Category: April 18 – May 6

Day 37 Old Orchard Shelter to VA 603 (1.7 miles) 510.9 miles total

Cold, windy, and rainy last night. Not fun! Disappointing day.

You can see the frost line (those aren’t clouds) on below pic. Tented a couple of hundred feet below there. Brrr!

Tented next to 3 guys (Bob, Ed, and Dave) from Fairfax, VA last night. Since forecast for tonight is cold with possible snow, they are cutting their weekend camping trip short. They offered me a ride into town…and I took it!

Hiked 2 miles on AT and then another 2 miles to parking lot. Thanks again for the lift, guys!

This weather keeps screwing up my plans.

Tomorrow I’ll get a ride back to where I came off trail and then hike the 21 miles back to Marion, VA. Good news is I’ll be in same hotel room tonight and tomorrow night. That means I can slack pack (light backpack) because am able to leave most of my gear at room.

Weather for tomorrow sounds decent!

Happy trails!

Day 36 US 58 Campsite to Old Orchard Shelter (22.8 miles) 509.2 total mile

Windy and rainy most of night but woke up to sunshine. Looking like a good day to get some miles in.

Got hiking early. Motivated. Clipping right along until 1 mile into day I run into trail magic.  

4 guys who had thru-hiked last year had eggs, pancakes, and anything else a hiker can crave. I was one of the first there. Stayed for about 45 minutes and, when I left, there were about 20 people there. Hosts were hoping people would spend Cinco de Mayo there.

Buzzard rock.

Near Mt Rogers, VA’s highest peak (5729 ft).

Entering Grayson Highlands State Park. Known for wild ponies. I probably saw at least 3 dozen ponies in the 3 mikes trail went through Park.

After leaving the park, had to have a discussion with this guy regarding trail etiquette and who had the right of way in this instance.

Last part of day, trail was very wet. Must have rained a lot more here than it did on me today. Started raining again about 6. I stopped and pitched tent about 7:30.

Rain, wind, and cold. Hope it’s nicer in AM. Still 23 miles to Marion, VA.

Happy trails!

Day 35 Damascus, VA to US 58 Campsite (17.2 miles). 486.4 total miles

Very windy today. Good thing is half the time you’re on protected side of mtn so you don’t feel it.

Didn’t make it as far as I’d have liked. Started raining late afternoon so stopped at first camping area I came to after rain began.

Hope to get in big miles tomorrow. Already getting cold tonight and next 2 nights supposedly colder. Don’t want to be at high elevation for that.

Happy trails!

Day 34 Damascus, VA Zero Day

Miss Ginny fixes an amazing breakfast at the Lazy Fox…blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, fruit, biscuits. Smells great in the house when she is cooking!

I did not meet Mac at his house last night for the moonshine. Decided it wouldn’t be prudent. Directions were to walk about half mile to a road, take a left, and 8th house down (no number). Had visions of knocking at wrong house and…well, you can make up your own scenarios from there.

Weather is supposed to be very windy tomorrow with rain late in afternoon/evening. Plan is to make 60 miles to Marion, VA in 3 days. That’s important because supposed to get cold (possible snow in mtns) Sat night.

Happy trails!

Day 33 McQueens Knob to Damascus, VA (11.9 miles). 469.2 total miles

Wind howled all night. Got pretty chilly, too. Took a while to get going as was waiting for it to warm up a bit before rolling out of sleeping bag.

Made it to VA. 3 states finished…only 11 to go! Trail is in VA for 500+ miles. Most of any state. Will be June before through VA!

Only took about 4 hrs to hike the 12 miles to Damascus. I’m always a little faster when nearing a town plus trail had fewer rocks and tree roots than usual. The rocks and roots are a trip risk plus they just beat your feet up.

Trail goes right through Damascus, a small town with a population fewer than 1000. Very dependent on hikers and hosts a Trail Days Festival every May (3rd weekend). This is a big celebration for past and current thru-hikers.

Spending next 2 nights at Lazy Fix B&B. Owned by Ginny Adams for past 20 years. She is 92 and in great shape. Rumor has it her breakfast is fantastic. Will find out in AM!

Had dinner at Hey Joe’s Mexican Restaurant. Very good. Met Mac, a Vietnam Vet who grew up in Damascus. Says he has best moonshine around. I’m invited over to his house to taste test tomorrow night. We’ll see!

Looking forward to a good day of rest tomorrow.

Happy trails!

Day 32 Vandeventer Shelter to McQueens Knob (21.2 miles) 457.3 miles total

A few showers today but not enough to make the trail wet and slippery. I’ll take that. Made for third straight 20+ mile day.

Below is view from near where I camped last night. Can’t get away from Wataugua Lake.

Trail went right through someone’s pasture.

