AT Days 85-91

Sunday morning we all set out for Pine Swamp Branch Shelter. Once again, the trail undulated along the ridge line, so a 12.6 mile day was not overly ambitious. Snow Cream, the early riser of our bunch, set out first, probably 30-45 minutes ahead of the rest of us. Eventually, I was out in front, ahead of Gavin and Snow Cream, and the other two. About five miles out I stopped at the junction of the Groundhog Trail to eat my lunch. There was a southbound hiker who was doing a 22-mile slackpack trip back to the hostel that I visited with briefly. Before I finished lunch, Gavin had caught up and Snow Cream wasn’t far behind. We didn’t know how far back Bullfrog and Ken were, but we knew they’d be a bit slower while Ken was getting into hiking shape. After lunch, we all headed on down the trail aiming for the Pine Branch Shelter. Gavin eventually took the lead and got quite a distance ahead of me. On the final descent to the shelter, I was crossing over a blowdown and just as I was landing my step, I noticed a rather large black snake slithering off the trail. Needless to say, I was quite surprised and took a somewhat longer step than is my normal stride. Generally, I am fairly at ease with snakes, but I don’t like to be surprised by them, and this one was definitely that. I moved quickly on to the shelter and set about blowing up my air mattress to relax for a while.

Several hikers passed by the shelter that afternoon, but none remembered passing Bullfrog and Ken. Snow Cream came in about an hour after I arrived and he hadn’t seen them either. I figured that the distance covered that day was a bit much for someone just getting back into the woods, and resolved myself to the fact that they probably wouldn’t make it that far.

While I was resting, a volunteer from the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club came to the shelter. She was on a recon mission ahead of bringing a team of university students up in the coming week to do trail maintenance. As I have done countless times in my videos, I thanked her profusely for all the work she and others have done to keep the trail passable. She asked if there were any nearby issues and I told her the only problem I had was climbing under a blowdown a few miles south of the shelter. Snow Cream confirmed that he had the same issue. She said that they had been discussing that tree, but would go ahead and cut it in the next week. She also had the most plausible explanation for how the bear got Snow Cream’s food at the Hurricane Shelter. She indicated that they have one or two bears that will climb on a limb above the food bag and then drop down, grabbing the bag on the way to break their fall. That is certainly more realistic than the bear climbing out the limb and pulling the bag up by the rope, which to this point was our best guess.

Monday’s 12.7 mile hike involved a small climb at the beginning, before traversing a fairly flat section for several miles. The end of the day involved a slight descent to the War Spur Shelter. What the guide didn’t tell us was that the fairly flat part was riddled with Volkswagen-sized rocks that had to be climbed over or around. Actually, these rocks weren’t the most challenging ones we’ve encountered. I was able to get up on top and bounce from rock to rock without losing much of my stride. I am, however, thankful that I didn’t miss a step because that could have been painful. Right out in the middle of the rocks I met up with a hiker I had heard about, Iron Man. He is a 79-year-old Englishman who is hiking the trail this year. When he heard me coming, trekking poles clicking on the stones, he turned around and said, “Bloody rocks!” We laughed and chatted for a while before I passed by and headed on to the water source a mile or so up the trail.

The highlight of the day was, ironically, at mile 666. I was bee-bopping along the trail at a pretty good clip when I pulled up within a step of a 3’ timber rattlesnake who was sunning itself across the trail. After checking my pants and uttering a few expletives, I stood and waited for the snake to go on across and off the trail. It was a long wait. A fellow hiker, Curly, came up and we took turns watching and videoing from a safe distance. Gavin hiked in just in time to see the snake head off into the underbrush, but he was able to get a good look. All I could think of the whole time was that I was one step away from a really bad day.

The other highlight of the day was seeing hundreds of beetles on the trail. I’m not exactly sure what kind they were, but they were black, about ¾” long and they were out in droves. Apparently it was mating season for these guys, as we kept walking by piles of them as we went up the trail. As we’d step, they’d scatter to get out of the way, and then they were right back on the trail. Walking along, even the leaves were rustling with the thousands of beetles busy securing the furtherance of their species. It sounded like someone crinkling a handful of plastic wrap. I had the thought, and several other hikers later said the same thing, that it reminded them of the movie The Mummy.

