April 12th, 2019, Virginia
Based on the upcoming weather report, Columbus and I decided to head all the way to Daleville today, rather than tomorrow. Both today (Friday) and Sunday call for all-day rain. Tomorrow, Saturday, looks much clearer. This change will allow us to pass by the iconic McAfee Knob for photos tomorrow rather than in the rain Sunday. This will also require a longer hiking day today and another after we wake up tomorrow.
Besides McAfee Knob, there is another place we aspire to reach tomorrow: The Homeplace Restaurant in Catawba, Virginia for dinner after our long day. This is an all-you-can-eat family style restaurant that comes strongly recommended by other hikers. I first heard of it from a NOBO hiker called Bluebird in Maine last year, then from others along the way…and here I am about to pass it. So we have worked it into our ambitious day tomorrow. Then, after dinner, Joe from Four Pines Hostel will pick us up from the restaurant.
So, with that in mind today, I set out early and took advantage of the cool rainy weather, plus mostly downhill trail, to hike quickly and reach Daleville by early afternoon.
While descending toward Daleville, the trail was awash in blooming redbud trees. It was remarkable and helped pass the last hour of an otherwise grey day.
For our revised plan to work we needed to stay in Daleville tonight for rest and resupply. I reached town around 2:30pm and checked us in to the Super 8 Motel. Columbus arrived shortly after. After showers we went across the street to Pancho’s Mexican Restaurant. I asked the waitress her recommendation for an entree with the most food—and she brought out fajitas a little while later.
After dinner we did laundry at the hotel, cleaned and organized our gear, watched a bit of the Masters Golf Tournament, set alarms, and went to sleep early.
And here are a few more interesting things I saw on the hike today.
