Day Three: Lost Mountain Shelter to Railroad Market & Cafe Northbound on the Appalachian Trail

The rain completely stopped for the night as we snuggled into our sleeping bags, and I promptly passed out.  At 10:50pm I awoke with a start as a strong gust of wind whipped through camp.  I felt pretty sure of my tent stakes and had already checked for any "widow-maker" trees in the vicinity, so I drifted back to sleep.  The wind, however, was persistent and fairly relentless.  Off and on all night, huge waves of wind rolled overhead, thundering through the treetops.  I thought to myself, "Hey, at least my tent will be dry when I pack up in the morning!"

And then, just before dawn, the rain started again.  So much for a dry tent!  Another hiker had come into camp a little after 9pm the night before, but after assessing the chaos in the shelter, he opted to set up his tent in the trees near us.  He hadn't stayed for long, though, and left northbound on his thru hike at first light.  Happy trails, Slide!

Quickly, the rain went from rain to RAIN.  Misty, Chelsea, and I were yelling at each other over the noise of the rain from our tents, discussing the day's plan.  They had heard from Bunny overnight, and our one mile hike out had to be extended due to a road closure somewhere between where we were and where she was coming from.  Our new instructions were to hike one mile on the AT and then turn right when we reached the road and hike four road miles to our designated pick up point.  Honestly, with all the rain and mud and rough terrain, four miles of pavement didn't sound that bad!

After thoroughly re-soaking all of our gear, the rain decided to slow to a slight drizzle once again, and we began to pack up.  This turned out to be quite the task for Amy and Kara with all of their overly wet gear.  Thankfully, the morning wasn't too chilly, and we all had full use of our fingers and toes!

The one mile hike out was short but pretty, once again among the rhododendrons.  Down, down we hiked toward the road below, and soon we were crossing a cute little bridge and came out to US 58.  

We turned right and began our road hiking.  All of us were in good spirits, knowing that in just a few miles we'd be meeting up with Bunny for a ride to the hostel.  

After a bit, the road led us out of the deep forest, and we began to see signs of life!  An occasional car would zoom by, a mailbox here and there indicated that yes, people did actually live out here, and there were tree farms everywhere.  

After about two miles of road hiking, we started to wonder if we were going in the right direction.  If the road was closed, why were there cars passing us in both directions?  Were we actually on US 58?  The road signs we passed were calling this road "Jeb Stuart Highway."  What if we had hiked two miles in the wrong direction?  Of course, there was absolutely no cell service to check a map or get ahold of Bunny.  

We reached a crossroads, where our road bent to the left, another road came in from the right, and a little white church was nestled in between.  There was a lone car sitting in the tiny church parking lot, so Kara decided to go inside to see if she could get some assistance in finding out our location.  

After what seemed like a long time, Kara returned and informed us that Damascus was the other way on US 58.  Great.  Chelsea and Misty sent another satellite message to Bunny to verify our route.  We were informed that you could get to Damascus either way on US 58 and that we were, in fact, headed in the right direction.  This made no sense to me, but I guess we were just going to go with it.  Bunny also informed us that she was very delayed due to a car vs. cow accident on the road.  Ahhh, country life.  We didn't know how delayed she was, or even where she was, but we continued our hike.  

We were nearing the end of our four miles on the road, when three large dogs ran out from a nearby house.  I have to say that I've had many more scary encounters with dogs than I have had with people on trails, and having barking dogs rushing towards you is not the best feeling.  The owner appeared in the doorway of the house and called them back.  They turned and ran away from us.  As we approached the driveway, the man came out to meet us.  He asked if we were hiking the AT and what our plans were.  We informed him that we were hiking to our pickup spot and would be getting off trail overnight to dry out.  He wished us well and we were on our way again.

But then, he called out to us again and asked if we'd like some help.  I said yes before I even knew what he was offering.  We headed back to his house where he offered to drive us to where Bunny would pick us up.  That sounded great to me, especially since we weren't exactly sure where to even find Bunny.  Two of the girls went inside to use the phone there to get ahold of Bunny, while the rest of us waited outside and played with the three super friendly dogs in the yard. 

