7.7 miles / 16.3
Campsite just north of the WV/VA border
Last night’s snore concert lasted all-night. Very little sleep. Woke again with a headache. But once folks were awake, everyone was very “up“ and excited for the day. Lot’s of conversations; it was hard to say goodbye.
Just as I was finishing my packing, the last person camping with us started on his way. His name is “Just Tom” (meaning he doesn’t have a trail name), and he thru-hiked last year. He’s going south, as well, and his goal is to take it easy. So we made plans to meet up at the end of the day.
Today’s walk was much like yesterday’s; traveling along the ridge with occasional views. Since this was my first full day carrying my pack, I knew I’d be somewhat slower than yesterday’s slack pack. I think I make an average a little slower than 2 miles an hour.
The woods were magical again, although it was a bit warmer today. I forgot to mention yesterday that I saw a number of Mourning Cloak butterflies, as I did again today. I think they were mating, dancing in pairs. It occurred to me that they were experiencing Joy. Delightful!!
This section of the Trail is fairly dry; water sources are few and far between. So I’ve had to carry more water than I’d like (for weight reasons).
A little more than 1 mile from camp is the northern entrance to the “Roller Coaster”; an infamous section of trail with grueling ups-and-downs. Today’s section was mostly rolling down then a short ascent to camp. Camp has no water, I needed to grab water at the bottom of the ascent, which made the climb pretty tough. And now I’ve consumed most, so I’ll need to refill .4 miles into tomorrow’s journey.
“Just Tom” came into camp about 20 minutes after I did, but he decided to camp some ways away. He has concluded that he’s not up for more scrambling in the Roller Coaster, so is going off trail tomorrow. We’re both ending our day at Bear’s Den Hostel around 4 miles into the day. I will spend the night there (and possibly do a zero the next day) and Tom left his truck there. We may go into town together and spend some time at a brewery. Sounds like a good plan!!
Another hiker came into camp a little while ago; a section hiker named “Heater”. He’s from upper NY state, and has done all of the different hiking lists in the area, as well as hiked Kilimanjaro and Mt Fiji. He has three boys, as well. Great taking to him, but tomorrow he’s going north.
Enough for now.
Tom Maynard 
Leave a comment