Appalachian Trail - Day 037 - Marion Day Off

Day: 037

Date: Wednesday, 31 May 2023

Start:  Mount Rogers National Recreation Area HQ (AT Mile 534.3) but staying in Marion

Finish:  Mount Rogers National Recreation Area HQ (AT Mile 534.3) but staying in Marion 

Daily Kilometres:  0

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos from her walk/run at Marion.

Total Kilometres:  902.4

Weather:  Warm and mostly sunny.

Accommodation:  Motel 

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  McDonald's big breakfast 

  Lunch:  Ham & cheese roll/Chicken salad 

  Dinner:  Chicken chimichangas/Chicken fajitas, peach pie & rice pudding.

Aches:  Dave - feet recovering; Julie - nothing to report.

Highlight:  None really.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: No photos today.

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We had a sleep in after a relatively late night and then a relaxing no-pressure day.

The only place within 0.5 miles we could find for breakfast was a Macca's but, as it turned out, it wasn't bad and we might even go back for breakfast there tomorrow before we hit the trail.

Then we spent time in the nearby Walmart and supermarket buying our supplies for the next 4-5 days before Julie continued on to the laundromat and Dave returned to our room.

We are further refining our gear and are mailing to our next town some replacement boots for Dave (his are old and the sole is starting to separate from the upper) and replacement running shoes for Julie (she will get rid of her boots - they have a hole in them - and hike in running shoes instead).

During the afternoon while Dave put his feet up, hoping his foot wounds will heal, and did some admin, Julie went for a walk/run at a nearby lake.

For dinner, we visited a recommended nearby Mexican restaurant and were not disappointed.

We'll be back on the trail tomorrow, catching a local bus service back to the trailhead and, based on our (Dave's) improved fitness and lighter pack loads after discarding some gear four days ago in Damascus, we are setting a slightly more aggressive schedule.  We feel like we are getting in the groove and are almost 25% done.

Appalachian Trail - Day 036 - Jefferson National Forest (AT Mile 508.5) to Mount Rogers National Recreation Area HQ

Day: 036

Date: Tuesday, 30 May 2023

Start:  Jefferson National Forest (AT Mile 508.5)

Finish:  Mount Rogers National Recreation Area HQ (AT Mile 534.3)

Daily Kilometres:  41.6 (Ascent 4009', Descent 5633')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  902.4

Weather:  Foggy and cool early then mostly sunny with a couple of heavy rain showers in the afternoon.

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts.

  Lunch:  Trail mix.

  Dinner:  Hamburger & fries, peach pie & rice pudding.

Aches:  Dave - very tired with battered feet; Julie - nothing to report.

Highlight:  Our biggest day …. just under 26 miles.  We didn't start out with that intention, rather a more modest 21-22 miles, with the plan to camp a few hours hike short of Mount Rogers National Recreation Area HQ and then to hike to there before hitching into the small town of Marion tomorrow morning and have the most of tomorrow off.  However, while we were having our breakfast around 9:00am, after four miles of hiking, "Phoenix", a girl we met at the Damascus hostel a few days ago, walked by, having been dropped off at the highway we had crossed 10 minutes earlier.  She was slackpacking, not carrying her full pack and getting dropped off and picked up at the end of each day's hiking.  She was being picked up at Mt Rogers NRA HQ, 22 miles ahead, at 6:30pm, and said we could get a lift with her if we reached there by the same time.  This would give us a full day off in Marion tomorrow rather than part of the day.  We accepted the challenge, and walked hard for 3-4 hours, well Dave walked hard while Julie and Phoenix chatted up ahead.  The quest seemed hopeless at lunchtime, partly due to an error on our navigation app which showed we a couple of miles more to go than we actually had.  We told Phoenix to go on ahead while we resigned ourselves to our original plan of camping.  However, over the next two hours the navigation app had a compensating error and we "gained back" the lost two miles. Suddenly we were in with a chance again and began walking hard again.  In the event, we didn't make it until 7:00pm, but still proud of our effort.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke at 5:30am on a foggy morning with a very wet tent fly and started walking around 6:40am.  It was again very gloomy in the rhododendron groves though a few were in glorious pink bloom, and the trail was rocky, rooty and hard work.  We were hoping for easier trail today, but the signs were not good.

Fortunately, the going did improve a little after an hour but our pace was still slow and we only managed four miles in the first two hours.  While stopped for breakfast, "Phoenix" came by and our plans for the day changed (see above).

