Appalachian Trail - Day 049 - Daleville to Bobblets Gap

Day: 049

Date: Monday, 12 June 2023

Start:  Daleville (AT Mile 730.3)

Finish:  Bobblets Gap (AT Mile 749.1)

Daily Kilometres:  32.2 (Ascent 4511', Descent 3576')

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

Total Kilometres:  1265.2

Weather:  Overcast and humid with occasional drizzle in the morning, mostly sunny and breezy in the afternoon.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Macca's breakfast platter

  Lunch:  Ham salad roll

  Dinner:  Noodles & chicken/Rice & chicken.

Aches:  Dave - left ankle troublesome; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  In the afternoon, the trail reached the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP), a 470 mile long tourist road that runs down through the Appalachians and, taking advantage of the roadside lookouts where the trail crossed the BRP, we had some excellent views down to the farmland and towns down below on both sides of the ridge.  Better than we usually get from the AT. 

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We woke at 6:00am, checked out of our motel 45 minutes later, and walked to the nearby McDonald's for breakfast only to find that the restaurant part didn't open until 7:00 am, so we had to stand outside for a while thinking about the extra 15 minutes we could have been sleeping!

After breakfast, on a damp humid morning, we then walked alongside a busy highway the 0.8 miles back to the trail.  For a while the trail wended its way between just-out-of-sight highways, habitation, and a railway line before beginning to climb steadily up to Fullhart Knob Shelter where we stopped around 11:00am for a break and chatted to a couple of thru-hikers there, one of whom we knew had been doing big miles a couple of days ago, but now seemed in no hurry to leave the shelter where he had stayed last night.  Another hiker was still in his sleeping bag.  Julie and I sometimes find it hard to fathom the strategies of some of our fellow hikers.

We took our lunch break at the next shelter around 1:30pm after an up and down section through open forest.  The trail was good underfoot and we made good time, but the humidity made it very sweaty work.

After lunch the sun appeared, the wind grew and the humidity seemed to drop, making for more pleasant hiking conditions.  The trail climbed towards the BRP (see above), and when we reached the road there was "Don the Apple Man" with food laid out on a rock and drinks available for hikers.  Another trail angel providing trail magic.  Dave, who was feeling a bit dehydrated, demolished a couple of Gatorades while we sat, ate and drank, and chatted to Don, who apparently does this two or three days each week during thru-hiker season.  It was earlier than we had planned for our next break, but very welcome.  It's hard to explain what a lift these unexpected acts of kindness give the tired thru-hiker.

Buoyed by the surprise food and drink, we continued on the trail which now followed the BRP, occasionally crossing it, and enjoying the good views.  There wasn't much traffic and the road was often visible from the trail, but it didn't diminish the scenery or experience.

Just before 6:00pm we found a nice tentsite above the road and out of sight to camp.  We have good views through the trees down to the valley below and are bathed in the light of the setting sun.  Perfect!

We passed a sign this morning that said we are one third of the way through our AT journey.  It seems to be going quickly.