Pannier People

Day 80 - Glendale to Yorktown - THE END!

63 miles

Wow, our last day! We can't believe it is here and that our journey is nearly over. We have gotton so used to just cycling day in, day out, that it will be weird to not be on this trip once we have arrived in Yorktown.

We got up from our church overnight stay, cooked breakfast, packed away and set off as normal. Most of the day's cycling was along quiet country roads, until we reached the outer areas of Williamsburg where the traffic increased quite a bit.

We passed quite a few plantations along the way. Anyone can go and visit to see how they used to operate, but we decided just to keep on with our journey and get to Yorktown. Now that we know the trip is coming to an end we are keen to get there.

Much to our surprise we met another eastbounder during the morning. He'd already done at least forty miles, compared to our twenty, so no surprise we hadn't met him sooner, he'd obviously been doing a lot more mileage per day than us. He was eating peanut butter and banana sarnies at a gas station, so we left him there whilst we carried on, but we also saw him later on in the day and all cycled together for some time.

This area, once you get to Williamsburg, is really interesting. Jamestown was the first English settlement in the USA and was founded in 1607. There was a detour in place so we couldn't actually get down to it, but we did go and eat our lunch on a bench in Williamsburg, which was the former colonial capital of Virginia, and is now a rather twee, but pleasant town, which attracts a lot of tourists, who especially want to visit 'Colonial Williamsburg' which is done out as it was in the 1700s, complete with actors dressed up in costume. I'd already visited the town about ten years ago, but it was nice to go back.

From there we had thirteen miles to get to Yorktown, and it was all along one road which wound through forest hugging the shoreline We caught glimpeses of the river which leads to the Atlantic at various points and could smell the salty sea air, and it was really exciting to realise we were finally on the coast.

We cycled down into Yorktown at 3.55 pm (09/09/09) in glorious sunshine and headed straight to the beach. Once on the sand we lugged our bikes (have you ever pushed a heavily loaded bike in dry powdery sand?! It's v tough!) to the water's edge and stared out to the ocean. Mission complete and at exactly 4,200 miles!

This journey has been incredible. It has been everything we hoped it would be, and more. We feel such a sense of acheivement, and it's made us realise that anything we want to put our minds to, we can, it's all possible.

We have met the most charming, friendly, interesting and kind people we could ever hope to meet. We have seen the most beautiful and stunning countryside, and we have done it all from bicycles, a form of transport so regular, so simple, but so perfect for experiencing new places and getting from a to b. We loved cycling before, but now we are in love with it! On a bike, a cyclist is open to the elements, to an extent vulnerable, forced to physically endure whatever lies on the road ahead, but we are also approachable, sometimes a curiousity, in touch with their surroundings and not travelling so fast as to miss the little things that pass by. It really is the way to travel.

Thank you so very much to everyone who has supported us on our journey...

Our family and friends and everyone who has donated to our chosen charity – the Parkinson's Disease Society. We are delighted that we have raised over £1,500.00 for them so far. If anyone else wants to sponsor us (you were waiting to make sure we finished? – can't believe you doubted us!) please go to www.justgiving.com/pannierpeople – there is still a week or so to donate)

To the many people along the way who stopped to say hello/ wondered what the hell we were doing/ gave us advice/ a place to stay, or even just a wave – you made our day! We leave your shores with a newfound respect for America and its people.

To everyone who followed our journey via our blog – hope you enjoyed it.

And finally to the motorists of America – thank you for not running us over!

Sarah & Matt X

 

Day 79 - Bumpass to Glendale

54 miles

We didn't so much wake up this morning, rather than just continually wake up throughout the night at intermittant periods according to the volume of the rain pouring down on our tent. If only I knew where my ear plugs were, but after nearly three months of being on the road, some of my pannier organisational strategies have long been showing weakness.