During the next section we climbed up to the base of Comers Creek Falls which were roaring and then carried on through the forests and glades.  After lunch a highlight was crossing a picturesque meadow.  It was amazing how much hotter it was in the open out of the forest.

Around this time we realised we may have a chance of reaching the Mount Rogers NRA HQ around 7:00pm, and the balance of the afternoon was spent making as fast a pace as possible, though Dave was struggling.  Some rocky path and roller-coaster hills along a long ridge didn't help.

The last hours seemed to go on forever but, eventually, we reached our goal at almost exactly 7:00pm.  At first, it looked like we were going to have trouble hitching a lift the 6 miles into Marion on the highway as there was very little traffic but, lucky for us, some of the thru-hikers camped nearby had ordered pizza and the delivery driver offered us a lift to our booked motel for a gratuity ($20) and we checked in, Dave exhausted, at 7:45pm.

We found the energy to venture a quarter mile down the road to buy some late dinner before eating showering and going to bed late.

Appalachian Trail - Day 034 - Damascus to Lost Mountain Shelter

Day: 034

Date: Sunday, 28 May 2023

Start:  Damascus (AT Mile 470.0)

Finish:  Lost Mountain Shelter (AT Mile 486.7)

Daily Kilometres:  25.6

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  825.1

Weather:  Cold and raining all day.

Accommodation:  Shelter 

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Cooked breakfast.

  Lunch:  Snacks

  Dinner:  Ham & cheese rolls.

Aches:  Nothing to report.

Highlight:  Finding room in the Lost Mountain Shelter for us to sleep at the end of a very wet and cold day.

Lowlight:  It began raining almost as soon as we left the hostel in Damascus and then rained almost non-stop, heavily at times, all day.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

The day began well, with a delicious big hot breakfast, and we began hiking out of Damascus soon after 8:00am on a dreary morning which soon turned wet, as forecast.

For much of our day the trail paralleled the Virginia Creeper rail trail, though high on the mountainside while the rail trail stayed on the valley floor. Our trail was often gnarly and steep and we wouldn't be the first thru-hikers to wonder why the AT did not use the rail trail given they were so close for our first 13 miles out of Damascus.

As the rain continued, the trail and trailside vegetation got wetter and it was a good test for Dave's new rain jacket and our new pack covers (both acquitted themselves well). We were mostly hiking through rhododendron and mountain laurel glades, with plenty of pretty blossoms, and occasionally along ridges through forest.

The persistent rain and cold meant we had trouble finding a dry lunch spot and eventually we decided that we wouldn't stop and instead keep going to the next shelter in the hope there would be room for us to sleep tonight. Yesterday's forecast was for the heaviest rain to be in the late afternoon and we didn't fancy setting up the tent in the rain.

Julie was getting wet and cold, made worse by regularly having to wait for Dave so, with five miles to the shelter, she went on ahead to claim a space and get into some dry clothes.

There were already a few hikers in residence, but still plenty of room for us when Dave arrived around 3:45pm. We decided to forgo our usual hot dinner and just ate the rolls we had never eaten for lunch and were in our sleeping bags by around 5:00pm for warmth.

Later a couple more very wet hikers arrived and the shelter space has become tight, but at least it's dry.  We had hoped to do a few more miles today, but common sense has prevailed.

 

Appalachian Trail - Day 035 - Lost Mountain Shelter to Jefferson National Forest (AT Mile 508.5)

Day: 035

Date: Monday, 29 May 2023

Start:  Lost Mountain Shelter (AT Mile 486.7)

Finish:  Jefferson National Forest (AT Mile 508.5)

Daily Kilometres:  35.7 (Ascent 4938', Descent 3369')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  860.8

Weather:  Cold and raining until noon then occasionally sunny with occasional drizzle.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts 

  Lunch:  Trail mix

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals

Aches:  Dave - trench feet from walking in wet shoes and socks all day; Julie - nothing to report.

Highlight:  Grayson Highlands lived up to expectations and the weather cleared up nicely to give us great views across the moor-like high plain punctuated by rocky outcrops.  We also encountered some of the fabled wild ponies (who didn't seem very wild).

Lowlight:  The trail was hard work most of the day. Rocky, rooty and very wet; river-like in parts with many big, deep and unavoidable puddles.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We packed as quietly as we could to avoid disturbing the other shelter residents and left at 6:40am hoping we hadn't left anything behind in the dark shelter.

It was very gloomy and soon began to rain again, having rained on and off all night.  On the trail it was dark enough to use a headlamp in the rhododendron groves even though it was past sunrise time.

