On a rainy Monday morning, my body tired from a tough hike yesterday and not in much mood for hiking, the sign saying Mountain Lake was just 5 miles from the Trail seemed more than serendipitous.

Quite coincidentally my neighbour at the motel in Pearisburg, and elderly gentleman called Buddy, had mentioned to me two days earlier that we were quite close to Mountain Lake, where (he informed me) Dirty Dancing was filmed. Or at least one of its two locations - the other being Lake Lure, NC - and the one that gave the main building of Kellermann's. As a huge fan of the movie, just knowing I was nearby had me excited, and the chance to actually visit was too good to pass up.

And so it is that 7 weeks and 657 miles of hiking ended with two days at a luxury hotel - a fitting conclusion, it seems. The resort itself is lovely, despite cold and cloudy weather, with a real touch of old-world elegance. And filled with settings just on the verge of being familiar.

From here I plunge headfirst into civilisation, with a holiday in Washington, DC and San Francisco. The contrast will no doubt serve to help clarify and understand the many miles' hiking - I know I've learned a lot and grown, and look forward to finding out what and how.

The most fortunate sign.

Mountain Lake A fresh water, rain-fed lake with fissures through which water drains, the level of the lake fluctuates highly with rainfall. At present you can barely see it at all.

Signs of the movie's impact on its location.

Baby's cottage The cottage in which Baby and her family stayed in the film.

Shoes and feet after 657 miles Shoes and feet in surprisingly good condition after having walked so far.