Backpacking the AT - Day 6

 Day 6: War Spur Shelter mile 669.7 to Sarver Hollow Shelter mile 682.1

It was 18° when we woke Sunday morning at War Spur Shelter. It was so hard crawling from our sleeping bags and getting moving. Our tent, rigged up inside the shelter, had kept us safe from mice and other critters, but the coldness had definitely crept in.

Despite the low temperature here, we were pretty happy we had decided not to camp up higher on the mountain. We would’ve had a completely miserable night with that weather, filled with wind and snow.  As we were getting ready this morning, I had to make several jogging laps around camp, just to get my blood flowing and to stir up a little warmth inside me.  We were gifted blue skies and sunshine, though, and by 9am we were back on the AT. 

At some point we planned to meet up with Jeff, who would be with us for the rest of the trip. Originally, he had planned to shuttle to about 3.5 miles north of Laurel Creek Shelter and backtrack to meet us there for the night, but Misty and I were ahead of schedule, and if we could get cell service, we wanted to have him head north to the next shelter where we’d meet up with him. We continued hiking, and were thoroughly enjoying the beautiful morning and the rising temperatures.  

Soon, again, the trail turned upward.  The route was filled with rocks, and more than a few cuss words.  We took several breaks on the way up, and were thankful the snow from yesterday had melted away.

Thankfully, after about two hours of very steep climbing, we came to a pretty overlook where I was able to get a phone call to Jeff, giving him the new plan.  Because of this revision, our six mile day would turn into a twelve-ish mile day. We had to get going! The hike continued upward, at a steep pitch. Our drinking water was quickly dwindling and there was no water to be seen. Finally, we came to Kelly Knob, which gave us amazing views of the mountains and cities below. 

We spent some time hopping out on the rocky ledges, but time was moving on, and we hoisted our packs back on and continued. 

After a most welcomed downhill hike, we arrived at Laurel Creek Shelter. I have to admit, I was feeling a bit depleted already and we still had 6.5 more miles to go. We stopped to refill our bottles in Laurel Creek, not knowing if more water would be available before the end of the day. 

Soon we were passing through large farm pastures. Although the trail was filled with highs and lows, I really enjoyed hiking through the golden fields. There were distant barks from dogs, cows, sheep, goats, and chickens along the way.  You could see forever in every direction, and I felt like I was in a painting! 

After a couple miles, we made it to where Jeff had been dropped off, although he was an hour and a half ahead of us. From there, the trail literally went straight up. And it was relentless. We had already climbed over 2000 feet and now we were headed higher yet. Along the way, we came to the Keffer Oak. It was quite amazing to see the second largest oak tree on the trail with all of its “arms” reaching out. 

And then we continued climbing. And climbing. And climbing. The sun was getting lower in the sky, and I was counting down the miles until we’d get to the next shelter. I was beat. 

The trail continued to steadily ascend, and every time we thought we were nearing our destination, we'd make a turn and realize we still had so much more climbing to go.

We were also losing daylight and I was feeling a bit of urgency. I didn’t want to try to navigate the trail in the dark. We made it to a great view at the powerlines, elevation 3212ft, and really soaked in the view. 

By our watches, we shouldn’t have been far from the night’s shelter, but the trail continued to climb as the daylight began to fade. Finally, we began passing through Bruisers Knob Cairns, which were rumored to have been erected by ancient farmers. 

Misty and I were really hauling now, desperate to get to the shelter before nightfall. As the last of the light was fading, a chill was settling in, but there was no time to stop and put on warmer clothes. At long last, the sign for Sarver Hollow Shelter appeared. .4 to the shelter down a very steep descent? That seemed really far! 

We were nearly running. Misty was leading the way, and I was so happy for that, as the switchback trail down was disorienting me.  My feet and back were aching, and I almost needed a headlamp, but finally we saw the shelter! We headed in, happy to see Jeff there waiting for us, and happier still to unlatch our packs and be done hiking for the day. I made quick work of pitching my tent while Misty and Jeff worked on getting a fire going. Then we all made our simple meals in the darkness and warmed ourselves by the roaring blaze.

 Soon, though, we were ready to crawl into our tents. We fell asleep amidst the sound of gusty winds that roared over us and down through the valley, but didn't seem to be reaching us.  All was well until 2am when I heard a cry from Misty. "Aaaaaaahhhh!"  Two tent stakes had pulled free and half the tent collapsed onto her face! Somehow she was able to half commando crawl out of her sleeping bag, re-secure the corner, and wiggle back into the tent.  This event would go down in history as "The Great Tent Collapse of 2024."  We managed to sleep soundly the rest of the night.