Post.

About 8 miles after leaving the Shenandoah’s, I came across US Route 522. A few miles down the road was the town of Front Royal, Virginia. Originally, stopping in this town was not on my radar, but I had a package to pick up, and I can’t say no to some good small-town food.

It turns out the rest of the people I was with in Waynesboro were also headed into town. We all became separated after Nearopalooza, so it was nice to reconvene in town.

A few businesses in town sponsor a hiker-only hangout spot in the center of town called Basecamp. It was a locked facility with free laundry, showers, and restrooms for hikers. It ended up being the meeting place for other hikers, and we all formulated plans for food and rooms for the night.

The day turned into most town days: Food, pool, food. PaveMint was the name of the BBQ joint across the street from my hotel, and it had some of the best pork belly I’ve ever had. The pool was great too to float around and soak my tired feet.

The following day was time for chores. One last shower before heading to the grocery store for resupply then across town to the post office. The summer heat started to make my sleeping bag unbearable, so I was able to arrange my lighter, cooler quilt to be shipped out to me. Thanks again, Mom!

I had a lot of time to kill around town, so I took the opportunity to check out the historic monuments and learn some history about the town. I only had five miles to hike that day and wanted to save it for the end of the day to allow some of the heat to bleed off.

The people in town have been fantastic. Almost every other person would stop and ask about my hike. The restaurants and stores were more than accommodating to the hikers. The overall atmosphere was inviting and generous. Absolutely a perfect trail town.

As of the time of this writing, I am on mile 972 of the Appalachian Trail. I’m coming up to the West Virginia border, the 1,000-mile mark, as well as the halfway point of the AT.