Waynesboro maintains its motto with Trail hikers

By Cleve Wiese

Published: June 20, 2008

Pam Bennett was intrigued by the stream of distinctive strangers who passed by her Waynesboro office window each summer.
With their backpacks, boots, walking sticks and unmistakable gait — the so-called “hiker shuffle”— they weren’t hard to peg, Bennett, 45, said.
“I thought, ‘These are probably some pretty interesting people. I’d like to get to know them,’ ” Bennett said.
About seven years ago, she decided to introduce herself. A street sign offering free cookies and lemonade to all Appalachian Trail hikers enticed fascinating characters from all over the world through her door, she said. Some became lasting friends.
“I can’t imagine giving it up,” Bennett said of her ongoing activities to help Appalachian Trail hikers. “I’m living their walk vicariously through them.”
Each year, hundreds of “through-hikers” — who set out from the Appalachian Trail’s starting point in Georgia with the intention of walking all the way to Maine in a single season — stop off overnight in Waynesboro, drawn by the city’s strategic location and welcoming atmosphere. From late spring to early summer, they are frequent sights at the city’s Laundromats, grocery stores, motels and restaurants.
“I like to call them the subculture here,” said Lianne Crookshanks, Waynesboro’s director of tourism. “It’s an influx of visitors for a very unique purpose, and we try to capture that and capitalize on it.”
At least 800 hikers passed through the city last year, Crookshanks said, and the number is likely to be even higher this year. That means significant added revenue for many businesses, particularly those located near Wayne Avenue, where most hikers congregate.
All-you-can-eat buffets, such as the Ming Garden Chinese Restaurant on Arch Avenue and Weasie’s Kitchen on Broad Avenue are particularly popular, Crookshanks said. Rockfish Gap Outfitters, area Laundromats, the Arch Avenue Kroger, the Quality Inn on Broad Street and Stone Soup Books on Main Street all also benefit from the additional traffic, she said.
After passing Waynesboro, northbound hikers — who account for roughly 90 percent of Appalachian Trail traffic — face a 107-mile trek through Shenandoah National Park, with few opportunities to resupply or rest, said John Fletcher, a spokesman for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in Harper’s Ferry, W.Va. That is what makes Waynesboro a logical place to stop — and shop.
“Hikers can get kind of sucked into the vortex of a good trail town,” Fletcher said. “There’s so much to spend money on, so many luxuries you just don’t have on the trail. They can end up spending a lot more money then they thought they would.”
Retired military veteran Brian Jolley, 52,  of Washington, D.C., said he had passed through Waynesboro seven times during various trips up the Appalachian Trail, and that it was one of his favorite places to rest for a few days — especially after the grueling mountain passes and ridges of southern Virginia.
“Waynesboro is one of the best places to stop and lick your wounds … ” Jolley said. “And I guarantee, just about every hiker that comes through here drops at least $100 bucks.”
A loose network of about 20 volunteers known as the “Trail Angels” provide backpackers complimentary rides from Rockfish Gap, where the trail crosses Route 250, to various locations around Waynesboro.
The town accommodates hikers in other ways as well: Grace Lutheran Church on Wayne Avenue operates a free hostel from late May to late June, and the YMCA provides free camping and shower facilities throughout the season.
“[Waynesboro] has a reputation for being very friendly,” said hiker Dennis Blanchard, 61, of Sarasota, Fla. “So far, it’s the friendliest town I’ve seen on the trail.”
But helping hikers is a two-way street, said Bennett, who no longer works in downtown Waynesboro, but now is an active trail angel.
“I’ve met a ton of really interesting people. I’ve heard a million interesting stories and I’ve gotten involved in hiking myself,” Bennett said. “Now I’m hiking [the Appalachian Trail] in sections. Someday I’ll do it all.”