Day Six: The Finale - It's Not Goodbye, It's See You Later

 Don't ask me why, but we were up and ready before 7am on that final day in Marion, just waiting for our little coffee shop to open its doors.

There was just a faint amount of snow falling as we made our way across the street and around the corner once again to Better Coffee Co.  Of course, I opted for the maple bacon donut to go with my coffee.

Bunny was there just before 8am to give us our final shuttle ride of the trip.  We filled her in on our adventures over the last two days and listened to her chuckles at our less-than-wise choices.  

All too soon, we were back in Bland.  All remnants of the sign Bunny had run over last Friday were gone. (Haha!)  Thankfully, my van was still there.   And then it was time to say goodbye.  We sure were going to miss our Bunny!

We headed north out of Bland, and into a heavier snowfall.  I hadn't really had driving a 12-passenger van in the mountains of West Virginia on my Wednesday agenda, but here we were.  We saw several terrible semi-truck accidents along the way and really hoped there were no major injuries.  

We were headed home but had one last stop to make on our way.  Misty has had a long-standing minor obsession with Mothman, and there just so happened to be a Mothman statue right on our way home.  So, we made a little pitstop in Point Pleasant, WV to check "a visit to Mothman" off of her bucket list.  I have never seen someone so excited to hug a statue and stick money in his rear end.  Apparently, this is a thing!  Misty was one happy girl.

And then we were back on the road, through Ohio and finally into Michigan.  Thinking back on our adventure, it sure seemed like a lot longer than just five days.  That sunny afternoon in Damascus seemed to be a long time ago.  While we didn't have the trip we planned, we definitely came back with many stories, and many lessons learned.  There aren't many people who would even be interested in a winter backpacking trip in the mountains of Virginia, but I had four friends willing to join me.  We laughed, we cried, was sang, and we ate so many Gummy Nerd Clusters.  I think, maybe, that our group is keeping the Nerds factory in business.  They really are the perfect trail snack!

This was my third trek on the Appalachian Trail, but definitely not my last.  I left some unfinished business there in Virginia, but I will be back to get those miles.  There will also be future trips.  I have ten states on the AT that I haven't been to!  I can't wait to visit the Smokies, The Shenandoahs, The Whites, The Presidentials, and Katahdin.  I can't wait to hike through small towns and stay in little hostels and have coffees in little cafes all along the trail.  I fell in love with the trail running community several years ago, and the hiking community is now right up there with it.  Sure, the adventures on the trails are great, but the people I have met along the way have made all the difference.  

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." - J.R.R.Tolkien

Day Five: Campsite at 500.4 to Elk Garden Southbound on the Appalachian Trail

 I could tell you that it was a long night, but that would be an understatement.  I am quite sure I did not sleep for more than a few minutes.  My toes and body took turns being the coldest parts of me, and I did a lot of squirming inside my bag to generate a little heat throughout the night.  My sleeping bag was cinched down so that just a small hole was left, and I stayed well below the surface.  Anytime the air hit my face, cold chills would roll through my body.  I heard Kara get out of her tent a couple times during the night to use the bathroom, and I thought to myself that nothing could make me get out of my bag before I had to get going in the morning!

Finally, before daylight, I heard voices.  We were all awake in our tents, stiff and tired from the long night.  Misty and Chelsea had been in contact with our shuttle driver, Paul, and had come up with a plan to get us back to the hostel.  Originally, we had planned to hike the two miles back to Grayson Highlands, but after climbing up through all of that ice, we didn't know how we'd be able to hike back down through it.  Plus, the winter storm that was predicted to arrive on Wednesday had been bumped up and was now going to be arriving Tuesday evening.  This was the deciding factor in not staying out on trail another night.  We decided instead to head further south, five miles to Elk Garden, to be picked up.  

