AT Day 56: James River Face Wilderness

Daily Miles: 7.6, Total Miles: 787.2

The torrential downpour last night left standing water at the bottom of my tent. I drained most of it early this morning but not before I had wet feet inside my sleeping bag. Now that’s an unfortunate and uncomfortable first on any of my hikes.

I managed a few more hours of sleep until woken up by a noisy eastern whip-poor-will.

Just under eight miles through the James River Face Wilderness to the very wide James River and the longest footbridge on the AT. Halfway across, a long coal train came across the river on a parallel railroad bridge.

I had arranged for a shuttle to Stanimal’s Hostel, really the only place to stay in Glasgow VA. Very accommodating and I got busy cleaning and drying my gear, even got my sopping sleeping bag in the dryer. Wonderful shower and had my first weigh-in, almost 30 lbs down, seems to be a standard on my longer hikes. Late pizza lunch with enough left over for dinner at the only restaurant in town, Scotto’s Pizza.