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After crossing the state line, it was an easy hike into Damascus. The descent into town shouldn't have been that bad, but I did have seem leg pain which made it harder. I had a zero day scheduled for tomorrow, so there wasn't any need to see the sights tonight. My hostel was on the far side of town, so I did complete the section of the trail that went through the middle today. There was apparently fewer restaurants open in town then there used to be, and the place I went to was beyond packed for the weekend. I sat at the bar and the Kentucky Derby was being shown on TV. I had never seen it before and I had a lot of fun joking about the over the top spectacle for such a short event with some other hikers. Just another new AT experience! I got the Cinnabon flavored ice cream from the stand outside the restaurant, and it ranked as one of the top three I had on trail.
I had a really relaxing zero day in Damascus. There was a chance of scattered rain in the afternoon, so I got the mandatory resupply tasks out of the way first thing in the morning. The grocery store was a decent walk from town, but the walk was a nice one along the Virginia Creeper Trail. I really should have through to bring my empty backpack with me to the store, because carrying the weight of the food with my hands in grocery bags turned out to be much harder than carrying the food as I do every day on my back! It didn't help that I decided to replace my Smartwater bottles as well, which meant that the bags also had three liters of water in them. I took a break halfway back to the hostel at the town park while eating some of the obligatory fresh fruit that's only available in town. When I got started back up again I was immediately offered a much appreciated ride the rest of the way.
The rain didn't start until mid afternoon, so I had plenty of time to walk around and explore. I stopped by the ATC center and couldn't believe they didn't have postcards among their merchandise! Found some good ones elsewhere in town. I stopped by a park up near Laurel Creek which was really nice, but I suspect might often be overlooked. The park had an extremely impressive wood carving to honor the Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club for their maintenance work. There was also a used catheter on the floor of the nearby public restroom, so that was... interesting. I just made it back to the main park in town when the rain started to come down, so I scurried back to the hostel as quick as possible. It was also nice to just lounge around and rest for the remainder of the day. There was a partial bag of bulgur wheat in the hiker box. I had been really missing my weird grains, so I was eager to make some of that instead of going out to dinner again.
At this point in the thru-hike my stamina was excellent. Climbing mountains and hiking all day were nowhere near as challenging as when I started. I was starting to have other overuse pains crop up though. I had also been starting to hear a lot more rumors of other hikers getting injured and having to leave trail at least temporarily. I didn't have too much trouble on the first hill of the day (a hill that quite a few hikers admitted they were going to skip by staying on the Creeper Trail). When the trail reached a flat section, I started to have some pain develop in my left ankle. When I reached the next steep, switch-backed climb the ankle pain got much worse. About halfway up, it was so bad that while sitting on a rock to take a break and get some food in me, I was not sure how I was going to get off this mountain, let alone continue the rest of the way to Maine along the trail. I recalled hearing at some point how the specific type of wear and tear I've experienced on my shoes may be the result of walking with my toes splayed outwards. I gave it a shot trying to intentionally keep my toes pointing directly forward and I absolutely could not believe that it immediately relieved the ankle pain. It took a lot of concentration to maintain though, and a single moment of neglecting that posture would cause yet another twinge of pain to shoot through my ankle.
I stopped for the night at Lost Mountain Shelter and I could not have been more thrilled to be out of Tennessee and into Virginia. The shelter had a privy! And a bear box! And nice tent spaces! And a convenient water source! After hiking all day every day, each little comfort at camp made so much difference.
There was a little bit of drizzle in the morning, but it was noticeable how the warmer weather lessened the impact of the rain. There was a good deal of fog around Buzzard Rock, as well as a hiker on the phone, so I didn't stick around. The fog continued as I passed by Whitetop Mountain and finally lifted when by the time I reached the valley.
I had previously hiked Mount Rogers on a trip to visit state high points. I hiked in from the north that time, and only a small portion of that hike was on the Appalachian Trail as it curved around the mountain to reach the half mile summit trail. Nevertheless, this was only the second section of the trail that I had already hiked before. I enjoyed the familiar viewpoint where you briefly leave the tree cover and then ate my lunch at the junction with the summit trail. Since the summit was relatively far away and I knew there wasn't much of a view, I decided to skip it this time. The next shelter is a very short distance up the trail (staying there would make a trip to the summit super convenient after setting up camp). The privy was back going southbound along the trail, and the sign was angled so it wasn't that noticeable when headed north, so it took me a good fifteen minutes to finally find it.