The last thing I wanted to do was get out of my sleeping bag.  I tried to pack up as much of my gear as I could without uncovering myself, and I didn't want to even try to make coffee.  I'd put one thing away and then warm up my fingers.  Then I'd put something else away and again warm up my fingers.  The wind had died down, but it was downright cold.  COLD, cold.  From what I could hear from inside my tent, everyone was struggling the same way I was.  Eventually, there was nothing left to do but get out of my tent and pack it up.  When I tried to remove my tent stakes, I found that they were frozen into the ground.  Great!  I kicked each stake a few times with my frozen-toed shoes and managed to pull out my stakes with the help of some paracord.  Misty and Chelsea didn't have as much luck getting their stakes out.  I helped them with a few but I think we ended up leaving three stakes there, frozen into the ground.

Once all of my gear was packed away, I passed the time waiting for the others to finish up by jogging around the campsite and jumping in place.  I'm sure I looked ridiculous, but I didn't care.  I desperately needed to warm up my core and fingers and toes.  Despite the cold, I was still happy to be out among the trees in this beautiful place.

We were all packed and ready by 8am, and we wished those three lonely tent stakes farewell.  We had survived 12 hours in our tents at minus ten degrees, and now we had four hours to hike the next five miles out of there.  Please note how bundled we all were as we headed out!

Here on the edge of the tree line, we were sheltered from the wind, and the first mile or so was fairly level, giving us the opportunity to pick up some speed.  We all had our ice spikes on this morning, and I kind of regretted not stopping to put them on the night before-they made a huge difference in traction and our overall safety on the icy trail.

Despite the cold, it was a great morning.  We knew we were heading to warmth and shelter in just a few miles, and the landscape was breathtaking.  We came across the 500-mile mark, there for those thru hikers who start the trail in Georgia and take it all the way to Maine.  Someday that'll be me...

We came to and passed Thomas Knob Shelter, which we had considered sleeping in the night before.  It was a tiny shelter, with a donated tarp halfway covering the opening of the three-sided structure, and I was so glad we had opted to sleep in our tents!

I had heard the pine trees in this area were especially beautiful, and with the icy snow on them they looked like a real-life painting.  

Soon we came to the spur trail for Mount Rogers.  This would've added a mile onto the day, and lots of extra climbing-both up to the summit and back down.  Unfortunately, under the circumstances, we ultimately decided not to visit Virginia's highest point.  We had had our fill of icy trails and knew the spur trail would be treacherous under the current conditions.

Instead, we hiked on, slowly but surely coming down to lower elevations.  The sun decided to show up, and I was not complaining about that!

A little further down the trail, we realized we were following the fresh tracks of a mama and baby bear.  It was fun to see the confident and steady prints of mama combined with the wandering playful steps of the baby bear.  We never ended up seeing the bears, but it left me wondering if they saw us.

We had also been seeing horseshoe prints on the trail.  We were now about four or five miles from Grayson Highlands, but there must have been an escape!  Right after the bear tracks ended, we found ourselves overlooking a little sheltered pasture area, and there, munching on grass through the snow were two ponies!  We were too far to go for a proper visit, but we called our hellos as we passed by.

I had warmed up quite nicely, but a few members of the group still had frozen fingers and toes.  Even a brief pause on trail let us know that the temperature was not warming up very much.  Brr!  I pulled out my water for a sip and it was nearly frozen!

We continued coming down out of the mountains, and I was being extra careful with my trekking poles.  Somehow during the hike up last night, I had bent one of my poles pretty significantly and I was worried that if I put too much weight on it I would snap it.  My trekking poles are also my tent poles, so I really couldn't afford to break one!

The further down we went, the more vegetation began appearing.  We were well below tree line now, and everyone started to relax.  We were out of the ice, the sun was out, and we had just about a mile left until we reached our destination.

The trail came out of the woods and left us in a strange, almost barren-looking area.  It seemed we had one more hill to climb!

At the top of the hill, we could look down and see the parking lot-our finish line!  The end was in sight!

We made it to Elk Garden an hour ahead of schedule.  We hoped our shuttle driver, Paul, would be early.  The sun was shining but the air was cold.  We bundled up and tried to find good places to soak up the sun's warmth while we waited.  Paul wasn't early but the time passed quickly and soon we were all loaded up into his truck and heading back towards Marion.