Positioned behind a closed down gas station on the side of the road, next to some old rusty appliances, an upside down shop sign and a boat, there was a slight feeling of distance between us and the rest of civilisation, which was only exacerbated during a fairly sleepless night. At various points I'm sure it wasn't just the rain I could hear beyond two very thin nylon walls, as my imagination fired up sounds which could have been the curious prowling of any number of small or large mammals rustling around us. This type of behaviour is generally not a problem in the UK because there's very few animals which could give you any serious bother but here, at best it's a raccoon trying to access your oatmeal, and at worst, well, a bear.

I also awoke at one point to find my left leg soaking wet from the rain coming into the tent, precisely because my leg was touching the tent. Gotta love that.

When we did get up the rain had more or less stopped but the dampness hung in the air and on our clothes all morning. It was pretty cold today and even though I think we've been very lucky with the weather on the whole, it really reminded us of the contrast between this very autumnal day to the searing heat we experienced at the beginning of our trip.

These past few days have felt like we are getting into increasingly more populated areas and therefore corn fields, orchards and farms are making way for malls, houses and more traffic. We did still see the former though, just not as many. We also saw a commercial airplane fly over today, which really made me stare and realise we probably hadn't seen one at all for the last three months, because we haven't travelled anywhere remotely near a large airport.

Virginia is a beautiful state, and one which is very liveable. It has coast, mountains, farmland, attractive cities and a lot of interesting history. Pretty much every mile, there is a marker denoting some civil war skirmish, so many that we've stopped stopping to read them all.

The terrain seemed so flat to us too. After all those hills we've come across in the last few weeks, it was easy street. We also snuck in a couple of short cuts we spotted on the map too.

So it's our last night actually on the road, and tonight we are staying in the Willis United Methodist Church in Glendale, which is a hamlet just outside the big city of Richmond. They're another church who kindly allow touring cyclists to stay under their (very smart and modern, I must say) roof for free.

It's with mixed feelings that we sit here tonight. We arrive at our destination of Yorktown on the Atlantic coast tomorrow afternoon. We both feel saddened that it will be our last day on the road, but we're also excited and overjoyed that we have made it and achieved our goal.

Sarah

Day 78 - Charlottesville to Bumpass

64 miles

Today we started our run down to Yorktown in earnest. Three 60+ mile days are on the cards since we decided to slow-ball it over the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Today though we passed the home of Thomas Jefferson, author of the American declaration of independence and one of the earliest Presidents, about five miles outside Charlottesville: Monticello. This impressive building, built on a leveled mountaintop was designed by Jefferson himself.

 

A true polymath he had taught himself architecture from a 15^th century Italian renaissance book on the subject. Monticello featured America's first domed building – although the tour guide mentioned that the room it enclosed Jefferson never really knew what to do with, and so used it for storage.

Jefferson himself was a born meddler too, saying that taking down and putting things up was his chief delight. This constant building work (the house was under construction for over 40 years) led in part to him dying massively in debt, his children having to sell the property and its contents at auction to pay his creditors.

He also seemed to be something of an eccentric. The house was full of odd gadgets he designed or took the workings from another invention and applied them in his home. A clock that had a cable that ran out to weights on the wall that told the day of the week. Double doors where you pull one, and the other closes, glass 'curtain doors' to keep the heat in. You name it he fiddled with it. As a scientist he also took the first wind records in the area of his plantation, sponsored paleontological expeditions to find mammoth jaws in Kentucky and kept a massive range of plants in his garden.

The garden itself was very impressive, not only the ornamental gardens, but also the 1000x80ft kitchen garden that he kept, and the orchards extending on terraces below the property. We walked around them and it took a full ten minutes to walk along two sides of his veg patch. Today they use the ground as a seed bank for 18^th century vegetable varieties.

The central irony in my view from our walk around his house is that Jefferson the man who wrote the lines “we hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are born free and with certain inalienable rights...” himself owned over 200 slaves. These were the people who were the carpenters, ironsmiths, farmers and workers around his massive Virginian plantation. When he died, he only freed 5 of the 200, possibly because he owed so much money. Of the five that he did free, there included a woman called 'Sally' and her sons. The story that has recently emerged is that after the death of his wife he had children with her. Newspaper articles have been found detailing the scandal of the mulatto children who look a lot like the man himself.

