Backpacking the AT - Day Ten

 Day 10: VA Route 311 mile 710.8 to Lamberts Meadow Campsite mile 721.3

I'd love to tell you that I slept like a rock all night at this hostel, but that was not the case.  Sometime in the night, the fire in the stove burned out, and the hostel gradually became colder and colder.  There was also a vague recollection of cats fighting in the night.  One thing about this hostel is that every door also has a cat door, and there are two cats on the property who come and go as they please.  They also don't like each other, and we were warned that they love to fight in the hostel in the middle of the night.  Those two cats didn't let us down.

Twisted came in by 7am, got the fire going, and made us all coffee.  He then started right up with his storytelling like we had no place to be.

The cat helped my pack up my gear, while Twisted fried up some bacon and eggs, and made me some pancakes by request!  I had been thinking about pancakes for two days and my wish came true.

Four Pines Hostel had been such a great little place for us to stay, and we were thankful for the hospitality.  I was going to miss this quirky little spot-I felt like I fit right in!

By 9am, we were packed and ready to go.  We had signed the big chalkboard wall, as well as the log book, dropped cash into the donation box, and loaded up the car.  This hostel runs on donations only, which is very kind of them, but we felt that some hikers took advantage of that after hearing that many leave no donation at all!

We opted to have Twisted drive us a little further north on the trail.  We had a big day ahead, and had to be back to Jeff's truck the next day.  Twenty minutes in the car, and we had come to the end of the line.  We were dropped off at VA Route 311.  We were informed that there would be only one exit point between here and the next day, because many of the roads in this area were closed in winter due to weather. I hoped we wouldn't need to use that exit!

The morning was clear and cold, but the blue skies made everything better, and we had a big uphill section ahead of us that was sure to warm us up.  The trail almost immediately started to climb, filled with bright green moss and so many rocks.  I kept thinking the climbs would get easier over time, but here we were again, hiking oh so slowly up the mountain.  

Finally, we came to our first destination of the day: McAfee Knob.  McAfee Knob is one of the most iconic spots on the whole AT, as well as our second point of Virginia's Triple Crown.  We could not have had a more perfect day to be in this place!  The sky was so blue, and you could see for miles in every direction.  We each took multiple turns posing out on the rocky ledge, proud of our accomplishments so far. You can't tell from the photos, but the wind was icy cold, and we were all really frozen!

See?  I had to step away from the edge to find a little shelter blocked from the wind to warm myself up!

The trail continued along this high point for a bit, and we enjoyed the different views each little rocky ledge offered.

Next up, we had a big downhill.  There were patches of ice here and there, but most were melting quickly in the sunshine.  The trail went from navigating huge boulders, to wading through deep fallen leaves.

It seemed like we never stayed at a lower elevation for too long, and soon enough we were climbing up again.  The views continued to be spectacular, though, so there was no complaining!

Up, up we went, through more leaves, and through tunnels of rock, across some open spaces, and even when the sign seemed to point downward, we were still going up. 

After 4.5 miles, we reached Tinker Cliffs.  Tinker Cliffs is the third and final point of Virginia's Triple Crown.  We could now all officially add that feat to our hiking resumes!  The day continued to be clear and bright, and the views were simply amazing.

Ahead of us, we had a two mile downhill hike to get to where we'd be camping for the night.  We were all in good spirits as we continued down the trail.  The blue sky and sunshine had been good for our souls.  It was getting to be later in the day, and everything had that late afternoon glow about it.

McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs are located in National Parks Service lands, and camping is prohibited in this area, except at designated shelters.  The night ahead of us was predicted to be a cold one, so we wanted to get a bit lower in elevation instead of staying higher up the mountain.  We arrived at Lambert's Meadow Shelter, but there were no campsites here.  We were all pretty exhausted from all of the climbing, but we pressed on, going off of a tip on the app regarding upcoming tenting spots.  Just a little bit further down the trail, we came to a large, semi-open area with a fire ring, picnic table, and a bear box.  The bonus was that it was right next to a beautiful little stream.  What a great spot to spend our final night on the AT!

With our tents up and fresh water in our bottles, we got busy building a fire and making our dinners.

As the last of the light faded, it took the warmth with it, and soon we were huddled around the fire, trying to keep our toes and bodies warm.

Soon, though, the coldness took over, and we wanted to snuggle into our sleeping bags.  Most nights, as I lay in my bag, I'd write notes in my phone about the days' events, but this night it was too cold to keep my fingers out of my mittens. I gave up the fight, and zipped my bag all the way up, cinched the top down so just my nose and mouth were visible, and tried to get some sleep.  The best part of camping next to a babbling brook, is that it drowns out the sounds of monsters in the night!