Day 326
7 hrs, 14 kms

The time has come to bid farewell to the Appalachian Trail--perhaps for the last time on the southern leg of my Appalachian Superhike . I'm reluctant to say goodbye to this endless quiet stroll through the woods, but it looks like the Shenadoah Valley is going to be more suitable for discovering Southern culture... there are very few towns near the Appalachian Trail for hundreds of miles. So I'm now going to veer about 13 miles to the west to the Shenadoah Valley.

Shortly after getting off the trail, I spot a fellow trying to hitchhike out ahead of me. I wonder if this might be an "interesting encounter". It doesn't take long to find out... I'm still a 50 yards away and he starts talking to me!

Bud is the West Virginia stereotype: a strong mountain accent... most teeth missing... with a rugged rural look.

"Careful on that Appalachian trail!" He warns "Four months ago 2 guys stopped a man and his wife and gunpoint and raped the wife in front of the husband!"

"Things are getting worse around here ..." he continues "back when I was young, I was drunk and the police stopped me and told me 'you have two choices, we either take you to jail or take you to you mama' I said 'please! take me to jail! my mama will tan my hide!' "

He continues telling about the "good old days"... "back in the day, I would walk up Main Street in Charles Town with a bb gun. The shops would pay me to shoot pigeons--they would poop on their windows too much. They'd pay me 50 cents a bird. So I went to the back alley and shot 100 birds... the shopkeeper said 'that's too many! you're fired!' "

...Definitely my most fun encounter in a while. Luckily he agrees to pose for a selfie photo together.

"Hope you can catch a ride!" I tell him

"Oh, I will.. everybody knows Bud!"

I continue on down the road, as it winds through the forest ... down the hill... up... then down... And then there it is: the Shenadoah River.

I must say, it is one of the more beautiful river's I've seen. More like a very large stream, with thousands of finger shaped rock islands giving it a stretching gracefully through the middle, giving it a distinct feel. I'm looking forward to experiencing the civilization built along the vast valley of this river. I continue on a couple of miles, past rolling farmland and some upscale encroaching developments... and finally the twin towns of Charles Town and Ranson

Exploring Ranson

Back in 2008 I made a quick Parkbench stop in Charles Town. I didn't realize that there are actually 2 towns right next to each other. So today I can add a new town: Ranson.

Ranson is an unusual town in that it was created by a corporation: Charles Town Mining and Industrial Corporation . They laid out this as a neighborhood of Charles Town, for it's workers I assume and then in 1910 the residents voted to be a separate town. So it doesn't have the typical Main Street feel, with a houses and shops packed together, rather it has a wide, divided street leading to a small park/roundabout in the center.

It makes me think a little bit of Crespi, Italy, another spacious town designed specifically for factory workers and supervisors--although it looks like much of Ranson has been rebuilt... My guess is that factory workers/miners lived in pretty squalid conditions at that time, so a company built town like Ranson was probably a refreshing upgrade.