Back at Marion Outfitters, we once again paid our hostel fees and headed upstairs to The Merry Inn.  Our gear explosion was a little more controlled this time, since nothing was really wet.  We threw in some laundry and went in search of food.

We headed next door to Macado's again and ended up at the very same table we had sat at on Sunday.  This time however, we were in for a treat.  Our shuttle driver, Bunny, was our waitress!  She is just an incredible woman, and she lifted our spirits whenever we were in her presence.  We started the meal out with a toast to "LIVING" because we were all glad to have made it through the ordeal of the night before.

While we were waiting for our food, Bunny surprised us with plates of pickles!  This lady knew some stuff!  We thanked her and happily munched away on our pickles, reminiscing about the trip so far.

Once back at the hostel, we had to have a conversation.  Conditions had been tough on trail, and there was a winter storm on the horizon.  If there was little to no new snowfall, we could probably continue, but Friday was supposed to be in the single digits again and did we want to be in that situation again?  And if the 4-7 inches of snow that was predicted actually fell, we wouldn't be able to hike at all.  All of the landslides and damage from Helene made the trail dangerous enough, and a bunch of new snow would be even more treacherous.  As the song goes, "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em..."  We decided to fold.  We didn't want to keep hiking a day or two and then have to keep calling for an emergency transport off the trail, and we didn't know what this storm was going to do.  So, unfortunately, we decided to plan to leave the next morning.

That night, we went to a little oven-fired pizza place down the street and stayed for trivia night.  The pizzas were great and our team, "Frostbite", took third place for the trivia, with a grand total score of ZERO.  It was a great, relaxing night, and we were already able to joke about the severe conditions from the night before.

Total miles: 5.07

Total elevation gain: 577

Day Four: Fox Creek Southbound to Campsite at 500.4 on the Appalachian Trail

 We were awake before our alarms went off on Monday morning, with enough time to head to a local coffee shop for breakfast.  Better Coffee Co. was right around the corner from our hostel, and it did not disappoint!  Custom coffees and teas were available as well as some delicious donuts made in-house daily.  Check out that maple bacon goodness!

With our bellies warm and full, we headed back to the hostel to do our final packing and clean up.  We were all so ready to get back to the trail!

Today we had a new shuttle driver named Paul.  Paul is a Vietnam Army vet, and an all-around great guy.  He had section hiked many miles of the AT, and had a trail name of "Shaky P" due to his Parkinson's.  We loaded our packs into the back of his truck and then crammed ourselves inside, four across the back, and Amy, aka Barfer, (lovingly named by Bunny since she is prone to car sickness) sat in the front with Paul.

We informed Paul that our plan was to be dropped off at Dickey Gap and hike southbound (SOBO) to the Old Orchard Shelter.  Paul was very hesitant to have us take this route as he thought that the bridge at Fox Creek was out.  He recommended being dropped just south of Fox Creek and continuing SOBO from there.  We definitely didn't want to get eight miles into our hike and have no way to cross Fox Creek, so we took his advice.  This would change our plans for the next three days.  Quickly, we decided that we'd hike into Grayson Highlands State Park from Fox Creek, and camp overnight in the shelter there, and then continue SOBO on Tuesday higher up into the mountains and summit Mount Washington.  Tent camping in not permitted inside the park, so we'd be sleeping in Wise Shelter for the night.  This was higher in elevation than our originally planned Old Orchard Shelter site, but I was hoping that with proper wind blockage we wouldn't be too chilly.  

Finally, we reached the drop off point at Fox Creek.  Paul wished us happy trails and we were ready to go.  We backtracked a tiny bit to check the bridge at Fox Creek and found it fully intact and high above the rushing water.  Oh well, our plans were what they were now.  Time to hike!

Our starting point today sat 1500 feet higher than Marion, and it showed.  A good layer of snow was blanketed over everything here, and it was quite a bit colder.  I knew we'd warm up quickly, and the snow wasn't deep enough to cause any real problems.  Our rhododendron-lined trail was so beautiful with the snow!

