A week in Blacksburg

Hello to all blog readers! This is "Cold Feet" playing secretary, since Dave (aka Fool) has been too distracted to update his blog. :) After Harpers Ferry, Dave cruised through the Shenandoah National Park, knocking out big miles despite a very rainy cold snap in the mountains. The nice thing about rain this time of year is that it makes for some great fall foliage! The leaves were spectacular! From there, he stopped in at the Dutch Haus B&B in Montebello, VA. There he caught up with Lois and Earl, the owners. Dave stayed there last year, and matched his 4 night record. He spent a zero day resting and recoving from a cold, then slackpacked the rest. Very nice folks- they have a bunkhouse for hikers and Lois cooks a mean breakfast! After crossing the Blue Ridge Parkway a dozen times, he finally crossed the James River via pedestrian bridge. That brought Dave to southwest Virginia...my neck of the woods. After a short stop in Daleville for some BBQ and a shower, he hiked through some of my favorite sections of the AT. Tinker Cliffs, McAffee Knob and Dragon's Tooth serve up some amazing views of the region! Unfortunately, it rained and he was in the clouds throughout :( Still the leaves were beautiful and the hiking good fun. Then it was onward to Pearisburg, where I picked him up on Friday the 20th.

Friday, we went to the VPI Cave Club meeting. (VPI is Virginia Tech's real name- Virgina Polytechnic). There he met some of my crazy caver friends, and we watched a short presentation about the discovery of Grand Caverns in Grottoes, Virginia. I cooked up some chicken and sausage gumbo for dinner, which was a hit! :) Saturday, we attended a tailgate and then the Virginia Tech-Southern Miss football game. VT won- Go Hokies! Sunday, we took Dave caving for the first time since childhood. The name of the cave is Smokehole. It was cold and wet and MUDDY! We had planned on doing the "water exit" in which you swim out of the cave via a small water filled passage. Unfortunately, it had rained recently, and the passage was flooded closed. So, we climbed back out the way we came in. He had a great time! Monday and Tuesday I slackpacked Dave during the day, and he stayed here in Blacksburg in the evenings. He had planned on getting back on the AT, but then I scored tickets to an awesome ACC (Atlantic Coastal Conference) match up against Clemson. So, on Thursday we took him to "The Homeplace," some of the best food on the AT. The past two years, as he has been hiking through, the restaurant has been closed. The window of opportunity is small- they are only open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday...and only for dinner. So, we had some down home southern cookin'-barbeque pork, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, coleslaw, pinto beans, BISCUITS and cherry cobbler for dessert. YUM! :) Then it was onto the game! Virginia Tech upset Clemson, 24 to 7. ESPN was there, so the students rushed the field, while we watched in amusement.

I'm taking him back to the trailhead tomorrow morning. He says I've made him "soft," with the cotton clothes, daily showers, hot meals, etc. :) I think every now and then, you just need to recharge your batteries. He's got about 570 miles left. Hike on!

- Cold Feet