Virginia Views

I have often heard Virginia be talked about like it’s un-scenic, boring, and lacks views. Honestly, I completely disagree. Yes, there are times when all I see is the green on trees and plants and a brown trail. But every so often amazing views come by. Even without the views Virginia is scenic. There are insects, snakes, and you can always hear the birds singing. For these reasons, I find Virginia to be an amazing part of the Appalachian Trail.

The weather after the Captain’s definitely improved. I still got hail, and intermittent rain wasn’t uncommon. But there was never anything quite like the first day out of Pearisburg. Even the thunder storm on the last day wasn’t that bad. A sustained rain is the worst possible weather. I think I’d rather have snow. Yes, it is extremely cold. But you just put on a few more layers, and you’ll stay dry. It’s getting wet that’s dangerous. Also when it’s dry you can have your camera out to take amazing photos. I hate giving up on good photos just because my phone is buried deep down in my backpack.

The first day leaving the Captain’s, I didn’t quite make it back to my intended schedule out of Pearisburg. I got a very late start because I was trying to dry my tent. That morning it was sunny which it hadn’t been for a while before. This meant that I got to camp rather late. I prefer not doing this, it’s never fun throwing up bear bags in the dark.

The next morning I felt good. I had planned a 22.5 mile day, definitely on my bigger side. In fact it was only half a mile below my record at the time. Everything was going just fine, it looked like I would’ve made it. What happened was there was trail magic. And I’m so glad that I got magic. It wasn’t a church, or any other organization with some other agenda. Just a bunch of friends, some of them triple crowners, that just love giving back. It also happens to be Mother’s Day. I had no cell reception, and they offered to give a message to my mom. I don’t know what they said, but my mom said she liked the message. It was also definitely the best trail magic so far. They had coffee from Starbucks, a tank of hot water for washing my face, Dutch oven’s with delicious casseroles and nachos. It was overwhelming how much food they had. I happily lingered for several hours and settled on only doing one more mile that day rather than nine. I did not cook dinner later that night.

After that trail magic, I gave up on catching up to my original plan. Again, not an issue since I always pack a little extra food. I would just be out of tortillas, no biggie. That there was a lot of Ridge walking. Not too many long ups and downs, but still quite strenuous. I found myself scrambling over rocks and walking across slanted trails. This really wore in my shoes. More holes were starting to form near my toes and I was very glad to be getting a new pair in Daleville. That’s the night I stopped at Four Pines Hostel. It’s just the a three bay garage with a bunch of couches and cots in the middle. There’s no price but donations or gladly excepted. They had this game, I can’t remember the name,  but essentially you’re throwing beanbags into plywood boards with holes in them. I wasn’t very good at it but I definitely want to bring it back to Coho. Overall, it was a really nice place. The people were friendly and they had a relaxed atmosphere.

The morning I set off to McAfee knob. This is the most photographed section of the entire Appalachian Trail, or so they say. I can believe it, I definitely took a lot of photos. About 15 minutes before I pulled into the shelter that night, a large thunderstorm rolled in. When I started looking at the register, many people were talking about bear encounters there. Several people got their food bag stolen, and the bear definitely did not seem to be bothered by their presence. There was even a small bit of a torn up Term-a-rest. The bear and the thunderstorm were my reasons for pushing on that night. I didn’t want to deal with my stuff getting wet, and the bear really didn’t sound like fun. It was about a 9 mile push and made my day 26 miles. Luckily I left early enough such that I didn’t have to walk in the dark. I also walked that section with another hiker who wanted to push, so if the shit really hit the fan there would be someone else for help. The thunderstorm passed pretty quickly, so we weren’t really in any danger. Still, it was on exposed Ridgeline and I wouldn’t want to be there if another one rolled in.

I got to Daleville at about 8 PM, got my hotel room, and went to the closest restaurant, Pizza Hut. It wasn’t great, but calories are calories. Today I ended up zeroing, so I’ll be nice and rested after such a long day. Daleville is a nice town. I’d say it had the best grocery store on the AT. A large selection and many things they cooked in house. They also have a good beer selection, a huge plus.

My next major resupply is going to be in Waynesboro. I may not have a good connection before then, so it could be a while before you hear from me again. It’s roughly 140 miles from here, also right before Shenandoah National Park. I’ll be doing a resupply before then, but probably not staying in any towns.

Until then,

-Orion