I hung out at the back of the pack and took my time hiking through the white wonderland.  The forest was quiet, with just the occasional sound of trickling water as we crossed a little stream here and there.  Mid-morning we got an extra treat when the sun decided to make an appearance, and it was a most-welcomed sight.  We hiked right on by Old Orchard Shelter, and I was a little wistful that we wouldn't be camping in this beautiful place.

Don't let that sun fool you too much, though.  It was still pretty darn cold out there, and we enjoyed the moments when the wind took breaks from blowing its arctic gusts our way.

The sun decided to stick around, and I was loving it.  There is always something so magical about the sunlight filtering down through the trees in the forest, and the snow today made everything sparkle a little.

As we slowly climbed in elevation, the snow became a bit deeper, but still not enough to slow us down.  The trail here still had occasional blowdowns, but you could tell this area had much less damage from Helene than points south.  

Around lunchtime, we came to a gate.  When we passed through to the other side, it was like we had stepped into another world.  It kind of felt like a snow-covered desert high above the mountains!  We dropped our packs and took some time to explore.  The landscape here was so different than the forest we had been hiking through all morning, but as you can see, it was quite frosty up here!  

We couldn't stick around for long-it was so easy to get chilled when we weren't moving!  Once back on trail, we headed back down into the forest.  The beauty continued as we traveled along, crossing streams and trying to keep our feet dry.  Once in a while, we'd come to a fence, intended to keep the ponies from straying too far from Grayson Highlands.  Ponies!  We must be getting close!

Next, we came to The Scales, a large, wide open horse corral in an open meadow.  I could envision this place filled with tents on a summer night, but today it was just really cold with no escape from the wicked winds. There was a bit of cell service here, though, so we took just a moment to touch base with our families.

We climbed up and out of the meadow, and then the trail continued to climb.  Here and there we'd see some horse tracks or droppings, but nothing fresh and definitely no ponies.  The higher we went, the stronger the winds became.  Thankfully, all that climbing kept us warm!  We were all in good spirits as we got closer and closer to Grayson Highlands.

The trail was varied in the next section, wide for a bit, a few boardwalk sections, rocky ground through rhododendrons, bridges (with railings!), built-in steps, and rocky water crossings.

And then we were there!  Just one more bridge and we'd be inside the park.  The ponies were waiting for us, I just knew it.  I was happy to see a good, solid bridge, as the water below was violently raging, and I definitely didn't want to get wet in those icy waters.

Speaking of ice, there was a LOT of it here.  Check out these steps of death!

After just a short time, we arrived at Wise Shelter.  Now we had a dilemma.  It was 2:30pm.  Should we stay here at the shelter at 4400 feet this early in the afternoon?  Maybe drop our gear and go in search of ponies to fill the time?  Or should we continue our hike to some campsites four miles further south at another 1000 feet higher in elevation?  Or should we backtrack out of the park and set up our tents instead of sleeping in this shelter?  We decided to backtrack and check out the options for tent camping out of the park.  What we found was rocky ground with no tree coverage.  It seemed like a less-than-ideal spot to set up camp.  We made our way back to the shelter, paused for a few moments, and then decided to continue hiking south.  Our reasons for this included not sitting around at Wise Shelter and freezing while waiting for darkness, we would potentially be warmer sleeping in our tents rather than the open-air shelter-even at higher elevation, and we really wanted to try to find the ponies on this blue-sky day.  We continued hiking.

For nearly two miles we hiked within the park, still not seeing any ponies.  I was beginning to feel pressure as I had promised we'd see ponies.  With 150 of them inside the park, you'd think you'd see them everywhere, but that was not the case.  We came to a point where the AT met a horse trail marked with orange blazes.  This seemed vaguely familiar to me when I had last been to the park.  We stood there for a moment, deciding if we should venture off trail in search of the ponies or just continue on our way.  

At that moment, a man with a screaming little girl on his shoulders came bolting down the path.  The little girl was clearly quite cold, and he was hustling back to his car.  "Did you happen to see the ponies down there?" I called.  He said, "Oh yeah, they're down there!"  And we took off.  We didn't have much time to spare, but we came to see the ponies and we were going to see the ponies!

