Next to the “Captains”

So this post is going to be a little bit different than usual. Because of the rain lately, I don’t have many photos to share with you all. There also isn’t much to talk about, considering I was just in town two days ago. However, I am camped next to a house with Wi-Fi, so I thought I would take advantage of it and do a little post.

The day coming out of Pearisburg was very wet and cold. Polar bear and Justice both decided not to go out that day. In fact, very few people left Pearisburg that day. Luckily, getting a hitch back to the trailhead didn’t end up taking that long. I figured that a hiker standing in the pouring rain would either be a benefit, or keep people away from picking me up. Seems like it helped. Once back on the trail, I followed some highways over a wide river. It wasn’t until passing a large factory that I got back into the forest. The trail climbed for a while out of the valley where Pearisburg lay. Once on the ridgeline the trail hit the first shelter. I only planned on having lunch here, but after I was cold and wet I decided it would be safer just to stay. This ended up being a good decision for the rain kept on all during the night.

This morning the rain wasn’t quite as bad, but the wind was still strong. This led to my morning hike still being cold. For the first hour I couldn’t feel my hands. My torso and legs were still warm, so I wasn’t worried. After my morning coffee and oatmeal break, the trail followed another ridgeline. This continued for roughly 10 miles until I started to drop down into the next valley. Rather than push on and make it to my projected campsite, I decided to stop short and stay at the Captains.

So, what exactly is the captains? About 30 yards off the Appalachian Trail, and across a river, there’s a man who opens his backyard to through hikers. He has a large lawn where you can put your tent, and if it’s raining you can go on his back porch. Getting across the river was also quite interesting. There is a strange zip line pulley contraption thing that you clip your pack to and sit on. Unfortunately, due to the recent rains the river is about two feet higher than I believe it normally is. This meant my feet dragged through the water. Thankfully, Deadwood, the only other hiker here was able to document it for me.

Due to my slower start out of Pearisburg, I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to Daleville in five total nights. This is fine though because I always carry an extra days worth of food than planed. Hopefully these next few days I’ll be able to keep my phone out of my Ziploc bag. That way I can have more photos from the trail.