There was also a lot of climbing as we ascended to near 5,000' on the shoulder of Beech Mountain. It was cold and wet as we skirted the slopes of Whitetop Mountain with the trail becoming a stream and huge puddles.

Fortunately, as we neared the more open country at the higher altitudes there were a few breaks in the rain and the visibility improved to the point where we could see the fog-shrouded surrounding mountains and valleys.

Because of the wet weather we delayed our breakfast break and then ended up delaying our lunch break as well, which we eventually had at Thomas Knob Shelter, sharing it with a number of other hikers and enjoying some interesting conversations.

After lunch we entered the Grayson Highlands State Park and with better weather enjoyed our transit (see above).  We thought we were done with the rain, but drizzle and occasional fog returned in the late afternoon though, by the time we found an excellent tent site on an open ridge around 7:00pm, there was some more sunshine and it was a nice evening. We even had some wild ponies come and visit after we had retired to our tent.

We completed five weeks hiking today and also passed the 500 Mile mark.

Appalachian Trail - Day 033 - Damascus Day Off

Day: 033

Date: Saturday, 27 May 2023

Start:  Damascus (AT Mile 471.0)

Finish:  Damascus (AT Mile 471.0)

Daily Kilometres:  0

GPX Track:  Click here and here for Julie’s Strava & Photos from her walk and run today.

Total Kilometres:  799.5

Weather:  Cool and overcast.

Accommodation:  Hostel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Cooked breakfast.

  Lunch:  Mexican sub.

  Dinner:  Chicken carbonara/Chicken & beans, peach pie & rice pudding.

Aches:  Dave - while seeking to cut off the top of a heel callus, under which a small blister had formed, he sliced a little too deeply with his pocket knife and caused a bleed that took some time to stop; Julie - nothing to report.

Highlight:  Mailing to our US friends, Jeff and Pascale, a weighty package of gear we think we can do without.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

A relaxing day which started with a nice cooked breakfast provided by our hostel host, followed by a walk down to the Post Office to mail off unneeded gear (see above) on a cool grey overcast day.

We then returned to the outdoor store we had visited yesterday to purchase some new pack covers in light of the very wet day forecast for tomorrow and the less-than-stellar performance of the pack covers that came with our packs (though we are happy with the Gregory packs themselves).

From there we walked to the big supermarket outside the other end of town to buy supplies for the next 3-4 days and returned to the hostel via the Virginia Creeper rail trail that runs through the centre of town. Despite the grey and cool weather, the five or so bike rental and shuttle businesses that service the trail were doing a roaring trade on this holiday weekend.

Not only does the rail trail come through Damascus, but so does the Bicentennial TransAmerica cycle route and we have seen some heavily-laden bike tourers. The town markets itself as the crossroad of trails and there are hiking and cycling motifs everywhere you go.

It's a complete transformation since Dave hiked through here 37 years ago when the town seemed dead or dying.

After lunch Dave took it easy and did some admin then watched a movie on the hostel's Netflix account while Julie went for a run on one of the local trails.

Later, we microwaved dinner at the hostel and had a quiet and early night.

Appalachian Trail - Day 032 - AT Mile 462.6 to Damascus (AT Mile 471.0)

Day: 032

Date: Friday, 26 May 2023

Start:  Unnamed ridge at AT Mile 462.6

Finish:  Damascus (AT Mile 471.0)

Daily Kilometres:  15.1 (ascent 830', descent 2,464').

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  799.5

Weather:  Mild to warm and partly sunny.

Accommodation:  Hostel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Hiker hash & eggs/Chicken & bacon on biscuits

  Lunch:  Mexican sub

  Dinner:  Meatloaf & vegetables/Hamburger & chips, ice-creams

Aches:  Nothing to report

Highlight:  Breakfast at the Damascus Diner lived up to its reputation for quality and value. We got to the diner around 9:45am and joined fellow thru-hiker, Tassie, who had beaten us there. There were other thru-hikers there we recognized, and some we didn't, and the diner had an Appalachian Trail theme. Everybody was very friendly and we enjoyed our food and the long cold bottomless Coke Zeros.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

It began raining almost as soon as we got into our tent last night and our fellow campers, who had been setting up for a long night chatting (very audibly) around their fire, eventually gave up and went to bed as well. No nocturnal bear visitors either, but the rain was persistent for a large part of the night and dripped from the trees for the balance, so our tent fly was very wet when we packed up, but everything else stayed dry.

