Glassgow, June 8th

It was another cold night. I woke up a few times and it was raining pretty hard. There was a lot of condensation in the tent in the morning and it dripped down and got my quilt wet.

Toes are looking good. 

The 3 of us did the 11 miles into Glassgow, VA. It was an easy hike, mostly downhill. The last mile followed a crystal clear river which was really beautiful. It let out into the Janes River which was quite large. It has the longest foot only bridge on the entire AT which we had to cross.

It's a tradition to jump off the bridge on a thru hike which I didn't do. The water was murky and there were plenty of signs saying that it's illegal to do and dangerous. Many fatalities have occurred over the years because there are hidden  concrete blocks and structures in the water. It would have been such a high jump that it looks painful, I wouldn't have done it of it was clear water I don't think.

It was really hard to hitch a ride into Glassgow. It took us 50 minutes. Most of the cars were headed the opposite direction. I don't really care for this town. It really is a small town. They do have a shelter and hot showers in the park for hikers.

We went out for a late lunch at Scottos. They had the largest pizzas! It was crazy, I couldn't even finish it. I also got a canoli and it was so delicious!

I did laundry, I sent most of my cloths home so I didn't really have anything clean to change into. I ended up wearing my rain gear while my clothes were in the wash. I really felt like hiker trash or maybe more like a homeless person? The shelter in town felt a lot like a homeless camp. There was a "Hiker" staying in the shelter. It's pretty obvious that he's only on the trail to benefit from all the stuff that gets offered to the hikers. I don't think that he's really trying to get to Maine. He has a sweet dog and he keeps screaming at her unnecessary. It's really painful to watch, she has so much patients with him for it. I really want to take her away from him though. It's really awkward being around him. He tried to toss Suns guidebook in the fire. It had been sitting on the bench. He doesn't seem all there.

We went out to the only other restaurant in town called Bosses. It was a strange place in a residential area. It kinda made me feel uncomfortable. I just got a slice of cake. No Chill came with us with her dog Sir Barksalot. I haven't been officially hiking with them but I've been seeing them since the Smokies. They've really been keeping pace with us for some time. She bought a box of ice cream bars and wanted to share. I ate 2 which was a mistake since I didn't have any lactaid with me.  We were able to get a ride back to the shelter. Since it was a bit of a walk it was much appreciated.

The homeless guy put cans of food in the fire to heat them. He had been heavily drinking too. At some point in the night there was an explosion in the fire, I think one of his cans exploded.

The shelter has 4 tripple leveled bunk beds that are pretty hard to get into. They also smelled. It was really a unique place. It even had electricity and a microwave.

Tonight in Glassgow I'm at mile 784.9 with 1404.9 left to go.