On Monday, June 3, we awoke early so that we could get breakfast before catching a shuttle up to Punchbowl Overlook, this time to head northbound. The shuttle was an experience in and of itself. It turns out that the shuttle vehicle was sitting at the shelter all morning while we were waiting on the driver. Additionally, there were nine people needing a ride that morning. With the driver, there were ten passengers in an 8-person vehicle. Not to mention packs. Bullfrog and another guy set about trying to lash packs to the top of the van and we crammed what we could into the back. After 30-45 minutes, we had the vehicle “loaded” and we set out to the trailhead.
We had planned a pretty long day, but the trip wasn’t to be too bad except for the last bit. The planned end of our day included a 3,000’ climb over six miles. For whatever reason, when we reached the Long Mountain Wayside at US 60, we were just exhausted and we’d just begun our climb. We were batting around the idea of hiking just a bit into the woods and stealth camping for the night, but we were all low on water and energy. Then, we looked up and the shuttle driver from Stanimals Hostel had pulled up to drop of some packs to a couple who had slackpacked that day. The trail provides! We asked him how much it would cost to shuttle us to the campsite we’d originally been aiming for and it was reasonable, so we loaded up once again.
The ride to Hog Camp Gap was entertaining. The directions included, “leave the paved road…” The driver put the vehicle into four-wheel-drive for whatever reason to go across the dirt road. I don’t really think it was necessary. The road was plenty bumpy, and the suspension on the van was about shot, so it was a tough ride. It almost seemed like the driver sped up to hit some of the bumps. Thankfully, I didn’t hit my head on the ceiling of the vehicle, but some folks did.
We finally arrived at our campsite. It was a wide open field with plenty of camping nearby. We were also expecting Paul and Austin any time. Earlier in the day we had put in an order for hotdogs because So it Goes was craving them. We set up our campsite and waited with anticipation. They arrived around 9:30, their GPS having taken them the rougher, scenic route. We helped them unload and set about building a fire to roast hotdogs. We had a great evening visiting and catching up. We also planned out the next day. Originally, they were going to walk with us a bit north and then come back to the car and head home, but we had about six miles we needed to do. The new plan was for them to walk south with us to a view, and then Paul would go back to the truck and pick us up back at Long Mountain Wayside and bring us back to the campsite. From there, we planned to continue northward to the next shelter. It was an awesome plan that would see us descending the previously mentioned climb without packs.
We awoke Tuesday morning and set off, sans packs. The highlight of the day, and perhaps the whole trip, was reaching the peak of Cole Mountain. It was a grassy area which afforded gorgeous views in all directions. Then came the treat. Angel’s mom had sent us individual communion cups about the size of a coffee creamer that have the wafer on top and grape juice on the bottom. We had asked Paul if he’d mind to officiate a service of Holy Communion for us and he accepted.
I think I have mentioned before that in preparation for the trip, Gavin and I listed some goals. One of those was to seek God and be inspired by Him in nature. Partaking of Holy Communion on a bald was an experience that moved me to tears. I have always had great respect for Paul as a friend and pastor, and the words he shared with us that morning were particularly inspirational and moving to all of us. I’ll always be thankful that he was there to share that moment with us.
All went well until So it Goes got sick. Really sick. She was reacting to some meds she had been taking, and they left her with dry heaves on the trail. We make it a point of not leaving anyone behind on the trail, so every little bit, we’d wait on her and Butters to be sure she was still okay. Gratefully, she was able to make it back to the road crossing, but she was definitely done for the day. The new plan was for Paul to drive us back to Hog Camp and then return to take So I Goes and Butters into town, and possibly to an urgent care. When we returned to the campsite, we decided it would be best for us to just camp for the night, and then continue northbound in the morning.
On Wednesday, our target was The Priest shelter, 14.3 miles north. The terrain was generally benign, with only small ups and downs as we followed the ridge line. We didn’t make it quite to the top of The Priest, but instead, pulled off at the nearby shelter.
