Nan's 2014 Appalachian Trail Journal

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June 13, 2014

5/29 Day 61-mile 645. 14.1 miles today. After a visit to Whitey’s favorite donut shop we set off for Pearisburg. We got dropped at VA 634 to continue going downhill into Pearisburg. Virginia has many of the scenic highlights of the AT but Pearisburg is not one of them. The trails are overgrown and not well located. There is a road walk that cannot be avoided to cross the New River and then it wanders up and down hills around a large stinky factory that makes the stuff that goes into cigarette filters. There is currently work going on to relocate the trail so that it follows the New River before make a 1,353’ climb up a no-name mountain. There was a sign that said we would be some of the last hikers to hike the old tail. One good thing though is someone had left a large bunch of bananas and some cookies at one of the street crossings. Late in the afternoon we heard thunder and started looking for a place to camp. Unfortunately we didn’t find anything in time and had to sit under our ponchos and tarps while it rained. It did stop when the storm passed and we were able to set up our tents and cook dinner.

5/30 Day 62-mile 658.2. 13.2 miles today. This morning it was very misty when we set off at our usual 7:30 but the day cleared and it was sunny and humid. We had several big climbs and lots of rocks on the trail. The rocks were very slippery and Freckles fell once. Not hurt but she was lucky because there was a large rock sticking up right beside where her head went. At our lunch stop there was a hiker telling us about killing a large black snake, skinning, cooking, and eating it. Tastes like chicken? Talk about hiker appetite. We camped tonight close to Mountain Lake. It is the place where the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed.

5/31 Day 63-mile 672.4. 14.1 miles today. Trail magic early this morning. As we were packing up, a hiker came by and said if we felt like backtracking they were doing trail magic at Mountain Lake Rd. It was just 7:30 and we thought we would be too early but we were only about 200 yards from the road so we figured we would give it a try for fresh fruit. We were rewarded with a banana and two oranges each. Well, actually Freckles got three oranges. Tasted wonderful. Great views from Wind Rock. The clouds were just lying in the valley. After we crossed Lone Pine Peak at 4,027’ elevation we descended to 2,080’ and a log across Johns Creek. They called it a foot bridge. And, as you know, what “goes down must go up” so we climbed to Kelly Knob at 3,743’ elevation. The view was pretty good but to really get a great view you would need to jump a 3 ½ to 4 foot crevasse. Neither Freckles nor I did that. After several miles we came out of the woods into open pasture and several fence stiles. We are only seeing about six to eight thru hikers a day anymore and not many section hikers on this stretch. We are a week to 10 days behind the “bubble”. Found a nice little camp site beside a creek. Our tents just fit and we were able to get cleaned up and do a little laundry.

6/1 Day 64-mile 688.0. 15.6 miles today. We passed the Keffer Oak, the largest oak tree on the AT in the south. It is over 18’ around and over 300 years old. The Dover Oak along the AT in New York is slightly larger. At the stile just before the Keffer Oak we met a cow walking down the AT. It moved when I yelled but it was not happy. There was another cow on the other side of the fence crying and the one on the AT was crying. I think it wanted to get back over the fence to its friend but forgot how.

It was relatively level hiking after a bit of a steep climb the first thing this morning. Whitey hiked in from Rt 621 to Niday Shelter to meet us and then hiked the 1.4 miles back to the road. Freckles and I got cleaned up at the shelter because Whitey was picking us up to go to Home Place, a restaurant loved by hungry AT hikers. It is southern style cooking served family style. They keep bringing out dishes as long as you can eat. The menu is fried chicken, country ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, pinto beans, stewed apples, coleslaw, biscuits, and blue berry cobbler with ice cream for dessert. All for $15, tax included. We wanted to be clean for our pride but also because we didn’t want to be put in the special room with the stinky hikers! I guess we passed muster because we were seated in the main dining room. After the three of us stuffed ourselves, Whitey took us back to the trail. Freckles and I hiked another five miles up over Brush Mtn., from 1,558’ to 3,064’, to work off the dinner. We hiked very slowly. At the top of Brush Mtn., there is a monument for Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier of WWII. He was in a plane that crashed into the mountain in 1971. At about 8:00 we found a nice campsite on the mountain.

6/2 Day 65-mile 698.3. 10.3 miles today. Down, down, down 1,541’ on big switch backs to Trout Creek. Trail magic of cold soda and water. Freckles and I just took the water. It was too early for soda. Today was Cove Mtn. and Dragon’s Tooth, a large stone monolith with fabulous views. The trail is very rocky with lots of rock climbing, both up and down. Some of it is pretty scary. I had stopped at a nice overlook for lunch and was already starting to eat when Freckles came up and looked around a rock and saw a very large rattlesnake on the other side. Needless to say, we moved on to another lunch spot and were very careful about where we sat, stepped, and grabbed for hand holds on the climbs. We came into Four Pines Hostel for the night. I had a resupply box here. We pitched our tents, took showers, and washed out some clothes. It had to be either a short day or else a 17 mile day. The next 28 miles of the AT is mostly on National Park Service land and camping is permitted only in designated locations. There are quite a few thru hikers at the hostel, more than we have seen for a while. Once again the weather has been warm and sunny. We have really been lucky and have not had too much rain.

6/3 Day 66-mile 714.6. Camping at Lambert Meadows, 16.3 miles today. We were up and ready to go at our usual 7:30 and got a lift for the 0.3 miles to the trail head. Today was a pretty challenging day but one that hits two of the highlights of the AT hike in Virginia. After a big climb, the AT comes out on McAfee Knob, probably one of the most photographed spots for hikers. It is a large rock outcrop with a many foot drop. Hikers sit on the edge and dangle their feet. Freckles did but not me. I stayed as far from the edge as possible. The view is great down the valley with all the farm land and ridge after ridge of mountains. Looking across the valley you can see Tinker Cliffs. That is where we will be in 5.6 miles after a rolling ridge walk. After climbing up to Tinker Cliffs there is ½ mile of cliff walk with views back to McAfee Knob.

For the last few days we have been seeing a hiker called Bud. When we were at Niday Shelter Sunday he had said he was

concerned that he would have enough food to get to Daleville for his next food box so Freckles gave him some power bars. That got him through to Four Pines Hostel where he went to the store and bought a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly but no bread or crackers. He just planned to eat his PB & J--no sandwich. This is a guy who has not one more ounce of weight to lose-6’ 3” and very skeletal. Strider, who we had not seen for a while showed up at Four Pines and also at Lambert tonight. There was a couple at Four Pines who were on their honeymoon hiking the AT. They were cute. They just couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. If they weren’t kissing and hugging, they were praying. Everyone and everything got blessed.

6/4 Day 67-mile 724.0. Into Daleville after a 9.4 mile day on a very rocky narrow ridge. Nice views but we really had to watch our footing. We are staying at the Howard Johnson. Picked up resupply boxes, showered, did laundry, etc. Oregon and Little Bit are here and also Rambler and Earnhart. Rambler had been several days ahead of us but turned an ankle and had to take some zero days. Earnhart had also been ahead but went home to Roanoke for a couple of days to see his kids. They will both be getting back on the trail further north so this may be the last that we see of them.

Drag’n Fly will be back next time.

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