In the morning it turns out that that mouse made a nest out of toilet paper in a guys pack. It shredded his toilet paper roll. Then it had a litter of mouse pups in his pack. He had to pick them out. He put them next to the shelter. The mom looked pretty desperate to get to them, running around at the top of the shelter where the guy had his pack hung for the night. She didn't come down for them, at least not while I was there. An ant came over and was harrassing one of them, it rolled away bloody and it eventually killed it. It was a brutal life for that newborn.
I hiked down and into Marion. It was a good 10 mile walk. I was surprised that I didn't see anyone on the trail at all. It was another really hot day. The trail led through a cow pasture. The cows were on the trail and it made me really nervous how they watched me. A few of them took steps towards me. After being chased by angry cows in Ireland two years ago I am very nervous around cows. It all worked out though.
I was able to hitch a ride into town. It was a shuttle rider who picked me up, he had just dropped off No Chill and Sir Barksalot. He had a log book and had given rides to a number of hikers I recognized.
I went to Walmart and got two new pairs of shorts and some make up along with doing some resupply. Ken was suppose to come over and drive me to Trail Days then hike with me for a week but I found out last minute that things didn't work out so he couldn't visit sadly.
There was a shuttle that was taking hikers from the walmart parking lot to Damascus. I was trying to find out the schedule after checking out, in the meantime the shuttle did pull up, someone told me and I ran out. It pulled away right as I was approaching the thing. I ran after it but it left the parking lot and me in the dust.
Dishes and Crayola had a hotel room and let me take a shower and organize all the stuff that I bought then I made a sign out of my empty fiber one bar box that read "Hiker to Damascus". I walked back to the walmart hoping to find a ride from the parking lot. I ran into a guy named Anvil that I met yesterday. He was just trying to find a ride back to the trail head. After trying awhile a police officer said that she might be able to take us but she would have to leave and check in with someone higher up. I got a subway sandwich and she came back saying that she couldn't because of liability reasons.
We walked back towards the hotel and highway, me holding my cardboard sign out and a car pulled over. I was able to get a ride to the highway, one less mile that I would have to walk. Anvil parted ways and went to the hotel. As soon as I got out and held my sign out another car pulled over and offered me a ride halfway there. I was hesitant to get a ride halfway because I knew I'd have an easier time getting a ride here because Marion is a hiker town. I took the ride anyways, he seemed really nice, all of his family were driving their own cars in a line together on the highway.
I got dropped off in Chill Howie, VA, a horrible place to find a ride. I stood there on the corner with my sign forever. I was getting worried because it was starting to get dark. I watched a police car pull multiple people over and he kept circling back to the same street near me. He even waved a few times.
I did however get a ride. This time from a drug dealer who is hiding from the police. He had just gotten a new car so it wouldn't be known by the police. He told me that he drove by earlier to drop his brother off and that if I was still here he would pick me up. In the meantime cars had been speeding up to avoid me like I was some homeless woman begging for change. He was going to give me a ride to the town before Damascus but he ended up diving me the whole way there! He was nice. I was told that he used to be homeless. He could have and would have dropped me off at Tent City but I thought that it was nearby... It was a good ways down the street. It was dark by the time that I arrived. Barefoot was there and invited me to set up my tent in his camp, "Crocs n' socks".
The one way ministry was the place to go at night, right across the street from tent city. I got some fired chicken and finally got the chance to eat the subway sandwich I had purchased earlier.
Today I made it to mile maker 532.6 with 1657.2 left to go.
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