Day 12, The Church on the hill.

Veiw from oour camp spot at the church on a hill.

The hostel at the church on the hill in Troutdale.

Looking down the road from where we came. Jerry's Kitchen is just to the left beyond the trees.

The roads today had very light traffic. We were able to stop almost anywhere we wanted.

This cow was very interested in what we were up to.

These are the cows that came to visit while we were having our lunch.

There are more barns of all sizes and shapes in these parts than I have ever seen.

The Log Cabin Restaurant. This is where we were supposed to eat breakfast.

The Travelite Motel, our home in Wytheville.

Room 16, home of bikerted.


Day 12, Wytheville to Troutdale. 34.89 mi.

Since Lisa and I had planned a short day today, we decided to walk around and find a decent place to eat breakfast. We heard about “The Log Cabin”, just down the street from where we were staying, and decided to give it a try. We found out that they didn’t open till 11:00AM. So that was shot. We walked a couple of blocks and found a number of choices. Wendy’s, Burger King, McDonalds, Sonics, and a couple others I can’t remember. We opt. for Sonics since neither of us had tried there before. After a casual breakfast, we headed back to the Travelite Motel to pack up and head out.

Once all our stuff was ready, we headed toward our next destination, Troutdale. Once again we were greeted by picture perfect weather. The sun was out, temperature in the 70’s, and no wind. We passed through more farm land and picturesque rolling country side. Of course rolling hills means winding, rolling country roads also. So once again, we re back to the typical climbing and decending of the previous days.

At about 1:00PM. We decided to break for lunch. We pulled over to the side of the road where there was a locked gate, and a place to park our bikes out of the way of traffic. As we were pulling out our lunch, I happened to look across the street and there were about a dozen young cows up against the fence trying to see what we were up to. I strolled over to them to have a closer look. They all gathered together as if expecting me to feed them or something. I took a couple of pictures, then went back to continue with lunch. The cows watched us the whole time, not making a sound. After realizing that we weren’t going to share anything with them, they slowly wondered off. Normally, I wouldn’t give cows a second look. Cows are cows, they are one of the least interesting animals I know. But for some reason, being way out there, absorbing all the goodness of nature. These cows had an appeal that merited a closer look.

I tried the cell phone to call home, I figured somebody ought to be up by now. But I couldn’t get a reception. We were miles fr4om no where, and we hadn’t passed but one gas station and store in the past 20 miles. Once on our way again, we jumped on Scenic route 16 which entered through the Mount Rodgers National Forest Reserve. This was one beautiful place. Deeply forested with a stream that meandered through the valley where the road we were on ran. It was an up ward steady climb for what seemed like miles, I spent most of the time in my middle ring, occasionally dropping down into my small ring on the steeper sections. We3 crawled at a painfully slow pace of 4 to 5 miles per hour on some of these sections.

At 3:30PM. We entered the township commons of Troutdale. A rural community with one restaurant that also housed the only store. The church on the hill caters to hikers and cyclist by providing a hostel and camp ground equipped with porta potties, and showers. Because there were al lot of Appellation Trail hikers already here, Lisa and I decided to pitch our tents on a bluff over looking the high way and the shallow valley down below. A great spot if I may say so myself. After getting settled in and showered. We walked over to Jerry’s Kitchen. The restaurant and store for dinner. We both ordered the house special. Teriyaki chicken with fries, cold slaw, and freshly baked buns. One of the best meals I’ve had all week. For desert, I had the strawberry cheese cake, and Lisa had the Oreo chocolate cake. The whole meal including two soft drinks, cost less than twenty bucks for both of us together. What a deal, and the camping was free.

For those of you who don’t know, the Appellation Trail Hikers are folks who enjoy hiking and back packing for the pure joy of experiencing nature on foot. Th Appellation trail is the longest hiking trail in the world. Something like 2700 miles long. Some folks have hiked the whole thing in a single effort, taking as long as nine months in doing so. I would like to hike a portion of this trail myself. Maybe two weeks worth, just to experience what these fine individuals have. I have heard life changing stories from folks who were completely awed by what the experience has done for them. It is truly something worth looking into.

Thank you for taking the time to join us on our journey. We miss Molokai already. Aloha, Ted.