Appalachian Trail - Porters Gap to VA Route 56 to Rockfish Gap

 I slept until 1:30am and then I only dozed briefly after that.  It was so quiet at that campsite-no sound of wind or animal or insect.  Dead. Silent.  I rolled from side to side, just waiting for daylight.  Around 6am, I heard distant footsteps.  Hiker? Deer? Bear?  They were far enough away that I wasn't concerned, but I was paying attention.  The footsteps continued but they didn't seem to be coming any closer.  Then, from the other direction, there were close, confident footsteps.  "MISTY!"  "Blow your horn!"  Misty always carries and air horn and we've had to use it a few times.  I was not interested in meeting whatever was out there.  Misty quickly said, "For real?!" And I said, "YES!"  She blew the horn loudly and then it was silent again.  We stayed very still, waiting for the sound of retreat, or advance, or anything it at all.  There was nothing.  WHEN would it be daylight?  I just wanted to get out of there.  

Very slowly, dawn came, and we made quick work of packing up and getting ready for the day.  Our plan was to either hike 13 miles or 20 miles.  We'd see how things went.  A quick picture and we were off!

The first thing we had to do was, you guessed it, climb a mountain.  At this point in the trip, we were preferring the uphills rather than the downhills.  The downhills hit different and made our packs feel even heavier.  So, we climbed up, up, up. It was a beautiful morning with clear, blue skies and those awesome fall colors surrounding us.

After a 1.5 mile climb, we took a detour and made our way to the top of Spy Rock.  Spy Rock gave us our best views of the entire trip, and thankfully, it also gave us cell service!  We hopped around on the rock, taking pictures and checking in with our people.  

And then I got a message from Corey.  He was in Rockfish Gap and had sent a picture of my truck.  I wanted my truck.  Then Corey mentioned that he'd be at a road crossing about 8.5 miles ahead of where we currently were that afternoon, about the time we'd be passing through there.  Misty and I had a brief conversation where we realized that we were both kind of done with the trail for this trip.  I asked Corey if he could pick us up and take us to my truck.  "WHAT?!" "I'm serious," I said.  "Please meet us at Route 56 at 3:00 and take us to my truck!"  He agreed and we were relieved.  I can't really explain why, but I had just realized that I did not want to sleep another night on trail, let alone three nights, and I really just wanted to go home.  Misty felt the same.  

We had 8.5 miles to hike, and we didn't have a lot of time to waste.  After hiking down off of Spy Rock, we got busy.  We had a little bit of a downhill section, then a hike up to the top of The Priest Mountain, elevation 4,018 feet.  It really was a beautiful day, and because we knew we were going home, our spirits were lifted.

Once we made it to the summit of The Priest, we then had to go down.  And I mean, all the way down.  I'm talking four miles and 3,100 feet down.  Of course, the trail was filled with rocks of all sizes, and it was a slow go.

About halfway down, we needed a break and there was a great spot with a view to take one!  We dropped our packs and stretched out, enjoying the sunshine and taking in the world below.  We were still quite far up the mountain!

Down, down we went, and there were no more stops.  We dumped all the water we had except what we needed for the last few miles.  We were on a mission-we were getting out of there!  

And then we were there!  The meeting point!  Except we were really early.  So, we took off our shoes and socks and lounged in the sun for what felt like forever.  

Finally, Corey and Ada arrived, and they whisked us off to a local brewery for one last meal in Virginia.  If you're ever headed towards the Shenandoahs, make the stop at Bold Rock Brewery, sit out on the back patio, and enjoy.  It's a great spot!

And then it was really time to go.  We needed to head west.  On the way to my truck, Corey stopped one last time to take in the views.  Misty really wanted to fly off the wall, but I wouldn't let her!

We came to Virginia to finish Virginia.  Did we cover every mile?  No.  Will we be back?  Maybe someday.  But we are content with leaving things in Virginia as they are.  We have dreams of hiking other sections of the trail, so we will go in other directions.  Virginia has been so much fun, though.  We've hiked in 90 degree heat and slept at below zero temperatures.  We've been drenched by rain and had our tent collapse in the night.  We've challenged ourselves every single trip and reached so many places you can't get to in a car.  Most importantly, we've met so many amazing people: shuttle drivers, hostel workers, and other hikers.  We have sung karaoke in a tree house, ran over a road sign while riding in a truck, eaten half-cooked, questionable bacon, and slept to the sound of thru hikers eating endless calories in the dark.  Every single trip has been an epic adventure, and we have loved each step in Virginia.  

Total Day 6 Miles: 10.86 

Elevation Gain: 2,008 feet

Elevation Loss: 4,518 feet

Appalachian Trail - Stanimal's Hiker Hostel to Porters Gap

 We arranged to leave the hostel by 9am, along with Chef, who was being dropped off near where we planned to start.  Our shuttle driver, Corey, was a bit of a squirrel, easily distracted and unpredictable. We ended up leaving Stanimal’s Hostel nearly an hour later than planned. 

The drive, once again, was harrowing, and I was so thankful when we made it to the trailhead. Ada didn’t seem to mind the crazy driving at all, and she snuggled with me and then hopped in the front seat to take in the view when Chef left. 

