Day 51, miles today- 15.4, total- 697.8

By the time we had got a ride back to the trail it was close to 10:00 am. There was a light rain at the time. We all had our rain gear on most of the day. The small streams we crossed over were probably twice there normal size. Luckily there were footbridges for us to use.

Within a hour or so we came to a side trail to the Audie Murphy Monument. He died in a plane crash near here in 1971. He was the most decorated World War Two soldier. After the war he starred in several movies, one was about his time as a soldier.

We stopped for lunch at Pickle Branch Shelter. Iceman was behind a little ways and bypassed the lunch break. He thought we had went on.

Soon we came to a side trail to Dragons Tooth. It's a stone monolith. There are great views from there during clear skies. Luckily the skies were starting to clear up  while we were there. Wanderlust, Pumpkin Head and I climbed towards the top. After a few pictures we headed back to the trail. The trail going down after Dragons Tooth was very slow going. It was very rocky. We all made it without injury.

After a few more miles we came to VA 624. The Four Pines Hostel was 0.3 miles to the east. It is a three bay garage. The owner is Joe Mitchell. Iceman was already there. Joe gave us a ride to a nearby small grocery store to get enough food to get to Daleville. Wanderlust and I shared a pizza from the store. It was pretty good. Wanderlust, Pumpkin Head, Dutch and I played darts for a hour or more. At 10:00 pm it was lights out. I slept on the concrete floor, on my sleeping pad. I slept well.

Tomorrow we will pass the 700 mile mark. We will also see McAfee Knob, which has an amazing view.