#16 Lexington to Waynesboro

6/8: We took a zero day in Lexington after our Nero, and it felt wonderful to lay around and do nothing all day. But alas, we had to get back on the trail, even if it was raining. We ate breakfast at a Waffle House that was in the same parking lot as the hotel and got a shuttle back to the trailhead. When we got there around 9, it was drizzling and cold, so we put our rain gear on to keep us warm. That maybe lasted 15 minutes and we had to take it off again because we warmed up so much as we trekked uphill. We got to the top of the mountain and crossed over some balds. Usually balds have gorgeous panoramic views of the mountains, but it was so foggy that we could barely make out anything else than white.

This was one of the good ones!

It was also windy, enough so that we had to take our hats off or else they would blow away. We checked our map and saw that we were going slower than 2 mph because of the uphills and the cold wind. At some point we caved and put our rain jackets back on because the wind was just making it super cold. For the record, it was in the 80s today in Michigan, and in Virginia it was *checks notes* in the 60s. I’m sorry for complaining about the heat at any point in this journey. Anyway, we picked up speed as we kept hiking, and took a quick protein bar break 10 miles in. We hiked 3.9 miles more to the shelter where we put on more layers and filtered water. For dinner, Survivor ate Mac and cheese that was still a little soupy, and Hawk ate a rice side with hot buffalo tuna. We’re trying a new dessert out! We made Nutella roll ups with mini tortillas for something calorie dense to keep us warm while we sleep. Then we tied our bear bags, and snuggled up in our sleeping quilts for the night.

6/9: It was a foggy morning. Since the air was so humid during the night, none of our stuff even kind of dried out. That was ok though, because it was another wet day and things were going to get wet anyway. It was so foggy though, that we passed by multiple viewpoints and could only see white mist. It was also raining as we hiked, so all in all it made for an eerie and bummer of a morning. On the upside, there weren’t any bugs! We stopped at a shelter halfway through our hike, which was around 10:30 because we just weren’t stopping for breaks. We ate a few snacks and watched the rain from under the roof, dreading when we would have to start hiking again. We did pack up our stuff and head out eventually, and the rain stopped in the afternoon, so that was nice! We had a big downhill that we cruised down to a parking lot where we ate some more snacks. From there, we only had 2.8 miles left in the day, but most of it was uphill. We climbed slowly, and while we were walking, we saw another bright orange salamander! We finally got to the shelter and hung out a bit before eating dinner and doing the rest of our chores. By the time we went to bed though, it was raining quite a bit, so we were happy to get everything done before then.

6/10: It rained all night long. When we left camp, the stream that ran by the shelter was a full on river that we had to cross to get back on the trail, so in spite of our best efforts to hop from rock to rock, our feet still got soaked.

Before the rain

After the rain

We expected rain all day, but it was just misty out. There was still a 4 mile climb up Three Peaks (which is a mountain? Maybe three mountains?) that we had to scramble up and boy were we unprepared. It was steep and rocky. At some points, we couldn’t even see the ground because it was all boulders. It was like climbing a wet rock wall with a 20 lb pack with intermittent breaks of steep dirt trails. We recommend taking a Zumba class instead if you’re looking for a way to get in shape. Anyway, we finally got to the top and we saw nothing because we were in a cloud. Fun! Just kidding, it wasn’t. The way down though was nice and gradual though, and as we passed some hikers going southbound, they said that Devil’s Backbone (a brewery a few miles off trail) was shuttling thru hikers for festivities. We then walked extra fast to get to the gap, which was about 8 miles total. We got picked up and headed to the brewery where we grabbed a tasty lunch and some beer. Moosejaw, which is a Michigan based outfitter, was there on the lawn hosting games and giveaways. Survivor won a small cornhole tournament and won 3 pairs of socks, 2 granola backpacker meals, and a double hammock! The people there were super cool and nice, and a lot of them were from MI. They gave us sooooo much free food because they’re all about trail magic and they had a frisbee, so we played catch with some other hikers. We got a shuttle to a hostel called Stanimal’s which is owned by a previous thru hiker. When we got there, we did laundry, showered, and ate some Subway for dinner in Waynesboro and got milkshakes before we went to bed, happy and full of ice cream.

6/11: Our alarm for the morning didn’t go off (we usually only need alarms in town, because on the trail we wake up with the sun) but we got our poop in a group and were ready to go by the time our shuttle came to drop us off on trail. We were doing a slackpack, so we carried small backpacks with water and some Subway sandwiches for lunch. It was a beautiful day out for a hike- nice and sunny but not too hot. The trail was rocky at the start of the day and we didn’t go very fast. When the trail evened out, we picked up some speed and stopped about 11 miles in for a Subway break. After lunch, we listened to music and podcasts. There was one point where the trail just had a river flowing across it from all of the rainwater the past few days. Anyway, we made it back to the trailhead and there we met two guys from Ohio who were doing sections of the AT in Virginia. They had a cooler of cold drinks, which felt marvelous after a long 19.6 mile day. We got a shuttle back to the hostel and went to a Chinese buffet that people have been talking about for a while, and it was soooo good! They had a hibachi grill and everything four hikers could possibly want. It was a great end to a big hiking day!

Right now we’re in Waynesboro and excited to start the Shenandoahs! We hear there’s lots of bears, so we’ll stay on the lookout, and apparently it’s great hiking too! On to the mountains :)

Happy trails!