The only hiccup of the day was briefly “losing” Gavin. We had stopped at the Wesley-Woolworth shelter for lunch. Bullfrog and Angel left out in front, but Gavin wasn’t ready yet. He asked for five more minutes to get his gear together and finish eating. I told him that would be okay, and he suggested that I go on ahead and he’d catch up. We have done this before, so I wasn’t worried about Gavin. Unfortunately, I hadn’t planned on a rain storm. It never really poured, but it did rain for a while. Then hikers kept passing us and we asked about Hawkeye. Most had not seen him, but if he was on trail, they’d have passed him too. Then I began to be concerned. I was able to eek out a bit of service from my phone and I called him. He said he wasn’t sure what to do about the rain, so he pitched his tent and was going to wait out the storm. He was more than a couple of miles behind us, so going back to help him get his stuff together was not in the cards. Thankfully, he calmed himself, and with the help of a fellow hiker, Swanson, he got his gear packed and came on to the shelter.
The Priest Shelter is known for its shelter logs, where hikers “confess” to sins committed on the trail. There are plenty of confessions of not digging an appropriate cat hole and other violations of Leave No Trace principles, skipping parts of the trail, as well as owning up to inappropriate relationships along the trail. It was quite entertaining to read. My confession was simple and heartfelt: “Forgive me Father – I gave a guy permission to burn a plastic bottle in my campfire last night. Afterward, I burned the plastic wrapper from our hotdogs.” To be truthful, I really did feel guilty about this transgression, and I certainly won’t repeat this action. It was good to get it off my chest, and I slept pretty well that night.
Thursday was easily our most difficult hiking day in quite a while. To start, we had to finish climbing The Priest. The trip up wasn’t difficult, but it was followed by a steep, rocky, 3,000’ descent to the Tye River. Apparently dodging rocks drenched by rain and trying to remain erect wasn’t enough of a challenge, so we got to climb up another 3,000’ to the top of Three Ridges Mtn. We passed quite a few south bound hikers that afternoon and I mentioned being afraid of the rocks we’ll find in Pennsylvania. They said that those rocks would be quite a bit like the ones I was about to get into on the climb up Three Ridges. No sooner than I had hiked a hundred yards, the terrain changed completely to some of the most difficult rocky path that I’ve been on yet. By the time we reached the top of Three Ridges, we were exhausted. To top it all off, we were mostly out of water, and there was none to be had until we reached Maupin Field shelter, still 2.9 miles away.
Thankfully, Maupin Field Shelter was downhill, and the trail down was much smoother than the one up. Gavin and I arrived well ahead of Angel and Bullfrog, so we stretched out on the grass and rested. When they got there, Angel was severely dehydrated and was done hiking for the day. Our goal had been to reach the road crossing at Reed’s Gap and to shuttle into Devil’s Backbone Brewery for a good meal and a cold beer. They told us to go on ahead and that they’d come on in the next morning so Gavin and I set out to cover the last 1.7 miles of a 15.5 mile day.
We thought the brewery would send a shuttle to the trailhead, but after a phone call on the way in, we realized that wasn’t true- they have scheduled shuttles, and we were an hour too late. They said that hitching a ride was easy from the road crossing so we continued on with that in mind. When we arrived at Reed’s Gap, there was a tarp set up and it looked like we were coming in on the tail end of trail magic. It turns out that Moosejaw Mountaineering was setting up at the brewery for the weekend to offer food and deals to hikers. The guy there offered us a ride, but while we waited for his car to come back, a car from the brewery came by so we rode in with them. Once there, we went straight to the tent site, set up our tents, hosed off briefly in the shower, and we headed to supper. It was expensive, but excellent. We started with fried pickles. I had a ribeye and baked potato, Gavin ordered a cheeseburger with fries and a baked potato. A drink and two beers later, we had run up a $70 tab. Ouch!
The whole place was wonderful. They have an outdoor amphitheater for concerts, a few outdoor bars, a fire ring, gift shop, restaurant, and breakfast restaurant. It was very cozy and we felt quite at home. They have a campground with full hookups, and they even have a tent area so that AT hikers can tent for free. This is definitely a place I’d like to go back to.