It was a great place to visit, but before we knew it, it had gotten to after 2pm and we realised we hadn't gone anywhere really, and that we had over 55 miles still to cycle today. So we whizzed past home of James Madison (another president) that was just down the road. They were buddies.

The next few hours were hard work, and we didn't arrive at the place we had planned to stay at until nearly 7pm.  We are in the village of Bumpass.  The only thing to do round here is to laugh at our own jokes about the name.

Dinner was chilli with rice, except Sarah forgot to buy the chilli when we were at the supermarket, which led to a moment of panic, until we cobbled together a sauce out of the last of some cheese soup, a courgette, tomato and a couple of little gifts from Mr Jefferson – a chili pepper and some basil from his veg patch. He had so much there was no way he would miss just a little bit.

Tonight we are camping behind a closed store on highway 618. The store is called Route 76, presumably after the original bicentennial bike route. It has just started to rain and my spider senses tell me it is not about to stop.

Matt

Day 77 - Afton to Charlottesville

30 miles

This morning we left the cookie lady's house and made our way down to Charlottesville in the valley. The countryside is fully in plantation territory and everything is green and fertile, and farms fill the landscape between the all encompassing forest. We passed by lots of orchards, with pick your own apples and peaches. We stopped and ate a peach. It was ripe and delicious. There are two types of peaches – clingstone, where the stone is fully attached to the flesh, and freestone, where the stone falls away easily. I guess this is some new technological marvel in agriculture as they were making a big deal of it.

Also, a nectarine is NOT a cross between a peach and a plum, it is actually a cultivar of a peach with the furriness bred out. Remember to shout down the next trivia buff who spoons you that myth in the pub.

We arrived in Charlottesville at around 1.30pm. The campsites were about 8 miles out of town so we stayed in a motel. The budget inn was only $58, which was a pretty good deal given the town is very flashy and it is Labor Day weekend so everything was busy. Incidentally, nobody we have spoken to has any idea what Labor Day is about, why they created it or what it is celebrating. Isn't that weird?

It seemed like it was just before the first day of term at the University of Virginia which dominates the town. Parents and smart looking students were walking around and eating 'brunch'. Many of the kids were wearing UVA or Virginia sports T-shirts.

We went for an enormous pizza and cheesecake, then we watched rubbish movies on the TV and fell asleep. Only 180 miles to go.

Matt

Day 76 - Vesuvius to Afton

31 miles

Only 31 miles today, but for two reasons, mainly that we don't have far to go now til the coast and we don't want to rush it but also because after Vesuvius is a great big hill to climb called Montebello which we knew would take a bit of time.

Before setting off we stopped in at Gertie's Store, where we camped behind last night, and supped some coffee. When it comes to big climbs, there's no other wonder drug like caffeine!

We spent about an hour chatting with Gertie and her co-worker Tammy, they told us stories about cyclists they'd met over the years. We could have sat there all day chatting to them but in truth we were really just delaying our actual ascent. They entertained us with tales including one about four young British guys who recently stopped by and decided to take a short cut to avoid it because they feared it so much. What? It's only a hill, not a man eating troll with two heads and a bicycle crunching fist.

By 10.30 am we set off and as expected, it was steep. In fact it is the longest, steepest hill on the whole 4, 200 mile trip. We weren't going to rush it though and stopped at least every half mile to regain breath, and wipe away sweat and flies. There wasn't much traffic, but it wasn't completely deserted either so occasionally we also had to stop to let motorists pass – again like most roads we've travelled recently, there were lots of sharp bends and corners and a driver sitting on your tail whilst you are panting uphill at 1.5 mph is not relaxing!

We'd done nearly two miles on the actual hill when it levelled out. This is by no means a reason to celebrate as we have learnt. There is nothing worse that thinking you've got to the summit, then to turn a corner and see another incline ahead of you. But we saw a road sign indicating the turn onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, where we needed to go. It can't be over already we thought, we were expecting it to be at least four miles. It turns out that the mile indicator on the map was positioned a lot further down in town so the four miles included some of the flat we had already done to get to the foot of the hill.