Tuesday’s hike featured two big climbs, one right out of the gate to the view at Kelly Knob. This was a nearly 1,800’ trip to start our day. The view was good from a large rock outcropping. The rocks were in sections with gaps between that reached all the way to the ground 20-30’ below. Gavin wanted to go out on some of the farther ones across the crevasses, but I suggested to him that the rewards might not outweigh the risk. After looking down in the cracks, he agreed to snack and view from terra firma.

Midway through the day we stopped at the Laurel Creek Shelter to eat lunch and refill our water. One unusual feature of the afternoon hike was passing through pasture land for about two miles. I was grateful to the landowner for allowing the trail to pass over his property, but more thankful that he had mowed a 5’ strip on either side of the trail so that we weren’t walking in waist high grass. It was a beautiful area and we could see for miles all around. Near the end of the farmland was a swampy section where about 100’ of split log “bridge” had been laid. These little details of trail maintenance never cease to impress me.

One of the notable trail features that we passed on Monday is the Keffer Oak. This is the largest oak tree on the southern part of the AT, boasting a circumference of nearly 19.6 feet. It is 60’ tall and has monstrous limbs. From there, we began our second climb of the day onward to Sarver Hollow Shelter.

The shelter area was busier than usual. Iron Man came in after us, as did several other hikers that we knew and some that we didn’t. Most folks tented, but once again I braved the mosquitoes and opted for the convenience of the shelter. There was a large grassy area out in front and there was also a comfortable bench to sit and read in. One of the nice bonuses of this shelter was a tree right out front from which to hang our food for the night. Sometimes we have to search for 5-10 minutes in the woods around the shelter, so when you find one so quickly and close by, it is a major accomplishment.

I have to say that I’m very pleased with our daily mileage for the week. Three 12+ days and a 16.1 trip to Pickle Branch Shelter today is our best four-day combined total yet. The early part of the day was a nice ridge walk followed by a downhill section. We made great time on this part of the trail. Then the hammer dropped. We had a 1,500’ climb that stretched over three miles. The first part of it wasn’t too bad, but near the end, it felt like we would never stop going uphill. At the top, we were rewarded by the Audie Murphy memorial. Murphy is the most decorated American soldier of WWII. He was killed in a plane crash just off the AT in 1971 and the VFW Post 5311 constructed a memorial near the crash site in his honor. There is a large marble tablet and a flagpole. Around the monument is a stack of rocks that hikers have placed there in remembrance, as well as flags, dog tags, medallions, and other military-themed memorabilia. I must admit that I felt as if I were standing on hallowed ground.

Just before the long climb up to the memorial, I realized that Gavin didn’t have much water, so I sent him a few tenths back to the stream to fill his bottles. I felt like I hiked especially strongly on Wednesday, and when I reached the monument, I expected him to be 30-40 minutes behind. I had no more than taken my pack off and sat down on a bench to say a prayer of thanks and remembrance to those who lost their lives in WWII when up pops Gavin. He was no more than 5-10 minutes behind me. This is a testament to his hiking ability- I continue to be amazed at what a strong hiker he has become in the past three months. All the hikers we have met have been complimentary of his speed and endurance. I believe that he is fully capable of keeping up with the many twenty-somethings that we have met on the trail, and that is a terrific compliment.

We were thankful that the last five miles to the shelter were mostly downhill. Unfortunately, the shelter was 0.3 miles off the trail, but it was nowhere near as difficult a trip as was the 0.4 downhill trip to the Sarver Hollow shelter the night before. The water source for the shelter was a nice stream, but it was an additional 0.2 miles, downhill. I really like it best when shelters are on trail and the water is very close by. Unfortunately, these are few and far between.

To reward ourselves for the past four longer days, we only planned to hike 6.7 miles on Thursday. Four Pines Hostel was just a bit off the trail at a road crossing, and there was a gas station with food and resupply items a few tenths of a mile down the road in the other direction. One highlight of Thursday’s hike was crossing the 700-mile mark. Three times. For whatever reason, there three places on the trail that were marked as 700-mile point. I checked the last one in the Guthooks app which reported my location as 700.5. The day’s hike also included the first landmark of the Virginia Triple Crown: Dragon’s Tooth. We had a 1,500’ climb to get there, but it was a marvelous sight. Dragon’s Tooth is a large rock spire that sticks out of the ground on a ridge. It can be climbed, but I would consider it perilous, and if you fell off the wrong side, it would take you a long time to hit the ground on the other side. I opted to just take a few videos and leave it at that.