We slept well, and perhaps a bit late. For the first time ever, I laid my hiking clothes on top of my tent to dry and air out. Unfortunately, the rain started about 30 minutes before I woke up, so the clothes got soaked. I pulled on my dry “town” clothes and we walked up to the brewery for the $5 hiker breakfast. It was a bargain. There was a pancake, potatoes, sausage and bacon, and fruit. Coffee was a bit more, and they didn’t have free refills, but it was still worth the price we paid. I got in touch with Angel and Bullfrog who said they’d be there mid morning. We had planned to walk on to the next road crossing, but Angel still wasn’t feeling 100%, so we decided to just hang out at the brewery until Bullfrog’s sister got to town.
All day long, Moosejaw was doing promotional giveaways. I tried my luck at the tortilla flip, which involved a plate tied to my head and swimming flippers, but sadly, I was defeated. I was off by a few in guessing how many Cliff Bars were in the bear canister, so I missed out on winning a new sleeping pad. Then came my game: heaviest tent contest. My Big Agnes Copper Spur UL 2P tips the scales at a bit over three pounds, but since it rained the night before, it was over five pounds. I knew I’d be a shoe-in for this one. It turns out that I won by over half a pound. For my efforts, I was awarded a new Nemo Hornet UL 2P tent, about a $370 value. It is also over a pound lighter than my current tent. I’m looking forward to trying it out.
With the contests over, the four of us (Angel and Bullfrog had arrived) decided to get lunch. We had ordered and were waiting when Gavin went outside to make a phone call. He ran back in and said, “They’re making a movie and need hikers. They’ll buy our lunch.” I went out with him to see what was up, and he was right. Unfortunately, they weren’t going to pay for the lunch we just ordered. Instead, they wanted us to sit at a table, acting bored, when the “trail magic wizard” walked up, tapped his staff, and food and drinks appeared in front of all of us. We were in, and I had two lunches on Friday. In addition, they gave each of us a free beer token, but since Gavin isn’t 21, I got his too. It was a great day at Devil’s Backbone Brewery!
Bullfrog’s sister Becca came after us around 5:30 and we all went into Waynesoro for the weekend. He had booked rooms at the Super 8, which wasn’t a stellar place, but it wasn’t horrible either. On the plus side, it was just down the street from Golden Corral, so we went there for supper and got more than our money’s worth.
On Saturday, we had chores to do. It was great to have Becca there to ferry us around so we didn’t have to walk everywhere, which is often the case when we’re in town. We first went to the outfitter’s store in search of a footprint for my new tent. No luck, but Bullfrog found a few things he needed. We also headed to Walmart to resupply our food. You would think that after more than 800 miles, I’d have food figured out, but I don’t. I always wind up buying way too much stuff.
We had been in contact with Butters and So it Goes and arranged to meet them at Ming’s Chinese Buffet. It is one of the “must stop” places on the AT, but unfortunately, I was under impressed. It wasn’t bad, but I think I just wasn’t feeling Chinese food. They were staying at a hotel near ours, so Gavin and I arranged to go over and play D & D for a little while that evening. It is the first time he has ever played with someone experienced, and we both had a great time. Around 8:30, it was back to the Super 8 for a night of rest.
We had planned to have Becca drop us off at Reed’s Gap today to continue our hike, but the weather won out. It was a fairly miserable day, so we decided to stay one more night with the hope that Butters and So it Goes would head out with us. We moved to the Holiday Inn Express, where they were staying so we could plan together and take advantage of the stronger WiFi.
One of the greatest frustrations I’ve had is not being able to upload videos when I’ve been in town. It seems that no matter where we are, I just can’t get a signal strong enough to upload a video file in less than 8-12 hours. Thankfully, the signal was good at Holiday Inn, and I was able to upload one or two. We were also able to play D & D a second night, and a good time was had by all. Butters and So it Goes had decided to skip a bit of the trail and start ahead of us. Bullfrog called Yellow Truck, a guy that shuttles locally, and arranged for an 8:30 shuttle for Monday morning.