So we were at the top, (3200 feet) and because we were expecting a lot worse, we felt shortchanged out of hill-longness! But nevermind we turned on to the Parkway – considered as one of Virginia's most beautiful scenic drives, and weren't disappointed. For the rest of the 31 miles, we cycled along a stunning ridge with mountains either side (and yep they were blue) and along rolling hills. There were plenty of overlooks to stop at and gaze at the scenery. It was really stunning.

 

We also attracted attention ourselves from holidaymakers who'd driven up. We don't think we are that interesting but two groups of people took our photo and couldn't believe that we had ridden from Oregon. One lady was staggered that we had everything we needed for three months in our panniers. She literally made us give her an inventory of everything we had! We also met some cyclists who were doing a local short tour of a few days in the area. Their map wasn't that great though so we helped them find their way using ours. We also met a couple who gave us some cold apples they'd just picked.  They were delicious.

After that we continued along the parkway as it descended down to the valley below. Afton is the home of June Curry – known to Transamerica cyclists as 'the Cookie Lady'. June is legendary on this route, everyone has heard of her or stayed with her. Since 1976, when the route first started, she has been putting up cyclists in a house next to her own. She is now 88 and hasn't been in great health recently but has still let hundreds of bikers stay this year. We called ahead to make sure it was alright for us to come along and sure enough it was.

June welcomed us in and we sat with her on her porch and listened to her stories about other bikers she's met over the years. Despite having known all about June and the bikehouse right from the start of our journey, when we actually arrived here we were completely blown away by the place. June has met tens of thousands of long distance cycle tourers. And not only is her bikehouse a place to stay for bikers but it's also a museum of memorabilia of the Transam, most of which has been left by other cyclists. It is truly incredible. The whole house is covered with photos, postcards, cycling jerseys, flags, letters and just, well, stuff , all with messages and good wishes, left by cyclists who have appreciated her kindness. She doesn't charge any money but leaves out a jar for donations, as she also supplies food in the kitchen. There are folders going right back to the 70s of polaroids of all the bikers who have come through and stopped by, saying where they are from and what route they travelled. We felt honoured to add ours and being here really feels really inspirational, to see the faces of all the other people who have travelled this great adventure too. We felt the same when we stopped at the Adventure Cycling Association's hq in Montana but this is even more moving. June Curry is an exceptional lady who just loves meeting cyclists from all around the world, swapping stories and helping them. The world is a better place because of people like her.

 

 

Sarah

Day 75 - Troutville to Vesuvius

57 miles

Morning came with the discovery that we could get internet signal by standing in a certain way on this little bridge in the park, so if you received an email from us on Thursday, that is where it would have been sent from. After I finished checking all the important things I normally check in the morning, like who has written what on people I know's blogs, and how amazingly cool everyone else's life events are on Twitter, we started to take the tent down. Cecil the groundsman (Park Director) advised us to take a shortcut on 11 highway that was significantly less dangerous than the posted route. It is amazing how many people are convinced you are taking your life in your hands every time you step on the pedals. Perhaps we are underestimating the risks, but on the whole drivers have been very considerate to us. This might be because we are queer and exotic beasts to them and they give us a wide berth.

Today was a red letter day as we resolved to have lunch in a diner, and took our break in the quaint town of Lexington, Virginia, which was the home of two of the Confederacy's great generals – Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. There was the opportunity to look at the grave of one of them, I forget which, but we chose not to. Going to the gravestones of the famous is a bit weird in my view. I did hear a story that Henry VIII's remains 'leaked' from his coffin in Westminster Abbey (or wherever it is) at some point in the 20^th century. I say leaked because he was buried in a solid and sealed lead lined coffin. Now as you may know we are all 70% water, and given the coffin was sealed, all Henry's juices were in there too. The passage of time weathered away some corner or other of the coffin, and out poured the Royal liquor. Believe that if you will, but I am just telling you I heard it.

Back on topic. I had a Reuben sandwich which I have to say is a great way to enjoy two slices of bread. For the unschooled this is pastrami, plus pickled cabbage, plus cheese plus thousand island dressing. Anyone who doesn't enjoy that is a pervert and I want nothing to do with them. Sarah had a chicken fillet sandwich and a mango and peach smoothie. The army recruiting office was next door and I read some literature to see if I had what it takes to be a U.S. Marine, while Sarah reviewed the local tourist brochure.