We rose a little earlier, 5:15am, so as to increase our chances for a timely arrival for breakfast at the Damascus Diner. Although much of the vegetation was wet, the trail itself wasn't too bad and we covered the eight-mile distance through the woods and rhododendron groves, most of it downhill, to Damascus in good time. Along the way we left Tennessee for the last time and are now in Virginia where we will be for a long time. Breakfast lived up to its reputation (see above) and after that we walked to the Post Office to collect our "General Delivery" mail.

We are making some changes in Damascus, primarily to lighten the weight of our packs, which are clearly among the heavier carried by thru-hikers. By choice, we have been carrying gear that other hikers don't, some of it for comfort, such as inflatable pillows and a three-man tent, some of it to better deal with adverse weather, such as heavier rain-jackets and warm clothing, and some it for blogging and reading. So, Dave has purchased a new very lightweight rainjacket and will be mailing his heavy jacket, laptop, related charging gear, eReader, gloves and thermal leggings to friends in the US, while Julie will be mailing her heavy rainjacket, some of her winter gear and her trekking poles (which she has not used on this trip). Tomorrow morning we will make a trip to the Post Office and send off this gear.

The downside for Dave will be that, from tomorrow, he will be blogging from his phone which probably means shorter posts and more typos. The formatting in the emails could also be a problem so, if they are unreadable, click through to the actual blog to read the posts.

After collecting our packages, we walked to Lady Di's Hostel, where we have a room for two nights. Lady Di, which is her trailname, hiked the AT in 2019 and liked Damascus so much she came back (she's retired), bought a large house and set up an up-market hostel that operates only for the ten-week thru-hiker season. Although very expensive by hostel standards, it does include a cooked breakfast and laundry and is immaculate. It's also Memorial Day long weekend in the US and accommodation in vacation locations is hard to find and expensive, so we are happy.

Since checking in we have had our laundry done and ventured the very short distance into town to get some other gear we need from one of the three outdoor stores.

Later, we ventured back to the Damascus Diner for a nice dinner and finished off with a waffle cone ice-cream on our walk back to the hostel. Not a bad day and looking forward to a full day off tomorrow.

Appalachian Trail - Day 031 - AT Mile 440.2 to AT Mile 462.6

Day: 031

Date: Thursday, 25 May 2023

Start:  Ridgetop at AT Mile 440.2

Finish:  Unnamed ridge at AT Mile 462.6

Daily Kilometres:  37.9

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  784.4

Weather:  Warm and partly sunny

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts

  Lunch:  Trail mix

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals

Aches:  Dave - very tired; Julie - nothing to report

Highlight:  After we crossed Tennessee Route 91, we had about a mile of walking through fields covered in yellow daisies(?).  It was nice to be out in the open and to have views all around, but the flower display was the icing on the cake.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Today was unremarkable.  We woke at the usual 5:30am and were hiking by 6:30am.  For almost the whole day we were following a ridge that oscillated between 3,000’ and 4,000’ walking in the woods with green understory and filtered views hrough the trees of blue hazy mountains.

Generally the trail quality was good and, although we always seemed to be going up or down, the grades were reasonable and we made the good time we hoped for.  Tomorrow we reach small town of Damascus, where we will be having Saturday off, but would like to get there before lunch on Friday because we have some parcels to collect from the post office.  Also, as we have found out from fellow thru-hikers this evening, we should aim to get to the Damascus Diner before 11:00am when they stop serving their renowned breakfast.

The only real variation to the ridgetop scenery today was the short pastureland section after a road crossing (see above) which was a welcome change.

We have seen and chatted with a few thru-hikers today and have ended up camping with Tassie, the girl from Tasmania, along with some other section hikers who, we hope, aren’t planning on being too noisy at the campfire they have going.

There are bears in the area with numerous sightings today, but not by us.  Hopefully, we to not get any nocturnal visitors.

Appalachian Trail - Day 030 - Dennis Cove to AT Mile 440.2

Day: 030

Date: Wednesday, 24 May 2023

Start:  Dennis Cove (AT Mile 420.1)

Finish:  Ridgetop at AT Mile 440.2

Daily Kilometres:  34.7

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  746.5

Weather:  Warm, sunny and breezy.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Muffins

  Lunch:  Italian sub/Turkey & cheese sub

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals

Aches:  Dave - tired and minor right knee pain; Julie - nothing to report

Highlight:  Laurel Fork stream, Laurel Fork gorge and Laurel Falls in the early part of the day were spectacular.  The trail followed and crossed the pretty boulder-strewn stream a number of times at the base of the sheer rock gorge walls, with the falls themselves being a particular highlight.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Apart from being woken by an intoxicated fellow thru-hiker knocking on our cabin door at 2:00am trying to find his “buddy”, we slept well.  We rose early and left the sleeping resort at 6:30am and made our way back to the trailhead, 0.6 miles away along the quiet minor road.

