With "hikers revenge", I spent 3 days at Father Charles' Catholic Church in Pearisburg. I got on a tangent yesterday about a recent book on the AT, so I want to return to the subject of the hostel.
So far on this 1974 trip I had spent 8 nights in trail towns (Wesser, Hot Springs, Elk Park, Damascus and now Pearisburg). Town stops were outside my budget so a free hostel was greatly appreciated. Today, hikers do frequent zeros in towns in a variety of lodgings and this can rack up some serious money, especially when you consider the price of backpacking.
Anyway, recovering from my tummy problem, I had a chance to meet some great people. We played volley ball, made some jam and other untypical hiker activities. All in all it was an emotional (and physical) up and down kind of experience; but one that is part of the AT experience. (this is my ending thoughts on the AT Biography book I wrote about yesterday; the author can not really write about the AT without these experiences. Even Bryson spent a couple weeks (or maybe a month or two) on the trail).
So in these blog entries I summarize my trip some decades later AFTER I have reflected and relived the trip. Oh yeah Pearisburg from the AT.
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