Around 5pm we arrrived at Gertie's country store at the foot of an ungodly large mountain, which was to be our campsite for the night. Gertie and her daughter run a cafe/shop and have been putting cyclists up out the back for several years. They were nice people, who showed us the dinner menu, but one thing we have learned on this trip is interesting things you can do with noodles, and we had a cheese/shrimp powder recipe that needed perfecting.

Tomorrow is the big hill of Montebello which we have been warned about since Wyoming by people we have met, so let's see what that brings us.

Day 74 - Dublin to Troutville

67 miles

We saw a bear today! Even though we are in bear country and we knew they are around us, we didn't actually expect to see one. We were riding along a quiet country lane alongside Gravelly Ridge, still in the Appalachians, it was about 4 pm. We heard a rustle in the bushes, looked over and a black bear was about 25 feet ahead of us, where the bushes meet the road. By the time we saw him, he 'd already seen or heard us and turned around to go back into the forest. I stopped as soon as I saw him and we both said at the same time: 'It's a bear'. We couldn't believe it. It was an awesome sight and we both got a good look of him. We are glad he made the decision to scamper off into the bushes though and we are also glad we weren't a few seconds ahead of ourselves when he might have already been in the road, and we could have gone straight into him! From that point we talked a bit more continuously as we rode, so if there were any others they would hear us and move away.

Today also marks us moving on to the final map in the series we have which have gotton us across the country. The entire route is split into twelve maps, so this feels very significant. From the start of the day, we had 369 miles to go – in less than a week we will be in Yorktown, on the Atlantic coast.

It was a good days riding today. We took a few shortcuts here and there and paralleled highway 81 for much of the day, but as mentioned were still on rural roads with little traffic. We also had our first unfriendly driver which was a shame after getting so far. American motorists are really not used to dealing with cyclists, and we can tell that when they overtake us, it feels like are the first cyclists they have ever come across in their lives. They often give us way more room than they need to, as if they are so afraid of coming too close. This of course is not a problem for us, and we are very grateful. Today though, when on a very winding road, one driver came up behind us right on a sharp corner. Of course we were not going to stop on a corner for him to pass as this could have been dangerous for him to overtake us then. So we kept going for a bit until there was a straight bit of road where he would have a good line of vision. As he went past, he gave us the finger out of his sunroof. How pleasant.

Other cyclists have told us they've occasionally got hostile treatment from drivers eg driving too close, beeping their horn aggressively or shouting abuse at them as they went past, but we have always thought we would lucky in avoiding this. We also discussed the possibility that as female cyclists are particularly rare on these roads, that perhaps the sight of one, suddenly brings out the gentlemen in these patriarchal drivers. Fine by me, not getting shouted at and mowed down by a hillbilly in a rusty Chevy is always top of the day's agenda.

We arrived in Troutville about 6pm looking for the baseball park where we had hoped to camp for the night. We found the park but weren't sure if it was the right place. But sure enough a friendly stranger in the form of Carlene bounded over, and showed us where we could pitch our tent. Later on, Cecil, the park keeper also came over to make sure we were alright, and had water etc. He also warned us that a couple of noisy trains would go past in the night as the tracks were right close. Sure enough, that roaring siren that we hear quite often, delighted our slumber at about 2 am in the morning. American trains have a horn on them which is second to none in alerting you to it's presence.

We ended our day with our camp style fajitas, a version which if not entirely true to the original dish, still manages to hit the spot when we are hungry after a day of riding.

Sarah

Day 73 - Troutdale to Dublin

65 miles

As dawn's rose red fingers heralded a new day we waved goodbye to 'Lights Out' from our little shack above the Baptist church in Troutdale. Walking the Appalachian trail means 6-8 days in the woods at a time so the hikers need to pack that much food to sustain them, all in a bear proof tub. His total pack weight is around 40 pounds / 20kg, including four litres of water – which is about the same as me.