It was decided that we'd meet Bunny at a new gas station/cafe a few miles down the road.  Mark, the owner of the house, generously offered to drive us there.  His wife said another round of rain was on its way and we had no desire to get drenched yet again.  So, the five of us threw our packs into the back of his truck and piled into the cab. It turns out that although Mark had been living in the south for many years, he was actually from Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Small world!  He was also a U.S. Marine, which you know holds a special place in my heart.  We were so thankful for his kindness in our little struggle to get off trail.  I spotted this stone in his yard while we were waiting, and I think it was quite accurate.

We pulled into the Railroad Market and Cafe, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a row of benches neatly tucked under a large overhang at the front of the store. While we waited, we sipped on coffee and hot chocolate, and then, the world's worst storm came through.  First there was rain.  Then there was wind.  Then the mountaintops disappeared into the fog that had settled everywhere.  Then the rain turned into sideways rain.  I had never been so happy to be camped out at a gas station in my entire life.  If Mark had not given us that ride, we'd be out there hiking in that!  

We waited for nearly an hour for Bunny.  She had had quite an ordeal getting to us that morning and we were so happy to finally see here again!

It was after 1pm when we finally arrived in Marion, VA.  Bunny dropped us off at Marion Outdoors, a gear shop we had become familiar with via TikTok.  The star of those TikToks was Coach, the owner of Marion Outdoors, and he was there at the desk to greet us.  We wanted to check out the store, but we really wanted to get clean and dry first, so we paid our fees and checked into The Merry Inn Hiker Hostel, also owned by Coach, and just upstairs from the store.

We climbed the stairs of The Merry Inn, and almost immediately exploded our gear everywhere.  Every available surface had tents and tarps and sleeping bags and sleeping pads and coats and packs draped over them.  We threw everything we had been wearing into the washing machine, took long, glorious, hot showers, donned donated hiker clothes, and put our soaked shoes on the boot dryer.  It is safe to say that we completely took over the whole place.

Once we were clean and dry and settled, we headed downstairs to check out the shop.  Amy and Kara needed new rain pants, Amy needed a new sleeping pad as her had sprung a leak, and we all wanted little mementos of this cute little place.

The next order of business was food.  We were now desperately hungry.  Our small breakfast way back at the shelter on trail and the gas station snacks a few hours ago had long since worn off and we were starving.  The nearest and most recommended restaurant was right next door.  We headed to Macado’s for an early dinner. The food was so good, and we ate way too much but we all decided to take gigantic cinnamon rolls back to the hostel for later. 

By the time we returned from dinner, our gear and clothing were dry, and we began to pack our bags once again.  It was Sunday evening, and we'd be returning to this hostel on Wednesday, so we decided to leave some extra food and gear behind we wouldn't need in the next few days.  Anything to make our packs a little lighter was definitely welcomed. 

Sunday night was a good night to be off trail, since temperatures would be dipping down to the single digits.  I think we made a smart choice with the hostel stay, especially with all of the wet gear we had. 

We played a few games in the lounge as we discussed our plans for the next few days.  Should we go back to where we left the trail and hike north from there?  Should we skip ahead a little and start at Grayson Highlands and go north from there?  What about Mount Rogers?  I really wanted to see Mount Rogers.  Should we start in Marion and head south, finishing where we left off today?  The weather was a factor.  Predictions of high winds and very low windchills were predicted on Monday and into Monday night.  Around and around we went, throwing out different options, never settling on one.  Finally, after two hours of discussion, and with the weather as our guide, we made a plan.  We'd have our shuttle driver drop us off just a few miles south of Marion in the morning, hike ten miles, and stay at Old Orchard Shelter, elevation 4076 feet.  This would be much warmer than camping at higher elevations near Grayson Highlands and Mount Rogers.  Then, on Tuesday, we'd hike from Old Orchard Shelter to Grayson Highlands and either get picked up there on Tuesday evening, or camp just south of the park and arrange a pickup on Wednesday.  Our other concern was that we were watching a potential winter storm which would be arriving sometime on Wednesday.  With no cell service, we'd have to use satellite service to get a weather report on Tuesday.  Several inches of snow could be very dangerous with the current trail conditions. 

Is your head spinning yet?  Because mine sure was.  I have never had to change plans so much on a trip as I had already done in the first three days of this trip.  This weather was giving us a run for our money. Can we just get back to the trail already?!

Total miles: 3.95 (1 on the AT)

Total elevation: 640 feet