide, and with the cable to hold onto it would be hard to fall, but it still seemed a bit unnerving.