We had about 14 miles to hike today and it was already 10am. No time to waste!  To start the day’s hike, we had a 2,000 foot climb up to Bald Knob.  It was long and slow and steep, and we stopped several times to catch our breath. The view, once we made it to the top, was pretty great!

On the way down, Misty took a slight fall and was ever so kind as to let me take a picture before helping her up. 

The trail stayed at higher elevation, with little dips and climbs along the way. There were many great lookout spots!

Then we climbed up Cole Mountain and were greeted by wide, open spaces with 360° views. It was bright and sunny and beautiful up there!

We made our way down to a slightly lower elevation and the fall colors were so beautiful. It was fun to look back at the huge mountain we had just tackled, too!

We kept remarking on how great the weather was and how nice the trail was today! We were in good spirits. 

And then our packs just started to wear on us. At one point, we threw them off and sat down right in the middle of the trail for a break. Snacks would make it all better!

Late in the day, we hopped across the Piney River on some large rocks and went up and away again. 

We stopped at Seeley-Woodworth Shelter, dropped our packs, and made our way down to the spring that supposedly would have water. It was quite a hike down, but when we got there, we were so happy to find a pipe with fresh, flowing water! We filled all of our bottles and headed back up the trail. 

With about an hour and a half of daylight left, we decided to hike one more mile to a tent site at Porters Gap. It was the golden hour before sunset, and everything was glowing and magical.  

Porters Gap had many flat tent sites to choose from, and we quickly set up camp, got cleaned up and made our dinners. There was no table here, so I just made a little spot for myself on the ground. 

After dinner, we were almost out of daylight, so we decided to crawl into our tents and sleeping bags to keep warm. 

Almost immediately, Misty realized she had a leak in her air mattress. I encouraged her to re-inflate it and make sure her valves were closed. After three attempts, her mattress was still losing air. She was starting to panic a bit. I was starting to panic a bit, too!  She couldn’t sleep the next four nights on the ground! While I started to look for a way out the next day, she began trying to find the leak. After just a short time, she found it! Luckily, we had patches with us, and she was able to repair the mattress. Crisis averted!

Once the air mattress drama had settled, we did, too.  It was eerily quiet at this campsite, and I was a little unsettled knowing that we had no cell service and the nearest exit point was ten miles away. Eventually, I burrowed down into my sleeping bag and drifted off to sleep.

Total Miles: 15.27

Total Elevation Gain:  4,488 feet

Appalachian Trail - Cornelius Creek Shelter to Stanimal's Hiker Hostel

 It rained. All. Night. Long. We were warm and dry in our bags, though, and aside from a brief bat visit, the night was quiet and uneventful.  Just before dawn, the sound of a very loud, screaming owl pierced the air. If we weren’t in Virginia, I’d have thought it was a monkey!

We took our time packing up as we knew we wouldn’t be hiking far today. We planned to hike either six or ten miles and then be shuttled to a hostel in a nearby town to dry out our gear. 

We were thankful for the reprieve from the rain Cornelius Creek Shelter had given us, but it was time to go.  

As soon as we could get cell service, we’d figure out our plan. After about a mile, we were able to reach our shuttle driver, Corey, who had dropped us off at the start of our hike. He had several people to shuttle and gave us the option of being picked up at 5pm or 10:15am. We chose the latter. Now that we knew we were going to be dry soon, we enjoyed the trail a little bit more. It really was beautiful with the rain and the fog and the fall leaves everywhere. 

There are some enormous trees on this trail and every time we pass one we think of those who have passed by the same trees through the years. 

A short while later we were approaching Sunset Field, which was our pick up spot. Someone had left some drinking water beside the trail, but there was much more water available now since it had been raining nonstop for more than 24 hours. 

We sat in the parking lot waiting for Corey to arrive. We were excited to be heading to the hostel to regroup!

And then we were in his car, flying down the Blue Ridge Parkway, taking in the views of the foggy mountains, and holding on for dear life!

Upon arrival at Stanimal’s Hiker Hostel, we had the pleasure of meeting Nellie, the sweetest girl ever. We made our way to our room, exploded our gear everywhere, hung our tents to dry, and decided to walk to the Dollar General for snacks and shower supplies. 

The road through Glasgow was busy with traffic and had no shoulders, and we hurried along, occasionally stepping off into the weeds to avoid being hit by cars. We filled our baskets with snacks and pop and soap and shampoo and all the little comforts we hadn’t had on the trail. 

Once back at the hostel, we took glorious showers and washed all of our clothes. We were fresh and clean again!

The next order of business was food. We wanted a real meal, so we headed to the one and only restaurant in town, Scotto’s, and indulged in some good Italian food. We took half our meals back to the hostel for later-there was so much!

After our meal, Corey showed up at the hostel with cider beer for us from a local brewery! We hung out for a while and another hiker showed up while Corey left on a shuttle run. We sat outside in the cool fall air and talked to the hiker, trail name Chef, and took selfies with Nellie. 

When it got too chilly outside, we went inside and listened to Chef play the guitar while we watched the hikers Corey had picked up stumble in and unpack and get settled. 

Before bed, we talked Corey into pampering himself with some under eye patches we had picked up. It was a first for him and we all had a good time. 

This was not the Day 4 we had planned, but we were happy to be warm and clean and have dry tents to take back out onto the trail in the morning. 

Miles hiked: 3

Total elevation gain: 892 feet