Today is day 6, but it’s only 5:30 and I’ll wait for a little light before I start hiking. I’m also waiting for a decent hour before I call my shuttle ride to my car. I have to arrange for pick up this evening and this means I’ll be hauling butt to get in 21.4, or miss an expensive ride! In the meantime, I’ll write about Day 5.

As much as I love Virginia, I would not recommend a stay in the town of Luray. Low on food and not sure if I could do the miles in 2 days, I decided to hitchhike to town to resupply and maybe grab lunch.

Getting a ride with Chili was not hard because everyone thinks he’s adorable with his pack and bedroll. They’re right! First ride was a couple of girls from Florida and they took me all the way to one end of town. After getting out of the car, I realized the town was one of those stretched out for miles towns, and groceries were at the other end. Stuck out my thumb and got a ride from a local man. That man should not be allowed on the road, but I made it to the store. Grabbed my very expensive food and hitched back to a place we had passed called the Yogi Bear campground. It looked fun and I thought I would just stay the night. $75 to camp!! Forget it. I hitched a ride back to the trail and hiked another 6 miles to a nice little spot.

Not sure if I’ve ever told you all this, but I’m a condiment thief. Yup, most hikers are. We have to keep backpack weight down, but don’t want  flavor to suffer. We raid the grocery delis and fast food joints to find good tiny condiment packets. I scored at the place where I got the nonblackberry blackberry milkshake. They had little packets of Texas Pete hot sauce, which I’ve never seen before.

Trail Thai Noodles or Mama Needs New Shoes recipe

1 pack Ramen noodles-minus seasoning packet

1 or 2 packs soy sauce

1 or 2 packs hot sauce

1 spork full of peanut butter

Cook noodles, drain extra liquid and stir in the rest of your ingredients. I add dehydrated peas or a tuna packet. Yummy!

Ok. I’ve got to finish packing and get going. Wish me luck and hopefully I’ll be writing Day 6 on the way home!

Happy Autumn, Digdeep