Today was another zero day for us, but a total day of travel beginning at 4a and not ending until midnight. Peter and Marcia took us to the train/bus station in Portland for us to catch the early bus to Boston. From Boston, we caught the train to Roanoke, VA. We didn’t have to worry about missing our stop because Roanoke is the end of the line.
Bubba picked us up in Roanoke and took us on a harrowing ride to Bear Garden Hostel. I tried to engage Bubba in conversation, but after an hour I gave up. Bubba is a man of few words, the total of which are “yeah, nope, maybe, I don’t know.” He was friendly, just not a conversationalist. The scariest part of the day was the final 20 miles on curvy back roads to the hostel where little critters were out enjoying the warm pavement on the cool night. Bubba had an inherent belief they would move out of his way. I had an inherent belief we were going to die. Bunny chose the ostrich approach and ducked down in the back seat.
With all the available travel time we had today, I decided that I would put together a few lists about our trail experiences this year. The first of these lists follows. I was inspired by our final destination today, just outside of Bland, VA.
EFG
5 most disappointing/worst trail towns:
#5) Bland, VA—there has probably never been a more aptly named town. There was nothing spectacular at all about this town.
#4) Cheshire, MA—we encountered the rudest person we met on the entire trail here. An obese gentleman with sweaty armpits took time out of his busy day to follow us through the Dollar General to share with us that we needed showers. We truly appreciated the input as we had hiked 13.9 miles on a hot day and had no idea.
#3) Glasgow, VA—the only redeeming aspect of this town was the giant dinosaur standing guard over the park. Hard to get into and out of with very little selection for the effort. Stanimal has a Hostel here which is not as well managed as his Waynesboro location. Without warning, they came in at 7:45 and asked if we were on the 7 or 8 shuttle. That was the first time we had any communication with the absentee host.
#2) Gatlinburg, TN—tourist trap from hell. Not the ideal place to be stuck for 5 days waiting out a couple of blizzards in the Smokies. The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum was the high point with it being downhill from there.
#1) Damascus, VA—trail town, USA was the biggest disappointment to us. We walked into town and didn’t see a single person on the street or an open business on a Saturday afternoon. The bar on the Main Street had just opened and served pizza, but no beer…coming soon! Hopefully, it comes alive for trail days, but after our first encounter, we opted out of a return trip.