Begin: Day 117- Thursday, August 15, Buena Vista, VA
End: Day 121-Monday, August 19, Daleville, VA
Most Trail Miles in a day this period: 20.1
Total Trail Miles Hiked: 1184
Photos corresponding to this week’s post can be found in the “08-10 VA Central” folder. Sort by name is recommended.
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Day 117- Thursday
Start: US 60 Buena Vista - 809.4
End: John Hollow Shelter - 789.3
Miles: 20.1
Ascent: 4355 | Descent: 5383
Our shuttle driver dropped us off back at the trailhead a little before 8 am, and we descended into the woods. The trail paralleled various creeks and a reservoir for about 8 miles making for an enjoyable hike.
We stopped for lunch at an overlook off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. A local man was in his truck monitoring a radio while he and his friends track down their hunting dogs. He struck up a conversation with is and gave us each a soda. The extra 210 tasty calories was a treat that was helpful to start the more difficult part of the day: going over Bluff Mtn. (elev. 3,351’).
The sun was shining and it was a slightly drier habitat that surprisingly was not consumed by the wild fire. That part of the trail reminded Lemonade of areas she used to run in Southern California’s Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Back in New Hampshire she told me that she had found that all of the rock climbing had reminded her a lot of Chatsworth Park where she hiked a good bit growing up.
We were surprised to find that we were not overly tired when we arrived at the John Hollow Shelter, even after a 20 mile day.
Day 118- Friday
Start: John Hollow Shelter - 789.3
End: Thunder Hill Shelter - 772.8
Miles: 16.5
Ascent: 5182 | Descent: 2296
Somehow we had overlooked the difficultly of today when we sat down to plan today’s route. Perhaps we were more tired than we thought. Having said that this was our highest ascent days of the hike.
Early in the day we crossed the James River. The bridge over the river is the longest pedestrian bridge on the AT and the backdrop of the mountain behind it was so pretty early in the morning. Then after a few miles of following the river, then its tributaries, the trail turned up onto the mountain with a steep grade. Much of the mountain had burned last November during a wild fire, creating a new type of scenery for us.
Some of the high points of today’s hike was high cock knob with an elevation of 3056 feet, thunder Ridge overlook and Thunder Hill.
We were very tired during the last three miles. We had not realized until during dinner that we set a new acent record.
We had the intention of resupplying at a campground that had a very nice camp store. When I gave them a call to make reservations at their campsite, I realize that the whole campground was closed for the week. We took an inventory of what food we have left and decided we can just make it to Daleville will a few odds and ends of food left. However, it is requiring that we make several long days to pull it off.
Day 119- Saturday
Start: Thunder Hill Shelter - 772.8
End: Cove Mountain Shelter - 755.6
Miles: 17.2
Ascent: 3821 | Descent: 5806
We started our day at Thunderhill shelter with a pretty steep and foggy climb up to the top of Apple orchard mountain with an elevation of 4225 feet. It is interesting to note that this mountain elevation will not be surpassed until well into New Hampshire. Of course there are many mountains to the south that are higher than this elevation.
We did see a bear today and the shelter that we stayed at for the night did not have a water source so we had to carry a large amount of water into camp for the evening.
Day 120- Sunday
Start: Cove Mountain Shelter - 755.6
End: Fullhardt Shelter - 735.6
Miles: 20.0
Ascent: 4506 | Descent: 3802
We had another high mile hike today. We hiked about 3 miles to bear wallow gap where we could pick up some water for the first half of the day. We crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway about seven or eight times and each crossing had a very nice view. We had lunch at one of the overlooks and near the end of the day the trail cross the Blue Ridge Parkway for the last time where the parkway veered to the east more and the trail veered to the west.
We ended the day at fullhardt shelter with a 20 mile day.
Day 121- Monday
Start: Fullhardt Shelter - 735.6
End: Daleville, VA - 731.7
Miles: 3.9
Ascent: 243 | Descent: 1542
We had a short steep descent to Daleville. We performed our perfunctory duties such as eating shopping and resting and Daleville at a hostel called Beech Hill.
We begin our journey into the Triple Crown area of Virginia tomorrow (Tinker Cliffs, McAfee Knob & Dragon’s Tooth )
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