It was wild how quickly the scenery changed after heading on from the shelter. The trail was out in the open on difficult rocky terrain. The same ankle trick had been working so far today to keep me pain free, but it couldn't fully help me deal with this level of rockiness. Unfortunately, that made it a chore to get through what would normally be a particularly enjoyable section. The scenery was still stunning though, especially passing by some rock cliffs. I almost walked right past where the trail goes through a small tunnel called Fatman Squeeze and had to backtrack a bit to pass through this unique feature. I had always thought that Mount Rogers was actually in Grayson Highlands State Park, so I was a bit surprised to see the sign letting me know I was just now entering the park proper. I saw some ponies, but only in the distance. When I ended the day at Wise Shelter, right at the far end of the trail's path through Grayson Highlands, I figured that was all the ponies I was going to get the chance to see, but I was reassured by some hikers heading south that there would be plenty more ponies tomorrow.
There were indeed more wild ponies today. First thing in the morning, I came across some ponies basically standing in the middle of the trail. They were very calm and paid me little attention as I passed by. Not that far along I was surprised to see cows as well. They were not as calm, and the ran off every time the trail took me in their general direction. Passing through The Scales seemed to mark the end of this section of trail, and we were back into tree cover.
The miles seemed to drag on a bit. I almost stopped for the day at Hurricane Mountain Shelter, partly because I was having some trouble trying to line up the distances to make it to the alpaca farm I wanted to stay at, and partly because there was a chance for some rain in the forecast. It was still pretty early in the day though, so I took the chance to head to Trimpi Shelter instead. FarOut had some warnings about potential high water problems at Comers Creek Falls. It was a really nice location, and didn't turn out to pose any difficulty whatsoever. I ended up needing to dig a cat hole along the way to the shelter, and I must have dug right into an ant hill as I quickly found them covering the ground and my shoes! I found a different spot instead. The shelter had a large number of section hikers, including some who were previous thru-hikers heading south to reach Damascus for trail days. I was given a free packet of brisket meat (something I hadn't run into yet in stores) which went well with my macaroni and cheese!
Some of the southbound hikers at the shelter last night had told us that the trail was rocky until Partnership Shelter but then smooth from then on out. I was feeling pretty pleased, therefore, to have a really easy time to Partnership, only to be dismayed to find that they had recalled it completely backwards, the trail was rocky after Partnership. I stopped by Mount Rogers National Recreation Area headquarters before continuing on, expecting to at least be able to pick up some postcards, but it was a pretty small operation.
The trail transitioned between a number of ridge lines, staying on top of two of them for a bit but just going up and over the one in the middle. I had every intention of staying at Chatfield Shelter for the night since it would already be a really short day tomorrow to the alpaca farm as it was. I stayed there for a bit (and got to see a Red Crossbill that some other hikers had lured to the shelter with food, which is apparently a rare bird for that time and location), but it quickly became clear that it would be a miserable place to spend the night. The mosquitoes were swarming, and despite being the only person there so far, I couldn't find a decent place to set up a tent in order to avoid them at night. (By this point it had become clear that heat and bugs had replaced cold as the typical day to day challenging conditions).
I knew some other hikers had headed a couple miles up the trail to the Settlers Museum of Southwest Virginia, which lets hikers stay in the historic schoolhouse. It was an easy section of trail that went by quickly. The museum was a phenomenal place to stay. I explored the farmstead first and was a little annoyed Merlin didn't give credit for hearing chickens! The pavilion had electricity and there was indoor plumbing. I slept inside the schoolhouse on two benches pushed together.
It was an extremely short and uninteresting section of trail to make it to the alpaca farm. The field at the beginning was covered in dew, so I started the day with soaked shoes despite the great weather. I could only hear the sounds of a passing train for most of the hike. I quickly made it to Lee Highway, where the trail turns to go under the interstate, but where I continued straight to make it to the farm. It was only around nine in the morning when I arrived, so I had some time before the hostel section was ready. I hadn't slept well for the past three nights in a row, and I didn't realize just how exhausted I was until I sat down to rest. I hadn't had cell signal the last couple of night at the shelters either, so this was also a great opportunity to get caught up on some things.
There were two gas stations back along the road, and this was probably the worst resupply to try to cobble together. One of them had slightly better options for snacks, but neither had amazing options for breakfast or lunch, and they both had barely any dinner food whatsoever. I left without enough to make it to the next full resupply, so I was going to have to rely on some of the other partial resupply locations along the way.
