We woke up early this morning because it’s a town day. Many people were going to get the shuttle from partnership shelter, which was only about a mile north of where we spent the night but we wanted to get the extra miles in and made the decision to hike the extra 11 miles to Atkins.
With sore feet from the previous day it really wasn’t a fun hike. The first part was a good climb, then descent, then another climb and descent, followed by yet another climb, and all over sharp, rocky, uneven trail, so it really irritated our feet. Near the end of that section of trail, we passed by an old schoolhouse. We would’ve normally passed right by, but a few other hikers told us to go in, and I’m glad they did. A local church apparently keeps it stocked up with trail magic. Coolers with sodas and juice, boxes of cookies and candy, and even boxes with other hiker needs like sanitizer and toothpaste. It was a great surprise.
We completed our 12.4 miles into Atkins by about 1pm. Our ultimate destination for the night was Marion, VA, and there’s a shuttle that comes out to Atkins 3 times a day and goes back to Marion for 50 cents. We killed some time by grabbing some food at The Barn Restaurant… some tasty burgers at a very reasonable price. At 2:45, we hopped on the bus, and the driver delivered us right to our hotel… The America’s Best Value Inn.
We thought about doing laundry, but didn’t want to walk the 1.2 miles, and didn’t feel like hitching, so we just washed our socks and underwear in the sink, then walked the half mile to Walmart for a resupply, then stopped at Mi Puerto, a Mexican restaurant for dinner… and a big, cheap pitcher of Dos Equis.
We’re very tired now, and need to be up at Walmart by 9:30 tomorrow to catch the shuttle back to Atkins. For now we’re glad to be in a dry bed, and clean for a night.
