VA Route 311 1482.6 to Four Pines Hostel 1488.6 (6 miles, 1488.6 total miles)
For the first night in a few days I finally slept incredibly well, warm and toasty in a bunk at Four Pines, with my comfy new leggings and the sleep socks Shrek had lent me.
Shrek woke me up at 6:30, and I followed her and Moose outside to say goodbye. I was still half asleep in the predawn light, but I gave her a big hug goodbye, wished her luck, said bye to Moose, and laid back down in my bunk.
I didn’t quite feel like I could fall back asleep, so I decided to read as much of Grandma Gatewood’s Walk as I could for a while, since I’d decided to send my two books home along with a couple other things to offset the weight of the warm clothes I’d added to my pack.
I ended up reading for a few hours, in no rush to start my day since I knew I was only hiking 6 miles later with Iroh and Sydney when they got to the 311 parking lot.
I heard Sprocket and Doc talking outside, and made my way out as well. Joe and Donna were around, too, and I hung out with everyone for a quite a while, sipping a mixture of coffee, hot chocolate, and powdered creamer.
Sprocket helped me start to put together a box for the things I wanted to send home, then I began reading a couple other books that were on the coffee table in the hostel.
I first browsed The Hiker Yearbook of 2015, looking for familiar faces and names from my first thru hike attempt, of which I found several.
Earlier, I’d also found a variety of names I knew in the inches thick logbook that Four Pines claimed, including members of my Maine trail family who were here in ‘21, Einstein, Honeybadger, and Longshot.
After Hiker Yearbook, I started reading a memorial book put together by a friend of City Slicka’s. Slicka had been an integral part of the trail for the better part of a decade before he had taken his own life in 2019, and I’d spent a bit of time around him in 2016.
I’ve found the trail seems to attract folks who have struggled with mental health issues, or who feel a little out of place in the “outside” world. Sadly, every year it seems there are at least one or two hikers who complete suicide, and it’s always a blow to the hiking community.
Around noon, I decided it was time to eat, and Doc offered me some of the food he’d brought, so I ended up making a grilled cheese that I ate with Cheetos and an orange Powerade.
I heard from Iroh while I was reading again, and it sounded like they would be at the parking lot around 1:15, a bit earlier than originally expected. I got myself changed into hiking clothes, then Sprocket and I headed out to meet them.
Sydney exchanged her large pack for a small bag Sprocket had brought, while Iroh decided to carry his pack. I had only brought my cell phone for the 6 miles to the hostel, so it was my lightest slackpack ever.
It began sprinkling while we were in the parking lot, thought the weather had looked clear till 6PM earlier, it had changed and was now forecasting rain and storms until the evening.
I’d brought my rain jacket, and hiked out in that, following behind the others, chatting with Sydney as we went. Soon, I began talking with Iroh while she ran ahead with Quasar, buoyed by her lack of pack and athletic nature.
It was raining for most of our hike, and the wind up on the ridge was quite strong from time to time. Iroh and I ran for a couple minutes when we heard the sound of a tree creaking in the wind, scared it might fall on us, and climbed over a couple trees in the path that looked recently downed.
The hike itself was rather straightforward. A few small ups and downs, a couple pastures, and a couple roads. The ridge had lovely rock formations to climb over and around, while the lowlands had beautiful flowers and greenery.
An acorn slammed to the ground a couple feet in front of me, Quasar tried to make friends with a cow whose head was almost bigger than his body, and we saw a great blue heron take off in the woods, flying a semi circle around us when we startled it by hiking up.
The rain petered off in the last couple miles, though Iroh had to run back to where we’d taken a short break to grab a trekking pole he’d forgotten.
When we reached the road, we followed the pine blazes painted on the asphalt to walk to the hostel just a few minutes away. Ellie and Izzy, the two resident canines, were immediately interested in Quasar as we walked up the long driveway.
Doc was still there, and got to meet everyone before we all settled in. Sydney was feeling rather tired and unwell from two nights of bad sleep in the cold, which I sympathized with, having just gone through similar.
She took a hot shower and we made her tea, and when Sprocket arrived from another shuttle he gave her a foam sleeping pad he’d had extra, and a fleece blanket for Q to sleep on as well.
Doc was fixing to start dinner soon, which was a pork tenderloin with bacon topped baked beans, baked potatoes, and garlic bread (which is called barbecue bread in the south sometimes I learned).
There were two section hikers at the hostel as well, also from Texas, including Ashley Smith and her close friend Go Pro, a former AT thru hiker from 2013.
Ashley was energetic, funny, and sweet, and she jumped to helping Doc with the cooking. Soon the hostel was full of delicious smells.
While Sydney laid down for a while, and after we took a shower, Iroh and I got a ride from Sprocket to the gas station so we could finish resupplying till Pearisburg, because trying to resupply in the middle would be more difficult and costly than we’d realized.
Back at the hostel, Syd was feeling better after laying down, and Miss Donna brought us an amazing looking berry cobbler for dessert. She used to make amazing hiker cookies, but with everything going on this was the first time all year she’d been able to make something for hikers. We were all thrilled and grateful.
I went out to the fire with Sydney, where Iroh was building it up, and I added a wicker chair from the woodpile that I’d been eyeing since the evening before. It was quite pretty, and soon we were joined by the section hikers, Sprocket, Doc, and Joe.
The wind was rather wild and unpredictable, and kept blowing smoke and sparks at everyone. I kept changing spots, and ended up sitting in the grass behind Ashley, who alone seemed fortunate in the direction the wind was choosing.
Dinner ended up not being ready till very late, but it was so delicious no one minded. We all ate huge plates piled with food, then big helpings of cobbler with ice cream.
We were all feeling rather sleepy and well fed as things wound down around 10PM, and everyone found beds or couches in the hostel to sleep on.
The dinner had been amazing, and an incredible bit of trail magic, especially being something that doesn’t happen often for southbounders, as Iroh and the other SOBOs like to remind me.
Being back at Four Pines had been such a treat, and it was a place that I’d had amazing times at, and had done so again. I was excited to have gotten to bring Shrek, Iroh, Sydney, and Q to the hostel as well, and was so grateful for the kindness we’d been shown. It was the heart of the Appalachian Trail we were experiencing.