Pearisburg, VA to Buena Vista, VA

Day 1, Thursday, May 23

Pearisburg, VA to Rice Field Shelter, 6.8 miles

Up at 6:30 AM, shower and I’m ready to go by 7:00 AM. I packed everything last night. Two friends of mine are picking me up at 8 AM on their way to Virginia for the weekend. We’ll drive north on Interstate-77 and meet Todd Atwater and Brian Cannon from Columbia, SC at the Virginia Welcome Center. From there we’ll drive up Interstate-81 past Roanoke and drop a car near Catawba, Virginia; then we’ll drive down to Pearisburg to begin our hike. Todd and Brian will hike with me through the Memorial Day weekend on Monday, and I’ll go on alone for another week from there.

My ride picks me up at 8 AM and we hit the road after loading up. We hit the McDonald’s in Elkin for breakfast and arrive at the Virginia Welcome Center at 9:45 AM. Brian and Todd are already there. After a quick pit stop, we head north toward Roanoke, Todd and Brian following us in their car.

We exit Interstate-81 at Salem. It’s a few miles off the main road to where we’ll drop Todd’s car. Then it’s on to Pearisburg. We reach the Subway in Pearisburg for lunch at 1 PM. I take them by the Holy Family Hostel after lunch. Then we drive out to the AT across the New River.

After stopping in front of Hoechst-Celanese and figuring out where the AT now goes since the new New River Bridge is open, we pull around to the side road and unload our gear under a warm sun. By 2:22 PM, we’re hiking. We’ve got to hike 6.8 miles to reach Rice Field Shelter. I’ve heard that it’s a long hike down to water at the shelter, so we’re all packing extra water and weight. The first three miles are uphill, and then the trail should level off on top of the ridge.

The uphill isn’t too bad. It’s just a warm hike up the mountain. Donna is having trouble with her pack, so we swap packs and redistribute some weight to make things easier. The hiking gets a little better. We reach Rice Field Shelter at 6:15 PM. There are 3-4 folks already there, two guys from the U.K., one thru-hiker from Blacksburg, and a southbound section-hiker, “Squeak-no-more”. Our four makes eight. Snug!

After finishing the other half of my Subway sandwich from lunch for supper, and repacking some of my gear, it’s time to walk down to the spring. We don’t need water having carried it up the mountain with us, but it’s fun to explore. It’s a half-mile down to the trickling water source. It turns out to be a half-mile back up to the shelter too.

I take my journal and walk out to the rocks overlooking the valley below. The sun is sinking behind the West Virginia hills in the distance and I can hear a train whistle in the valley below. It’s moments like this that make me remember why I’m out here.

After I catch up on recording today’s events, I walk back to the shelter to brush my teeth and get ready for dark. We make one final trip out to the rocks to watch the sunset. It’s going to be a clear, cool night, but far from cold. We walk out to the edge of the pasture and watch the stars come out above us and the lights come on in the valley below. It’s a beautiful evening. The stars are bright, but the Moon is brighter; it’s just a few days before the full Moon. In fact, the Moon is so bright it casts our shadows as we walk across the pasture. Behind us, the shelter is almost hidden in the darkness under the trees.

Back at the shelter Todd stretches out on top of the picnic table and the rest of us line up in the shelter. It’s a little crowded, but far from unlivable. The wind comes up and the temperature drops about ten degrees to a very comfortable 50 degrees by 3 AM. It turns out to be the coolest night of this trip. And just a couple a days ago, folks were reporting snow south of Pearisburg!