We took the orange spur trail down and around a corner and there, in the distance, ponies!  We hustled closer, dropped our packs, and went to get a closer look.  These are wild, feral ponies, brought into the park in the 1970's to keep vegetation under control, but they are clearly mostly comfortable around people.  Some of them were even following us around!  With their thick winter coats, they were not bothered by the stiff wind and low temperatures at this elevation.  It was so fun to get up close and personal with them!

Then, we had to get serious.  We had at least two more miles to hike and about two hours to get where we were going.  Surely that would be enough time, right?

As soon as we left the park, the trail not only turned upward, but also turned to ice.  It was a slow go, and when we came out atop a small mountain, it felt like we were walking on the moon.  The temperature here had to be single digits, if not lower.  And the wind!  THE WIND!  At times the wind would knock me sideways and cause me to lose my balance.  This was no joke!

And then the trail would duck into some rocks and instead of just wind, there would be ice, too.  We all had ice spikes with us, but we were all getting quite cold at this point, and stopping for any reason seemed absurd.  Just another mile and we'd start looking for a campsite.  And it was a slow mile.  It was getting colder by the minute and there was just so much ice.  Flat surfaces had a thick coating of ice, and the trail had a sort of frozen icy mud thing going on that when you stepped on it, your foot would sink several inches down.  There were no even footings. We continued climbing and climbing and we were getting colder and colder.  I hoped when we were back below tree line we'd have some shelter from the relentless wind.  I have climbed a 14er in Colorado in wintertime and let me tell you, this was very comparable to that.

During the struggle, we came to a trail highlight called Fatman Squeeze. This is a fun little rock formation where you can squeeze between huge boulders with your pack on.  Except it wasn't that fun today.  The ice here was as bad as ever, making Fatman Squeeze quite treacherous.  Check out that thick ice underfoot!

I kept wondering when, exactly, we'd drop back below tree line.  It seemed that we had been climbing forever. I also kept wondering if this was possibly the dumbest thing I had ever done.  We were miles from anywhere, no other footprints were on the trail, we were less than a mile from the highest point in Virginia, and we were going to be camping in subzero temperatures.  There was no turning back, though, so on we went.

Finally, gloriously, with less than half an hour until darkness would fall, we were hiking through pine trees.  I knew there were many campsites between here and Mount Rogers, but we needed one to hold four tents.  I ducked in between some trees to find a flat opening.  There were two fire pits and room for all of our tents.  Would this work?  We quickly agreed that it would and got busy.  The last of the light was slowly leaving us and we tried to hurry to get our tents set up.  My fingers and toes were frozen, making everything slower and more difficult.  The ground was also quite frozen, making the setting of tent stakes a chore.  At least all the struggling and rushing around was keeping my body warm!  Amy and Kara had decided that they would share a tent to keep a bit warmer, and Chelsea, Misty and I all set up our own.  Once the tents were up, we set about boiling water.  Except in the excitement for searching for ponies and ice climbing the last few hours, most of us had forgotten to fill any of our water bottles.  Most of us had just enough for our evening meals, but Kara had filled up at the hostel that morning and had been carrying three liters of water all day.  She shared some of her water with the other girls and I chose to melt some snow to boil water for my Nalgene bottle.  A hot water bottle in your sleeping bag can really warm things up in cold conditions!  It took forever, but finally I had enough boiling snow water to fill my bottle.  I stuck it down into my sleeping bag and then, while I was boiling my water for dinner, I pulled out the rest of the clothes I had with me and put them on.  I was wearing three pairs of pants, socks with down booties, two shirts, a vest, a puffy coat and my raincoat, along with a hat, two hoods, a buff to cover my face, and mittens.  I ate dinner laying in my sleeping bag, and as soon as I was finished, I cinched everything tightly down around me.  I knew I wasn't going to freeze to death, and we all had enough gear and clothing to get through the night, but I also knew I probably wasn't going to sleep at an elevation of 5400 feet and in below zero temperatures.  It was going to be a very long night.

Total miles: 13.5

Total elevation gain: 4272 feet