I had a great time at the alpaca farm, and was really glad I took the short day to do it. We got to feed and pet some of them in the evening. The alpacas had just been shaved, and the yarn sold in the shop was labeled with the name of the Alpaca it came from! I packed out a hank of brown and gray yarn from Cleo & Phoenix to send back with my winter gear in Pearisburg. The hostel section was also really nice where each bunk was basically a little pod with its own light, electric outlet and curtain. Thankfully I had a great night of sleep.
I got back on the trail just as it crossed under the interstate. There was just over a mile of trail that still felt pretty urban, but it was quickly back into the woods after that. I soon come upon a major milestone, the one quarter finished mark! It was a surreal sight and it somehow felt like the experience was both going too quickly and taking too long all at the same time.
I was pretty indecisive about my plans for the whole day. I stopped by Bear Garden Hiker Hostel to get a little bit of supplemental resupply, but arrived there later than I had been hoping. It took even more time to pick out some items and chat about the section ahead. I was considering stopping at Knot Maul Branch Shelter, but it just seemed too early. The really cool and unique Chestnut Knob Shelter was the next one further along the trail, but that was almost certainly too far. If I carried on it was very likely I was going to have to camp at a primitive site.
The bridge over Lick Creek was washed out, and it was therefore the first guaranteed wet foot crossing. The water level was only ankle deep, so it was not an actual challenge, but despite taking off my socks and insoles first, it did mean ending up with completely soaked shoes. It must have been a good place to congregate as I ran into a bunch of hikers that I hadn't seen in awhile on the other side. One of them was headed to Chestnut Knob Shelter, so I made that at least my aspirational goal. It was a massive climb up to the shelter, and when I got to the only campsite marked on the map with the bulk of the climb still ahead I thought better of it and stayed there for the night. I had realized that continuing up would have made it my longest day so far at 24 miles, and this just wasn't the circumstances to take that on!
The rest of the climb to Chestnut Knob Shelter went quick in the morning. The shelter itself was an old fire warden's cabin complete with four walls, bunk beds and a door. It was a great place to have a quick rest while taking in the view, and a number of hikers who had stayed the night there hadn't even left yet when I arrived.
The trail descended into Walker Gap, but after that it climbed up to a ridge line with an unusually long section with no water sources. It was a really hot and humid day with rocky terrain and more tiny ups and downs than would be expected from the elevation profile. I always tried to carry enough water for the entire day, so I didn't personally even notice the water situation, but most hikers carried very little water on the AT. Some hikers seemed to be getting into a bit of trouble in this section. One older hiker in particular had seemed to run out of water completely early on along the ridge, but absolutely refused all offers to take any of mine.
I stopped early for the day at Jenkins Shelter. It had been a much harder day then I was expecting and, as ended up being quite common, I couldn't figure out a schedule that would get me to my next town any earlier by continuing on, so it didn't seem like there was any reason to push myself.
Today was a race against the rain. Luckily the terrain was really easy for the start of the day. We had some wide smooth trails just off from the crest of the ridge line, which I feel let the trail designers better maintain a consistent elevation. I made it to Brushy Mountain Outpost at lunch time literally right before the light rain started. This was my final chance to supplement my supplies, and I found a couple of items to make sure I had enough food to make it to town. I miscalculated slightly and got too many dinners and not enough snacks, but that wasn't a critical problem. I also had lunch here. They sold a burger that included an inch thick slab of bologna, and it was an absurd amount of food. After I ate it was the only time I felt truly full the entire trail.
I found a window in the rain to make it the short distance to the next shelter. The brief road walk to cross over Interstate 77 felt particularly desolate for some reason I can't exactly put my finger on. The amount of food I had just eaten actually made it really difficult to walk up the hills once I got back into the forest. Despite being so early in the day, the shelter was quite full, and I was happy to stay there as the rain continued to come and go. I was so full that I didn't end up needing to eat a full dinner, instead just eating a small amount of lunch food, which further exacerbating the imbalance in my food supplies.
My plan for the next couple of days was to do two 17 mile days and then an easy 10 mile day into Pearisburg. However, it was raining when I got up and it continued raining for the entire 10 miles to Jenny Knob Shelter. The rain didn't look like it was going to let up at all on the forecast, and I had already achieved my 10 mile per rainy day quota, so I decided to stay put. It didn't affect my plan too much. If I could just do a 24 mile day tomorrow I would be back on schedule, but even if I couldn't it would only average out to two 17 mile days (basically I would just be shifting around the original plan a bit).