Once we began hiking along the AT from the trailhead, we passed a number of tents beside the trail, but no sign of life.  In fact, for the whole day, we only saw two other thru-hikers, which was unusual.

After an easy first mile or so, as we neared Laurel Fork stream, the trail became much more technical and slow as it tried to follow the stream through the rocky gorge, but the scenery was awesome (see above).  We were in the Pond Mountain Wilderness, and soon we left the stream behind and began the long steady ascent up what we presume was Pond Mountain and then an equally long descent to Wautauga Lake.  However, the grades weren’t too bad and the forest was beautiful with abundant wildflowers and, particularly, blossoming mountain laurel lining the trail and brightening the forest.

We had a break at a picnic table beside the swimming area in Wautauga Lake, a very pleasant spot, and there were even a few people in swimming.  The trail then spent much of the rest of the day following the northern shore of the lake, including crossing the dam wall that formed the lake.

There was another long climb after that, still following the lake shore, but at a much higher elevation, and we had occasional views down to the lake and marina far below.  Again the grades weren’t too bad and, with the breeze at altitude taking the edge off a warm sunny day, the hiking was quite pleasant.  As always, the ridgetop walking, even with the views masked by the trees, was beautiful.  Fresh green foliage, different wildflowers, occasional bird song and the breeze in the trees made it a special place.

Around 6:15pm, we began looking for a tentsite, and found one atop the ridge among the trees at 6:30pm,  Another good, if energetic day.

Appalachian Trail - Day 029 - Approaching Moreland Gap Shelter to Dennis Cove

Day: 029

Date: Tuesday, 23 May 2023

Start:  Approaching Moreland Gap Shelter (AT Mile 412.5)

Finish:  Dennis Cove (AT Mile 420.1)

Daily Kilometres:  12.8

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  711.8

Weather:  Cool to mild, breezy and partly sunny.

Accommodation:  Cabin

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts and burritos

  Lunch:  Pizza

  Dinner:  Hamburger & fries/Chicken pieces & fries, peach pie & tapioca pudding

Aches:  None to speak of.

Highlight:  A “nero” (near zero) day spent relaxing, chatting to other hikers, and doing the usual chores - laundry, resupply, showers and email - in the beautiful setting of the Black Bear Resort in Dennis Cove with a stream right behind our cabin and a deck overlooking it.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke early and were walking by 6:30am, even though we only had 7 miles to our booked cabin at the Black Bear Resort.  The trail followed a ridge at around 3,000’ for the first hour or so on a cool morning with the usual tree-filtered views to the nearby hazy mountains.  There were plenty of short sharp ups and downs, but the trail was mostly not technical and we made good time, seeing a few other hikers along the way, some still camped and others walking.  At our breakfast break after a couple of hours we were joined by a two hikers, one of whom was boasting about how many miles he had been doing the last few days.  He was a little quieter after Julie asked him when he started the trail and it turned out to be four or five days before us.  The other hiker, a South African, was suffering from some bad blisters, perhaps the consequence of their last few days of aggressive hiking.

The last hour or so saw a steady descent down to Dennis Cove Road, with the last part through a meadow and past the ruins of an old timber cabin.  From the trailhead we had a walk of about 0.6 of a mile along the road through the pretty valley following an attractive boulder-strewn stream.  The properties well-kept and the road was quiet.  About half-way to the Resort a golf buggy came the other way transporting a couple of hikers down to the trailhead.  By the time the buggy made its return journey we were about 50 yards from the Resort so declined the offered lift.

We checked in and had a second breakfast of microwaved burritos then spent the rest of the day chatting to the few other hikers here, including “Tassie” the lady from Tasmania, and doing some admin.  One hiker, already in residence for a few days, has his leg elevated and wrapped in ice dealing with shin splints, or maybe a stress fracture.  We feel bad for him, as a stress fracture will be a showstopper for his AT hike.

In the evening, we took advantage of a scheduled shuttle run, along with about ten other hikers, to the town of Elizabethtown, about 12 miles away, where we had dinner at a sports bar and bought our supplies for the next three days at the nearby Walmart in the allotted 90 minutes the shuttle was there.  Lots of interesting discussion in the van about bears, the relative merits of hostels, distances hiked, etc.