#14 Pearisburg to Daleville

5/25: We started off the day with some logistics issues. Since we slackpacked southbound the day before, we needed a ride back to the trail from where we started. We called the guy from yesterday, but he said he couldn’t do it. Then we called the person he recommended, and they couldn’t do it either. Then we called a nearby hostel and they said they could give us a ride. Except they had some miscommunication and ended up picking us up an hour and a half late. So we finally made it to the trail a little before 11, and man, it was hot! We walked up steep inclines to start off the day and it was brutal. Folks, we made it 3.6 miles to the first shelter. And then it started to rain, and we decided to do a short day. After a bit, the rain cleared up so we played euchre at the picnic table. Otter and Sunshine kept winning, and that was almost worse than the hiking. Anyway, we had a lot of fun just hanging out at camp and goofing around. We made cheesy rice for dinner and went to bed early so that we could wake up early and hike before it gets too hot.

5/26: We woke up early as planned and got out of camp before 7. It was tough hiking because the trail was covered in boulders. We moved slowly over the rocks, and when the trail flattened out, we walked a little quicker. Unfortunately though, when the rocks disappeared, the inch worms came out. We spent a good hour and a half swatting at inch worms as we hiked. Finally we got to a shelter where we filled up on water and ate some snacks. Then we started going on a gradual uphill until we hit a stream and took a lunch break. While we were sitting, we saw a half dozen or more salamanders in the shallow stream that crossed the trail. They were really fun to watch, but eventually we had to start hiking again. The trail decided to go straight up for over a mile. It was a bummer with the heat, but we made it to the top after a few breaks. There was a wonderful flat section and then the trail went straight down again. It was rocky and our feet hurt, but we made it to the shelter. We each made 2 packets of ramen and mixed in olive oil and a pesto sauce packet. It was good for a little, but it was sooooo salty. Next time we won’t add a full packet. Then we went to bed early because we were tired after a long day.

5/26: We were still tired when we woke up, but we knew we had to get moving before the heat set in. After hiking for a bit though, we were fine. We hiked through cow pastures and we saw a box turtle hanging out right by the trail!

We said hi to Phillip (the turtle) and kept moving despite Hawk’s very rational suggestion to take him with us. We hiked in and out of pastures and woods. There were a lot of day and weekend hikers because it was Memorial Day and they all smelled exponentially better than us. Then the trail decided to go straight up again and we hiked up a massive hill. A lot of it was stone steps that seemed to go on forever, but it flattened out at the top and we stopped to eat a protein bar. It was only nice for a little bit, and then there were large exposed sections of diagonal tilting rock slabs. I would’ve taken a picture, but we were already inching along at a snail’s pace and it was easy to slip on the rocks. We made it through though! And we saw a wild turkey fly up into the trees, so that was cool. We stopped for lunch and then hiked to the shelter for a 12.4 mile day in total. Since it was an early day, we played euchre until dinner time, which was dehydrated mashed potatoes in dehydrated potato soup- which sounds worse than it was. Then we went to bed, full of potatoes and ready for the next day!

5/27: Even though we had a short day, we still got up early to beat the heat. We hiked 2.5 miles pretty quick and then we had a 1,700 foot climb, which was a bummer as it warmed up. We finally got to the top though, and we sat on a bench by the trail and ate Sour Patch Kids. The trail was pretty good for the rest of the day. We saw some beautiful views of the mountains as we hiked along some of the ridges in between the trees.

There was a steep and rocky downhill, but by this point in our journey, we’ve tackled a lot worse. We stopped by a parking lot for some more snacks and then hiked the last mile to the shelter. By that point, even with the breeze, it was super hot and humid out. It was only a 10 mile day, but the heat sapped the energy right out of us. When we got water, a butterfly landed on Hawk’s shoulder because of her brightly colored shirt. It stayed there for a while, even when she started walking, but it left before she got to her phone to take a picture. We set up our stuff in the shelter and then took a nap. When we woke up, we realized we had a sleeping bat in our shelter and at one point, he stretched and yawned and it was really cute. We played 2 rounds of euchre with Otter and Sunshine, ate Teriyaki rice for dinner, and then went to sleep.

5/28: We started hiking early and we were going quick until we hit a mountain called Dragon’s Tooth. Any mountain with the name “Dragon” in it isn’t going to be an easy climb. We hiked up some steep and rocky sections and at the top there were really cool views! Coming down from the mountain was a lot harder. We had to sit and scoot down steep rockfaces.

Sometimes there were steel ladder rungs bolted into the rock so that we could climb down. It was a tedious process, and it took us 45 minutes to go a 7th of a mile. We finally reached flat ground, or at least flat enough, and hiked to a gas station in Catawba that was a little off trail. We resupplied for the next few days, drank some Gatorade, and packed out a pizza for dinner. Then we got back on trail to keep hiking. Unfortunately it was a high of 88 and humid so we were HOT! We walked through a pasture and we saw a raccoon hiking the trail behind us when we took a break. I bet he was going to Maine too! Then it looked like a storm was going to roll in so we stopped at the first shelter when it started thundering. We didn’t need a lot of water because we didn’t need to cook, so it was ok that the shelter didn’t have water. We collected some in our dirty bag from the rain, so we had enough to get us to the next water source in the morning. After a busy day, it was nice to relax and go to bed early, ready for another exciting (and hot) day.

5/30: We only had a few miles to McAfee Knob in the morning, and we thought it was going to be a steep climb, but it was a lovely gradual trail. At the top were breathtaking views of the mountains and valley below. We took a ton of pictures because this is the iconic place to take pictures for AT thru hikers.

It felt amazing to have accomplished so much and we reflected on how the hike had changed since Georgia. The next mountain was very steep on the way up, and it was getting hotter as the day went on. Luckily there was a breeze and we finally made it to the top. Up there, we walked across the edge of rocky cliffs and it was a beautiful section. The trail went back down and we made it to the shelter early. There wasn’t any water between the shelter and Daleville, so we took a short day so we could get into town in the morning. Otter and Sunshine took a nap while we made a fire and played cards. Then we ate ramen bombs for dinner and lost a close round of euchre before heading off to sleep with a slight breeze coming into the shelter.

Now we’re in Daleville! It was an exciting past couple of days and we’re excited for the next leg of our adventure.

Happy trails :)