Lights Out favours bread and other non-cooking foods, having sent his stove (and tent!) home through lack of use. Others use a small 'cat stove' – an alcohol burner made from a (presumably empty) cat food tin. He did meet a superfast walker who gorged himself at the points where the trail intersects with civilization and eats just 'nuts and berries' the rest of the time. I guess that lightweight approach is what they call doing it Alpen style... boom boom.

Obviously you can't take that much water with you so they drink water from streams, purified with iodine. Generally speaking the trail walkers sleep in three sided huts in the woods that are placed every 8-12 miles along the path. Incidentally, he got his name Lights Out from knocking himself out in one of these huts.

This afternoon we discussed and finally refused to go into a $3 local history museum on grounds of cost. We were also very tired, and we had just spotted the golden arches and a motel sign over the horizon. I am not sure we are becoming super-tight, but life on the road has certainly made us more frugal, and in a good way I think. You don't actually need much to stay alive and live a good life; with just a few hundred pounds worth of lycra, a high tech tent and two twenty seven speed touring cycles, you too can live for around $10 a day, and many days significantly less than that.

We checked into a motel last night in order to sort out the logistics of getting two people plus bikes from Virginia to Washington DC and home, which is something of a challenge. We have sorted it out in theory now, but like 'evolution', at the moment it's just a theory.

Finally we have been nominated in the Dorset Cereals 'Little Blog Awards' . A high accolade indeed and thank you for whoever it was who put us up for it. Please vote for us on this link, we are lusting over a muesli based gift pack and the ceremonial egg cup. If it was one of my evil marketing friends promoting one of their own projects by nominating us, knowing I am vain enough to crow about it, shame on you for playing on our emotions

Day 72 - Elk Garden to Troutdale

60 miles

We're still in the Appalachians and it's still very hilly. In fact it's fairly difficult to find any flat land around here. The terrain opens up occasionally though from tree covered roads into those surrounded by open fields with cattle and the blue mountains in the distance. We also followed the Laurel River for some of the day as it wound itself along the road. It's a slim and clear river which is shallow with lots of small waterfalls and pretty rock formations scattered in it.

We thought the hills for this section were going to be bigger versions of the Ozarks, in Missouri, ie tall rollercoasters, one after the other in quick succession, but they're more like a steeper version of some of the terrain we covered in the Rockies – long, slow climbs that go on and on, round each bend, round some more, you can't see the top, and then when you finally reach it, a buzzing downhill – our reward.

There really is not much better than whooshing down a winding, curvy road, which has no traffic on it, really fast! We started the day with a two mile climb through Hayters Gap, a hill we'd heard about from a lot of Westbounders, but we found it fairly ok, and realised from the four mile downhill that that's the reason the Westbounders talk about it so much!

We had our scariest dog incident today, which was a surprise as we are way out of the 'Eastern Kentucky dog zone'. We had just come past the village of Konnarock and were on a slight upwards incline around a bend, when we both saw an orange pit bull standing in the road outside a house. It started to bark at us but we confidently continued cycling past it. It barked harder and began coming in our direction. Matt slowed down (he's been watching too much Caesar Milan – a celebrity dog whisperer) and thinks he can show the dog who is the alpha male, but I just cycled as hard as I could to get away. At this point other dogs appeared from the driveway, plus some more from the opposite house. All are barking and encircling us. Pitbulls can run pretty fast so I have the orange one on my left side keeping up with me, and then a white alsatian coming at me from the other side. They are baring their teeth ferociously and I'm fairly sure one of them is going to go for me, so I just scream at the top of my voice, so hard that I feel winded in my chest afterwards! It worked though, Matt was behind me and says the dogs looked very confused when I did that! Meantime Matt was pepper spraying some of the others as he cycled past them. So ultimately no bitings, thank goodness, but I was terrified at the time.

Still no bear sightings which is probably just as good because bears and humans just don't mix. We have been seeing a lot of great birdlife though, and today we saw more blue herons, vultures, red cardinals and some bright all yellow birds which we have yet to identify. A lot of eagles and hawks fly overhead too. Plus we saw five large elk in the forest as we cycled past.