With a breakfast of coffee, cereal, and yogurt in us, we headed back to the trail at Reed’s Gap on Monday morning via the Yellow Truck. The shuttle driver was awesome. He told us, “Don’t tell me your trail name or when you started, because I won’t remember it, but tell me where you’re from and what you do.” We went around the truck sharing info, and I was surprised that he knew where Taylorsville, NC is. He was pretty familiar with western NC as a whole. He really reminded me of what my late brother-in-law would be like if he had lived to be seventy. We had a great ride, and bid each other farewell at the trailhead.
With a few exceptions, our trip for the day was fairly uneventful. The ups and downs were minimal, and we covered the 14.1 miles without much difficulty. The highlight of the day for Gavin and me was seeing our first bear. The four of us were walking down the trail and saw a couple of southbound hikers ahead that had stopped. They yelled up at us and pointed, “There’s a bear over there.” We looked right, and sure enough, there it was. He (or she, we didn’t get close enough to tell) was just chilling in the woods and eating plants and seemed completely unconcerned about us even though we were clacking our poles together and yelling to get him to move along. Eventually our two groups decided to walk toward each other, thinking that a much larger group would cause the bear to move along. It worked, sort of. It turns out that the bear did wander away from us, but before long, we came to a switchback in the trail that crossed in front of the bear again. Even closer this time. Again, he seemed unconcerned, and we walked on by. Great! Another switchback. Closer still, but thankfully, he was more concerned with food than us, and we finally left the bear behind us for good.
The other thing that made the day’s hike interesting was the presence of lots of water on the trail. The rains over the weekend had swollen creeks and the increased runoff from higher elevations had kick-started some of the itinerant creeks that poured over the trail. We came across several sections where the trail itself was a creek of varying depths because of all the rainfall. One crossing in particular, was challenging enough that Bullfrog threw a few extra rocks in the rushing water to serve as stepping stones. Mostly, we traversed the creeks fairly safely, but there were a few wet shoes by the end of the day.
When we arrived at the Paul C. Wolfe shelter, we were met with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. The trail crosses Mill Creek just in sight of the shelter. Unfortunately, Mill Creek looked like Mill River because of all the rain, and all the rocks that were placed for stepping across were under several inches of water. We set our packs down and walked up and down stream contemplating the crossing. Of course, Gavin was already in the shelter out of earshot, so we couldn’t summon his advice on how to get across. I thought I found a way, but about halfway across, I realized that I couldn’t step out 6’ at the time, so I retreated back to the bank. Eventually, we shucked off our shoes and socks, put on our camp shoes (Crocs) and waded across.
We noticed a few people tenting, but were grateful that there were enough spots left in the shelter for us to not have to bother with setting up a tent. I filled my water bottles and went about the process of making supper. Afterward, I had a new challenge: along this part of the trail, bear poles are provided at shelters as a means of hanging food bags. Essentially, a bear pole is a 10’ metal pole with four appendages with hooks at the top. There is a second pole one uses to lift the food bag up and secure onto one of the hooks. This is great in theory, but in practice, it is no easy feat to hook the food bags onto the hooks because the bag itself obscures the view of what you’re trying to hit. Eventually our food was hung and we settled in for the night.
Tuesday’s hike to Calf Mtn. Shelter, a distance of 12.7 miles, was not too bad, except for not having water for the last seven miles of the day. Early in the day we passed a small cemetery with a few graves, mostly marked with rocks. We also passed the remnants of a small cabin. The part of the foundation and chimney are all that remain. After that, the next highlight was getting to the visitor’s center at Rockfish Gap. It was about 0.25 miles uphill, and we were hoping for more than we got, but it was worth the trip anyway. Inside, they had fresh water so we filled up for our seven mile trip onward. They also had a 3-D map of the region which showed the AT through the Shenandoah National Park and onward to Harpers Ferry. It looks like we have a pretty easy hike along the ridge line for the next 150 miles or so, as long as there are no rocky sections.