The fun part of the day was descending the ridge line from Dragon’s Tooth. It was the most difficult, technical mile of our entire trip so far. The trip down included several places where steel “handles” had been cemented into the rock because there was nowhere to step or grab. It also included some other places where there should have been steel helpers. One particular part was on an 8-10’ nearly vertical rock face with only a 2-3” crack to walk along as you zig-zag your way down. Even after the steeper, more vertical descents, we still had to contend with rock-hopping for nearly a mile. When we finally reached the bottom, we saw a sign for the south bound day hikers who would have to ascend this treacherous trail: “Caution: The next mile of trail is rocky and steep in sections. Please use caution and follow white blazes carefully.” I cannot repeat here what I thought when I saw that sign, but the common phrase invoked the name Sherlock.

Finally, we reached the road crossing at trail mile 704. We had to make a choice: go on to the hostel to the right, or go get food and drinks to the left. The distance was about the same either way. We opted for the food and Gatorade option. The gas station has hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza so we decided to have lunch. While we were sitting outside at a table, the owner of Four Pines Hostel drove up to get his lunch. He offered to drive us back when he finished eating. I cannot remember a time when I have been more grateful to have a ride somewhere!

Four Pines is a hostel in a 3-car garage. Half of the space is set up as a common area, with couches and tables and chairs. The other side houses 14-16 bunks for sleepy hikers. Outside there were chickens and guineas running around everywhere, along with a few cats and dogs. Though we were “warned” that it might not be the most family friendly hostel on the trail, we found it to be quite pleasant. Before the afternoon was up, the place was full of hikers, and several folks slept on the couches or in tents outside. Though there was only one bathroom/shower and no towels, it was still quite nice to get cleaned up. There was also a washing machine, which my clothing severely needed, and a clothes line out back.

Perhaps the best part of staying at Four Pines is that they shuttle you to dinner at the Homeplace Restaurant nearby. They serve southern comfort food family style. You get chicken and your choice of two or three other meats, and delicious vegetables. I ate my fill of roast beef, pulled pork, green beans, mashed potatoes, baked apples, pinto beans and the best coleslaw I’ve ever tasted. To top it off, they had blueberry cobbler, a la mode. They just kept bringing more bowls and plates of food. It was the best food experience on the trip yet!

I slept fitfully at Four Pines, and apparently I snored a bit. At some point in the night, the hiker in the bunk beside me poked me with a trekking pole and said, “Could you roll over or something?” I apologized to her the next morning for waking her up. She accepted, but I’m not sure she forgave me.

Friday was a day of decisions. Several folks were planning to slackpack on into Daleville, a distance of 26.2 miles. I considered this crazy, since our best day was just shy of 18 miles, but we were hoping to get on into town as early Saturday morning as possible to see Beth, Griffin, Joy, and Sallie and her crowd. I looked over both my trail guides for a place we could hike to in between the hostel and town where Beth could pick up our packs Saturday morning and allow us to slackpack on in, but there was not a convenient road crossing. Finally, we settled on hiking to Lamberts Meadow Shelter, 16.4 miles upward, which would leave us only 9.4 miles into town on Saturday morning. This trip included the other two points of the VA Triple Crown, McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs.

We set out with full bags of water because there was to be little available on the trail in this section. McAfee knob is probably the most photographed viewpoint on the AT, and it was 9.6 miles ahead of us. The climb up was actually not difficult. I believe the trail is intentionally graded for day hikers, because there were tons of those. I’m quite sure that if we had reached the top earlier in the day it would have been swarming with people. The views from the ledge atop McAfee Knob were stunning. There is a section of rock that overhangs the valley below where one can take a “Lion King” photo. Even though it looks like you’re thousands of feet up off the valley floor, the rock ledge is only 40-50’ off the ground below. That is still quite a long ways to fall, but surviving the fall might be possible if you landed properly in the trees underneath. If it were as high as it looks, though, at least you’d have time to say a lengthy prayer before hitting the ground below.