We pass a lot of ramshackle looking houses and barns too. They are really characterful. Some of them are surprisingly inhabited.

We stopped in the small town of Damascus about halfway through the day and ate at a little 'Mom n Pop' diner for lunch. We are near the Appalachian hiking trail here and many hikers appear from the trail, possibly their first sighting of civilisation for many days. If transamerica cyclists are slightly barmy for wanting to cycle all this way, then the Appalachian trailhikers are certifiable. The trail starts in Maine and finishes 2,300 miles later in Georgia. It takes the 'through hikers' as they are known (ie they are doing the whole lot, not just a section) at least 6 months. Most start in the south where the weather is warmer earlier in the year and head northwards. They literally spend most of this time on a footpath in the woods, not seeing anyone apart from other hikers, almost like a walking fraternity of hermits. They average about 10-20 miles a day and disappear in the wood for 6-8 days at a time, carrying enough food for that duration, sleeping in dugouts and drinking water from streams. And to top it all off, they give each other trail names. We met two hikers today separately and both introduced themselves with their trail names, not their real names. One was 'Lights-out' and the other was 'Bojangles'. Bojangles was relaxing by the side of the road, where the trail intersects, in a hammock he had just put up. He told us that two years previously he had helped build the church hostel that we were heading to for tonight.

So we carried on, found the church, then the bunkhouse up on the hill behind it where we can sleep on some homemade wooden bunkbeds. We've chatted to 'Lights-out' who is from Cinncinnati, Ohio, and probably a retired geography teacher. He's staying in the room next door and seems to be relishing the chance to speak to someone other than himself. We've also signed the book for hiker/bikers to record their stay. Most are hikers – 'Juice', 'Rowmin Goat', 'One Step', 'Tree Frog', 'Apple Sauce', 'Tink', and ''Poppa November' have all stayed here this summer. I think it's fair to say that walking the Appalachian Trail is more about the journey inside your own mind for many people.

Miss Spokerdoodle & Stinkglove

Day 71 - Breaks Interstate Park to Elkhorn City Methodist Church

45 miles

A short day today so we languished in our sleeping bags for an hour or so in a light stupor, which was a treat, firstly as our legs are very sore from the sadistic grades of Appalachia and secondly as it was cool enough to actually be in a sleeping bag. We have worked our way up to around 2000 feet over the past days, although each foot of that will doubtless have been climbed over and over again as the terrain rolls up into the clouds that hang low over the valleys and then back down to the river beds.

We mooched around for an hour at the library in the tiny town of Haysi, on the internet partly in an attempt to plan our trip from Yorktown to Washington DC, and partly to give our poor little legs a break. People say this is the hardest part of the trip, and I do believe it. We are quite well conditioned by now, but those people who have to start with these hills probably have a very nasty shock to the system!

I don't know if it takes a different type of person to be a Pastor out here, but the church signs we have been seeing are absolutely genius. Some of these people could get jobs at the Sun if they didn't already have jobs with the Son. Maybe there is some big almanac of pithy puns guaranteed to swell your flock or money back. Who knows, but feast your eyes on this lot:

• Help wanted – apply Sunday morning
• Son exposure can prevent burning
• Forecast: God reigns, Son shines
• Beat the heat, our church is prayer conditioned
• Free trips to heaven – enquire within

The only British sign like this I can recall is the drily brilliant

• Trespassers will be forgiven. By order of God.

As we got to the end of the day the landscape started to open up a little showing us some wide open vistas that are more reminiscent of the plantations of Virginia than the sleepy hollows of backwoods people.

Tonight we are staying in another church with an unlocked door and a sign saying please stay and help yourself to what you need. The guestbook we checked had all the familiar names of people who we have run across over the trip - Matt Brady, Alena, Leo, Sergey, Rob and Dan – we travel in your footsteps.

Tomorrow we're taking on Hayter's Gap and a couple of other big hills, but the end is in sight which fills us with mixed feelings of the elation of finishing (hopefully) and the sadness it will soon be all over.