Early in the day I emailed Evan of Evan’s Backpacking Videos on YouTube to find out how he was able to upload from the trail. His biggest piece of advice was to drop from 1080p to 720p, and the resulting file size would be significantly smaller. As luck would have it, I had a few videos ready, so I tried it while we were having a hotdog below the visitor’s center. It worked. With two bars of LTE, a 720p video will upload in a reasonable amount of time. In fact, by the time we finished lunch, I had two new videos online. Score! Thanks Evan!!!
While we were at the visitor’s center, about a dozen nuns in black and white habits came in. I enjoyed talking with them and answering their questions about the trail. Outside, Bullfrog was doing the same with a few folks from Texas who worked for US Border Patrol. The exchange for them was two-way, because Bullfrog had several questions about their work as well.
After about an hour, it was time to get back on trail. Not far along, we came to a self-registration station to get permits for the SNP. Permit in hand, we were off for a parched afternoon hike through the woods. There were a couple of highlights on the trip. First, we crested Bears Den Mtn. which is home to a large set of communications towers. They also have an area out front where they’ve cemented metal tractor seats into the ground to make a seating area. Unfortunately, the grass was tall, and the underbrush had grown to cover the view, so I didn’t bother to sit down.
Shortly after, I passed through Beagle Gap. After going up a small hill through a grassy area, I reentered the woods. Only a hundred yards or so in, I met with a deer who was standing right beside the trail having a meal of the greenery nearby. I was able to get my phone out and video her for several minutes. I was about 15’ away and she didn’t seem afraid of me in the least. Though I’ve seen plenty of videos of folks quite close to wildlife, I still marvel at the lack of fear shown to hikers by these animals. It is almost as if they know that we are not a threat to them, so they pay us very little mind.
Hiking on alone, I arrived at Calf Mountain Shelter. I was concerned when I saw that the shelter was 0.3 miles off the trail over rocky terrain. I was more concerned when I saw some folks from earlier at the water source, and they said there was not much room at the shelter and that they were hiking on. Knowing that there were three more folks behind me, I was worried, because I knew that there were no marked tent sites anywhere nearby. I walked on to the shelter, and it was nearly full – save for two spaces on the top bunk. The guide indicated space for 2-3 tents, and there were already 5-8 set up nearby, so I doubted that I’d be able to pitch a tent, and neither would Bullfrog and Angel. After I stood around talking for a little while, someone hit upon a marvelous idea. This shelter had a wooden floor with an overhang to cover the picnic table. It was suggested that we move the picnic table out from under, and that folks could sleep there. This was the idea that saved me from my first night of cowboy camping (sleeping under the stars). Gavin got one of the open bunk areas at the top, and Bullfrog, Angel, and I slept on the shelter floor.
When Wednesday morning arrived, we filled up our water bottles and bladders and set out for the day. We were heading to Blackrock Hut, and there was almost no reliable water on the way. We also had to contend with a trail relocation that added a bit to our hike. Apparently there was work transpiring on a power line right of way where the trail crossed, so they relocated us down a roadway for a ways. Along the way, Gavin turned his ankle, but neither of us thought much about it because this has happened before and he has always just walked it off. He sat down on a log for a bit and told me to hike on, which I did. I caught Angel and Bullfrog a couple of miles down the trail and we hiked together for a ways. Our trail was good and flat, and we were making pretty good time. We were all surprised when we reached Turk Gap on Skyline Drive and found that we had only gone 4.4 miles. We thought we were at least 5.5 or 6 miles into the day. Though the relocation added a bit, we were still disappointed with our progress and speed so far for the day. We stopped at Turk Gap and had lunch, and a trail angel had left water there which was most appreciated. I was down to a bit over one liter and the next water source was going to be at the shelter many miles up the trail. With lunch eaten, we packed and walked on. We were surprised that Gavin hadn’t caught us, but not worried, because sometimes he takes his time and then just appears out of nowhere.