With McAfee Knob checked off the list, it was onward to Pig Farm campsite to fill our water bottles before continuing onward to Tinker Cliffs. I was pleasantly surprised by this trail feature. When I see the word “cliff,” I think of treacherous terrain and long falls. I was pleased to find that even though there are steep cliffs, you don’t have to walk right along the edge. As we were going along this section of trail we observed several turkey buzzards drifting around effortlessly in the sky. It was majestic to behold.

With the last of the Triple Crown behind us, the only thing left to do was get on down to Lamberts Meadow Shelter, eat and sleep, and get up and head on into town to see the family. Along the way, Gavin got this crazy idea: “Why don’t we go on into town tonight?” The rational part of my brain told me this was an absolutely insane proposition because, including the road walk from the hostel to the trail head, it would make for a full marathon: 26.2 miles. Along the way, we talked about it, and I was trying to figure our best pace and what time it would be when we got there. When we arrived at the shelter, we sat down, took stock of how battered our bodies were feeling, and filled our water. Looking at the terrain, it should be an easy walk, and we should be able to average 3+ miles/hr. That meant it wouldn’t be midnight when we got there, more like 9:30-10:00. Against my better judgement, we decided to go ahead with the trip.

We were able to make the pace we thought for most of the trip, but about five miles out, the trail turned rocky. And dark. We donned our headlamps and paced onward. Finally, we reached a section of the trail with so many sharp rocks and small climbs that I questioned our decision. We got through it, but it wasn’t pleasant. We also ran out of water about two miles from town, and I think we were both about to run out of gas for walking. We had hoped to surprise everyone when we got to the road by calling and having them come pick us up, but about halfway along Beth called and she didn’t understand why were still hiking at 9:00 at night so we told.

When we got near to the roadway, Gavin called again to muster the minivan. While he was on the phone, he got a bit ahead of me and he came to a trail junction. One way was to the “park and walk” area, and the other continued down the trail to the road. When I got to the sign, I had no idea which way he went. I took what looked like the correct trail, but after a few hundred yards of not seeing a blaze, I turned back to have another look at the crossing. Still no Gavin, but the other direction had blazes so I continued onward, hoping he was in front of me. Finally I reached the road, still without sight of Gavin or any of our transportation. I got a bit panicky and called him on the phone to ask where on earth he was. It turns out that he took the path I had started down which went a short distance to a parking lot. It was a tenth or two miles down the roadway where I came out. I finally managed to figure out where everyone was and I parked myself in a gas station parking lot to await a ride. Not long after, I heard Sallie calling out so I walked to meet her.

It turns out that when Gavin got to the car and I didn’t, Beth took his headlamp and headed up the trail he came in on to look for me. Without her phone. By this point in the day (night) I was tired and furious. I jumped on him pretty hard for leaving me behind after I had asked him earlier in the evening to stay close in the dark. I know I hurt his feelings, and that he only walked ahead because he was excited, so I apologized a bit later. I think he understood my frustration. Meanwhile, Sallie took my light and went back up into the woods to find Beth. Eventually we all got together in one place and we headed back to the hotel. I honestly don’t know where I summoned the energy to walk up the stairs one flight to our room. I am only thankful that our room was right at the top of the stairs rather than all the way down the hallway.

Once in the room, it didn’t take me long to get into a hot shower and clean clothing. Needless to say, I slept like a baby Friday night. I almost didn’t make it up to get the breakfast that was included in the price of our stay. I am thankful that I did, because real coffee tasted so good, and it has been quite a while since I have had it.

Most of the day has been spent in the hotel room catching up on the blog. We did take some time out this morning to visit the local outfitter. It was quite an expensive trip. Gavin and I both needed new shoes. I also had to buy a new pack because I’ve lost so much weight that the one I started the trail with didn’t fit properly any more. For a price, they were also able to solve the “sweating in a 25° bag” problem with a 40° quilt that weighs only a pound. Even though it was a pricey trip, I’m pleased with my purchases and am excited to try them out. But not too excited. I’m going to sleep indoors for two more nights, and with this blog entry completed, I mostly have the day off tomorrow except for a resupply run that I hope will be brief and what I hope will be a quick trip to a laundromat.

It was truly fantastic having some time to spend with our family. We are also hopeful that we’ll be rejoining our trail family soon, as we head out from Daleville or just beyond. We appreciate you for following our progress and encourage you to keep sending us comments. Finally, always remember to just keep taking the Next Step.