Was going to try a quick trip into town for lunch today as I did yesterday. Not quite so lucky. Crossed hwy 3.5 miles from Shady Valkey, TN. Tried hitching a ride but only 1 car in ten minutes. Odds didn’t seem good so I decided to keep on trekking.

Tonight’s sunset from Just Chez Pete front porch!

Very windy tonight after sun went down. Gusts up to 50 mph I’m guessing. Very loud. Tent seems to be standing strong.

About 12 miles to Damascus, VA. Should be there early tomorrow afternoon. Can’t wait!

Happy trails!

 

Day 31 White Rocks Mtn. to Vandeventer Shelter (20.7 miles). 436.1 miles total

One month in and I’m nearly 20% complete. Moving at pace close to what I expected. 3 zero days for weather weren’t factored into equation!

I am trying to guess where I will be on June 1. I am flying from somewhere to Fargo, ND for my niece, Ashley’s, wedding. Hoping to get near Harpers Ferry, WV but have to do 18 miles/day for 31 days,.. not too sure I can do that!

Hike today had some cool scenery and sky was mostly sunny, temp low 80’s.

Curious as to what year this barn was built. Pretty sturdy yet.

Luckily the trail went around and up instead of straight up rock face.

Laurel Falls.

Trail skirts very close to river.

View of Watauga Lake. Trail goes down to lake and circumnavigates around dam you can see straight ahead then up into mtns as lake goes to east.

Not sure what these are but look like giant mushrooms growing upside down on this tree. Strange.

As the trail reaches Watauga Lake, there is a hwy that runs 3 miles to Hampton, TN. Hitched a ride in and spent 2 hrs in town. Ate at Subway and read newspaper!

Below are some hikers taking a break by lake. Trail goes over hills on left and down to Dam on right.

This is looking back from Dam to beach area. Came up and over that big peak in back this AM.

Followed that lake for 9 miles this afternoon. Camped above it tonight!

About 32 miles to Damascus, VA. Should be there Tuesday. Planning to zero on Wednesday.

Happy trails!

 

 

Day 30 Hwy 19E to White Rocks Mtn (21.7 miles) 415.4 total miles

Stayed in Newland, NC last night. Hitched a ride back to trail. Probably hitched 6 rides now. Get picked up by pickup trucks more than cars and usually have me ride in back!

Guess I won’t be staying here!

Below is Jones Falls. Little swimming hole at bottom of falls. Some hikers took a dip but a little too chilly for me.

Passed mile 400. Marked/written with sticks.

Put in 9.5 hours of hiking today. That’s a lot of steps! I don’t have a FitBit but I would guess over 40,000 of them.

Used my stove for 3rd time. Freeze dried pasta with sausage. It was OK but stove may get sent home. After I’ve hiked all day and gotten tent set up, I’m not too excited about getting stove out. I enjoy my tortillas and peanut butter as much as anything I’ve cooked.

Will try to get in another 20 miles today!

Happy trails!

Day 29 Stan Murray Campsite to US 19E (11.8 miles) 393.7 miles total

Nice, sunny day and beautiful vistas. Nice day of hiking. Especially when you know you’re hitting a town!

This view is from Yellow Mtn (elev 5271). There was a Revolutionary War battle near here at Yellow Mtn Gap.

The views today were so nice because it was sunny but there was a lot of time on the balds. This is the walk to Little Hump Mtn. Trail looks, and basically is, like a cow path across a pasture in SD.

View from top of Little Hump Mtn.

Now we’re heading to the top of that one…Hump Mtn (elev 5587).

I get virtually all my water from piped springs. PVC directly from mtn. I don’t filter it when I get directly from source of spring. Always cold and tastes great!

Finally out of NC. About 70 more miles and out of TN and into VA.

Next stop Damascus, VA. 75 miles. Hoping to do it in 4 days. That will take good weather.

Happy trails!

Day 28 Apple Orchard to Stan Murray Campsite (17.7 miles) 381.9 total miles

Didn’t quite make it as far as hoped today. Got soaked by heavy rains last 2-3 hours of hike. Rain quit about 5PM and I found a place to pitch tent shortly after. Walking in rain is no fun but setting up camp in rain really stinks!

Saw my first bear of hike today! See if you can find him in this photo. Hint: I am not Ansel Adams and this happened fairly quickly.

Upper right corner of photo. He is up in tree. First heard noise when he was climbing tree. Fast climbing up…really fast coming down! We eyeballed each other for a couple minutes and then he was off. Pretty impressive to watch run/saunter through this terrain. Him again top-center below.

Very foggy and windy almost all day until it finally rained.

This abandoned chimney is still standing by itself in middle of nowhere. Makes you wonder it’s story. Obviously well constructed.

Today I’m hiking about 13 miles to Roan Mtn, TN. Dry place to sleep awaits!

Happy trails!