Daily Miles: 21.2, Total Miles: 577.0 Today was a really nice mix of ridge walking through green forests, pretty pastoral settings with big barns and farmhouses, and one river crossing where the bridge had been blown out. Lick Creek was only ankle deep but very cold. I ran into Long John, Fossils and Tetras going southbound today. They had stayed at a hostel last night that shuttled them ahead this morning. They were slackpacking back to the same hostel. I…
Daily Miles: 21.6, Total Miles: 555.8 I sure appreciate the bus transit system such as the one in Marion. Walked to the bus stop and five minutes later was the only passenger on the free shuttle back to Mt Rogers HQ. I ran into Fossils and Dave, now with the trail name of Tetras, at the HQ. Hadn’t seen them for several days. Also met two new hikers, Long John and Laid Back. All bundled up on a cold, windy…
Daily Miles: 0, Total Miles: 534.2 I at least picked a cool, windy and now drizzly day for a zero. Having said that, back on the trail tomorrow with a high of 47, low of 37 and probably some rain. Not much on this end of Marion so limited my steps to Ingles grocery store and a McDonalds for lunch. I headed back to Mi Puerto for a carne asada dinner. I caught up with family, downloaded a new book,…
Daily Miles: 4.0, Total Miles: 534.2 Gusty, biting wind all night long. No incentive to put on my damp hiking clothes, I kept my sleepwear on and headed down to Mt Rogers HQ. The town of Marion VA has a transit bus system that does pickups from here a few times per day. I only had to wait ten minutes and joined several other hikers for the short ride into downtown Marion. I had seen on the FarOut app some…
Daily Miles: 18.4, Total Miles: 530.2 Rain started in earnest early in the morning. I packed up and left about 8:30am during a break in the action but it wasn’t over yet. Still raining steadily as I climbed up and around Hurricane Mountain, Iron Mountain and some nice looking trout streams. It finally stopped raining as I left Racoon Branch Wilderness and headed for the South Fork Holston River. On the way, I saw my first cow on the AT…
Daily Miles: 21.4, Total Miles: 511.8 I slept pretty good considering some rain and how lumpy it was on the hillside. At least up to the point I heard a nearby animal making a loud blowing noise. After banging my tent and shouting, this animal was still moving around, blowing air through it’s nose(?), until finally moving away. My first thought was a bear, but more likely a startled deer. I packed up and continued a climb in a heavy…
Daily Miles: 19.7, Total Miles: 490.4 I opted to forego another big breakfast in order to get some miles in before expected rain in the afternoon. Once I got up and out of Damascus, I dropped down to the Virginia Creeper Trail along Whitetop Laurel Creek. I followed it for several miles on a gentle uphill gradient, sharing the trail with a few cyclists coming downhill. A very pleasant hike on the old Carolina-Virginia railroad bed which also goes through…
Daily Miles: 0, Total Miles: 470.7 First order of business was a big breakfast at the Damascus Diner. It came with the room as the Dragonfly Inn is owned by the same couple. I got the Mt Rogers Special – 3 eggs, 5 thick slices of bacon, hashbrown casserole, biscuits and gravy, and grits. Stretch offered me a pancake but I had to turn it down. I strolled down to an outfitter shop and bought a new Opsack to replace…
Daily Miles: 19.9, Total Miles: 470.7 My original plan was to hike until just before Damascus VA and go into town tomorrow for a Nero. But a rare day of more descent than ascent, I found myself crossing into Virginia and in Damascus by mid-afternoon. Hadn’t even finished a liter of water. I had already made a reservation at the Dragonfly Inn for tomorrow night. The same room was fortunately available tonight and I took it. The AT is one…
Daily Miles: 22.3, Total Miles: 450.8 Early start from the Boots Off Hostel on a near freezing morning. I didn’t want to leave the warm and toasty little cabin but wanted to get some miles in today. The morning was spent getting around the end of very large Watauga Lake finally walking across the large earthen dam. Now the climbing started, eventually reaching the top of the ridge high above the lake. I ran into Stretch who I had met…
