We had a 7:30am shuttle scheduled for Friday morning. This left just enough time for us to get to our favorite little coffee shop beforehand. As we were getting packed up, our driver texted to ask if we really wanted the 7:30am shuttle since it was pouring rain outside. Absolutely!
We said goodbye to The Merry Inn, hopefully for the last time of this trip, and headed across the street in the rain to Better Coffee Co. A warm maple bacon donut and a hot white chocolate mocha sure hit the spot for me.
Carrie, today's shuttle driver, was right on time and we hopped into her car and headed to the trail. She informed us that another hiker was looking for a ride to town because he had norovirus and needed some downtime. The whole shuttling community was trying to figure out how to get him to a hotel without actually coming into contact with him. One thing nobody wants, on or off trail, is norovirus. This was also the reason we had been avoiding all of the shelters and pretty much all other hikers. We had heard several reports of a big upswing in cases in Virginia, and we wanted no part of that!
Carrie was very sweet and had just been the Flower Grandma in her granddaughter's wedding the day before. I think she thought we were a little nutty to be heading onto the trail in this weather, but we had miles to get to! We decided that no matter what, rain or shine, we weren't getting off trail until we made it back to our car.
The trail was dark and dreary, and very quiet. Of course, we had a steep uphill to start the day. At least the climb would warm us up!
We love hiking among the rhododendrons, and I'm sure someday we will get to see them in bloom!
The rain continued to fall, but we embraced it and didn't let the weather slow us down. Besides, there was beauty all around us!
And then, we saw a sign. A true GIFT appeared...
Trail magic? Was it true? We hurried up to the little old schoolhouse to check it out!
There, inside, there really was magic! Three bins of treats! Salty treats, sweet treats, even flavored water and toilet paper!
What a great use of this little one room schoolhouse, as well as a welcomed shelter from the rain. We were very thankful for this surprise!
The trail once again led us up into the forest. I swear, those AT signs and white blazes get me every time!
The next few miles were a combination of wide-open spaces and tall, tall trees. A common thread was how green everything was! Just check out that color!
Around Mile 11, we crossed a set of railroad tracks and came to Atkins, Virginia.
Most towns we have been to on the AT required at least a short shuttle, but this town was a part of the trail! Hotels, restaurants, resupply stores-Atkins had it all. We actually needed none of those things and kept on truckin'. I was anxious to get away from the noise -it was so loud!
The light rain that had been with us most of the day had come to a stop, and I was happy to be able to dry out a little. It was a chilly day, though, and our raincoats were keeping us warm!
We crossed another bridge and entered more Davis land. We had been seeing a variety of Davis Family signs the last two days, and it seemed they owned many, many acres here surrounding the AT. We were very thankful they allow the trail to pass through so much of their beautiful land!
Around this time, we realized we were running very low on water, and there were limited options ahead of us. FarOut indicated we'd be approaching Davis Hollow, which would be our only option for water in the next six miles or so. Thankfully there were blue blazes marking the path because it wasn't right on our trail. Davis Hollow is listed as a "pooling spring" and we could see it flowing slowly away, but still, we really prefer rapidly flowing streams. Plus, the color was a little...strange... We needed water, though, and it would have to do.
We had a couple big climbs over the next few miles, and we were starting to feel the day. It was too early to stop, though, so on we went. A little bright spot was passing the 1/4 sign, which marks the first quarter of the trail complete for thru hikers heading north.
By this time, our outer layers were completely dry, so of course the sky decided to open up again. At first it was a light rain, but soon it was full-on raining. With the rain came the fog, making the forest a little spooky.
In the middle of the rain, we both hit a bit of a mental low spot and decided to make a stop. We threw down our packs and ate some food. Food always makes things better, right?
A thru hiker passed by us in that moment and said, "Embrace the suck!" I fake-chuckled a little, but we got our things together and continued on.
There was so much farmland around, and we were going through a lot of gates designed to keep the livestock on the right side of them. Every time we came to an open field, we hoped we wouldn't meet up with a territorial cow.
And while some gates swung open and closed, some were designed like ladders that you had to climb up and over, unless you've got really long legs like me. Right, Misty? Hahahaha!
After our last gate, we were along a river. I always love it when the trail follows a river, as it is usually filled with moss and roots and lots of little flowers.
By this time, it was getting very late in the day, and we had hiked an enormous number of miles. Our last campsite option was five miles behind us, and we had a least one more mile to go before the next option. I started yawning and literally couldn't stop. I was tired.
Finally, we crossed a road and came to a large, covered pavilion with lots of flat camping ground alongside it. It was just before 8pm, and the light of day was rapidly leaving us. We made quick work of getting our tents pitched and gear unpacked. All we wanted to do was eat dinner and crawl into our sleeping bags. I was actually so tired that I cooked my food and crawled into my sleeping bag to eat it! I could barely stay upright long enough to finish my meal.
I'm telling you, when I was finally able to lay flat out in my tent, snuggled into my sleeping bag, it was the best feeling in the world. We had hiked more than 24 miles, which beat our old record by six miles! We had had a great, long day on trail, and we fell asleep to the faint sound of a stream trickling by in the distance.
Miles hiked:24.54
Elevation gain: 5,577 feet
Calories burned: 5,722
Nothing like a little bit of wet hiking with some treats.
ReplyDeleteLong day, great sleep I’m sure.👍
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