About a mile up the trail, we met our third deer on trail that day. This one was a buck, though his antlers were still a work in progress. He was a bit more timid than the does we passed earlier. He didn’t have much patience for waiting around to be filmed, though I did get some footage of him walking away down the trail. A little farther up, I started trying to call and text Gavin to find out where he was. It turns out, he was almost two miles behind us, about half a mile south of Turk Gap. He had rolled his ankle twice more and was hurting. After discussing options, we decided it was best for us all to hike back to Turk Gap to meet him and assess the damage.
When I got there, he was obviously in pain. I helped him get laid down by a rock so he could elevate his ankle and I had a look. There was some bruising and definitely some pain. I gave him some ibuprofen and when the others came, we decided to call a shuttle back to town. The Yellow Truck guy was available and was on site in just over an hour. He took us to the Urgent Care in Waynesboro and told us to call when we were ready to go to a hotel.
It took quite a while to check in at Urgent Care because their computer system was glitchy, but eventually we got registered and were called back. They took Gavin straight to X-ray, and after about thirty minutes, the doctor came in. He showed us the x-ray of Gavin’s leg and indicated that there was the possibility of a hairline fracture at the base of his right fibula. His recommendation was to go home and see an orthopedist for a second opinion.
Obviously, we were both afraid that he had suffered a hike-ending injury. The Yellow Truck came back and dropped us at the Holiday Inn Express where we had stayed previously. As he drove off, I went in to register, only to learn that they had no rooms. As luck would have it, there was a Comfort Inn across the street which did, so we all went across and got settled for the evening.
I am thankful that if we had to deal with an injury, that it was after school was out for the summer. Beth had planned to be in Asheville Thursday for a workshop, but she cancelled and was able to come get us that afternoon. It was great to see her, even though the circumstances surrounding her visit were less than optimal. On the way home, I called our doctor’s office and they would be able to see Gavin on Friday afternoon.
The trip home was scenic, and it was interesting to see some of the places where we had crossed under I-77 and I-81 on our trip. I have to say that it was nice to be home for a few days, and especially nice to sleep in my own bed with my own full-sized pillows.
Friday afternoon was crazy. We saw Gavin’s physician at 2:00 and after looking at the X-rays, he said he could see why they diagnosed a possible fracture. His recommendation to us was to visit one of two orthopedic urgent care centers in Hickory for a more thorough diagnosis. The first place we went didn’t operate as an urgent care facility on Fridays, so we went on to Mountain View. The PA there looked at the X-rays backward and forward and said that even though he could see what concerned the other two doctors, he didn’t think Gavin’s leg had a fracture at all. He diagnosed it as a mild sprain and said Gavin could hike on, wearing a brace at first.
On the way home, we looked at calendars to decide when we could return to the trail. Beth had an appointment Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon, but she could drive us back to Waynesboro Monday afternoon and be back in time for her Tuesday obligation. That is what we wound up doing.
As I sit here now, it is Tuesday and Gavin and I are still in a hotel room (our fourth hotel in Waynesboro). We should have hiked out today, but the Yellow Truck guy had another shuttle this morning, and the weather forecast was for significant rain. I’m kicking myself now, because so far, the rain hasn’t come, though I expect it to move in any time and make tomorrow’s hike miserable. As it stands now, the Yellow Truck will be here to pick us up around 9:30 Wednesday morning and we’ll start playing catch-up with Angel and Bullfrog.
Thanks for clicking in for this update of our adventure. I must say in closing that after spending a long weekend at home, it was very difficult for both Gavin and me to leave to come back to the trail. We covet your prayers now more than ever as we get back on trail. We are closing in on the halfway point of the trail, and there are many days that both of us tire of walking. That isn’t to say that we’re not enjoying ourselves. We are still seeing wonderful views and meeting great people. It is just that we miss our daily routines at home sometimes, and being home this weekend reminded us of all we have left behind to make this journey. Our goal is still to make it to Katahdin in Maine, but we can always use encouragement. Thanks for your comments and remember to just keep taking the Next Step.