I was very glad to have stayed put as the day progressed. There were plenty of breaks in the rain to take care of camp chores like getting water, but there were several waves were the rain got extremely heavy. The hikers who stopped by the shelter for a bit a reprieve looked absolutely soaked. Surprisingly, the shelter stayed relatively empty for the night. It got dark much earlier than usual due to the storm and it caused me to lose track of time and I was in bed quite a bit earlier than normal.
I recruited a hiker to join me for the day, and we were intent on hitting 24 miles to reach the shelter with the massive porch and to therefore have an easy day into town. The weather was absolutely perfect and we set out to grind through the miles at a brisk pace. The trail conditions were not perfect though. Everything was still soaked from yesterday's rain. There was a lot of standing water on the trails, and there were some places where it was basically like walking through a stream.
The terrain was pretty forgiving. There was a really interesting long suspension bridge across Kimberling Creek which was just a tiny bit disconcerting to walk across as it moved under you. We made really good time to Wapiti Shelter which made for a nice place to take a break for lunch and try to dry the socks out at least a little bit.
About 20 miles in I was started to get really worn out, but then I ran into one of my first friends on the trail at the intersection with the road to Woods Hole Hostel. I hadn't seen them since I got sick in Hot Springs. I think this also ended up being the last time I ever saw them. Trail Days in Damascus was coming up, and was a big topic of conversation among all the hikers. It sounded like it would be a pretty fun experience overall, but I was not in the right head space for that much stimulus during my thru hike. I had lost three days from being sick, and trail days is three days, so I figured by skipping it I would fall back into schedule with a lot of the people I was hiking with earlier on. It turned out that I pretty much caught up with most of them right around here, so I ended up three days ahead instead when it was all said and done! Stopping to chat was enough of a rest that I was energized to make it the rest of the way to the fancy Doc's Knob Shelter.
The overnight forecast was clear, and one of the hikers had hung all their wet clothes on the railings of the porch to dry. The forecast is never to be trusted! I was surprised to be woken up in the middle of the night by a heavy rain, and suffice to say that hiker did not have dry clothes in the morning.
It was really nice to have a short leisurely day into town with absolutely no time pressure. I meandered along and I think I spent more time at Angel's Rest Rock than I did at any of the other overlooks. It looked over a far more urban area than is typical. I would not say that it as beautiful as other views, but it was a riveting change of pace watching the activity in the city below. The trains looked so tiny and slow as they winded their way along the river, almost like the whole scene was a model train set.
There were two road crossings with access to Pearisburg. The access from the further one was a bit better, so I went for it and I got lucky as another hiker's shuttle to the hostel had just arrived as I got there. The hostel was absolutely frantic with activity as hikers from up and down the trail were all gathered here to arrange rides back to Trail Days.
There wasn't much to see in town, but I was really busy at the hostel anyway. I received a package from back home with a summer sleeping bag and some other gear. Basically every nook and cranny of my bag got unpacked as I decided what was going to be mailed back and what I was going to keep with me. I had everything spread out across my bunk as I worked. When I stepped out briefly in the evening, the room had a rambunctious party atmosphere due to all the excitement, but not more than 10 minutes later I returned to find the lights out, everyone quietly in bed, and my bunk still overflowing with my gear! I would have to finish packing up the rest in the morning.
I didn't make it out of the hostel until after lunch. The first order of business was to finish packing up all the gear I had hastily shoved under the bed last night to clear it off so I could get to sleep. I was at the post office just as it opened to get my winter gear shipped back home. They were very helpful in getting my box ready to go, and were willing to plaster it with stamps for the benefit of my stamp collecting mom. I made a tub of soft pretzel balls for lunch, and while that was cooking I tried to plot out an itinerary to Roanoke. The mileages were just such that I could either do days that were too easy or days that were possibly too hard to make it there one day earlier.
The trail went through a really industrial area as it crossed New River, before following along the train tracks I had seen yesterday for a short stretch. There were two climbs to get on top of the ridge. As always, the full pack of food made the climbs a lot harder. It would be a long time before reaching West Virginia proper, but along the top of the ridge the trail followed along the Virginia and West Virginia border, so reaching the top was technically entering a new state! I stopped for the day at the very start of the ridge at Rice Field Shelter. The shelter itself was a little offset from the trail, but this area had amazing views over towards Peterstown. There were a couple groups of section hikers at the shelter that were fun to talk to as they were having a different set of experiences with their hikes compared to us thru-hikers.
