Begin: Day 140- Saturday, September 7, Damascus, VA
End: Day 146- Friday, September 13, Roan Mountain,TN
Most Trail Miles in a day this period: 16.2
Total Trail Miles Hiked: 1519
Miles to Springer Mtn., GA: 396
Day 140- Saturday, 9/7
Zero Day
Damascus, or Trail Town USA, was a nice place to spend a zero day. All of the locals were super friendly and our hostel, Lady Di’s B & B, had loaner bikes for us to use around town. It was nice to do our chores by bike instead of walking all over town, giving the walking muscles a little break. We have enjoyed our short stay in town and we see that this would be a nice place to vacation for outdoor adventures, especially cycling.
One task that did not get completed was to purchase new hiking shoes. Both of us are wearing shoes with over 500 miles on them. There a few outfitters in town and none had shoes that fit us. We’ll have carry on with our old shoes.
Day 141- Sunday, 9/8
Start: Damascus, VA - 471.3
End: Abington Shelter, TN - 460.8
Miles: 10.5
Ascent: 2783 | Descent: 925
Today’s hike started out with a chilly walk through town. After chatting with a couple on the far side of town who are hiking the Virginia Creeper trail, we turned into the woods to complete the last few miles of Virginia.
Once we reached the state line we took a short moment to celebrate completing Virginia. Of the 14 states that the AT passes through, Virginia has the most miles in it: 550, a quarter of the trail length. It took us 43 days, including our zero days, to complete VA.
We added a few photos from our stay in Damascus to the “08-27 VA South” photo folder.
Sorting by name is recommended to easily find the newer pics.
Day 142- Monday, 9/9
Start: Abington Shelter, TN - 460.8
End: Iron Mountain Spring Tentsite - 444.6
Miles: 16.2
Ascent: 3045 | Descent: 2842
Yesterday and today it felt like we hiked mostly uphill, or at least it felt like there was more “up” than anticipated. The trail passed through basic forest lands with few features. This coupled with a general fatigue did make today not a spectacular one. Feeling tired after a zero day is rather annoying.
The trail did pass by a historic shelter. McQueen‘s knob shelter was constructed in 1934 and is considered one of the trail’s oldest shelters. A new shelter sits about 1.5 miles to the north and it is is not recommended for hikers to stay at this old historic one. We also crossed a peaceful pasture for about a half mile for nice, but short, change of scenery.
Day 143- Tuesday, 9/10
Start: Iron Mountain Spring Tentsite - 444.6
End: Boots Off - Hampton, TN - 428.7
Miles: 15.9
Ascent: 2210 | Descent: 4416
It was another cool morning start and this time we started about 20 minutes before sunrise, wearing a headlamp. As the morning wore on, we encountered many patches of thickly overgrown trail. We pushed our way through ignoring all of the pollen collectors and spiders while trying not to stumble over rocks hidden in the brush.
Speaking of pollen collectors, here is some trivia regarding the numbers of critters encountered on trail:
Insect stings
Trail Horse: 4
Lemonade: 1
Bear sightings
Trail Horse: 6
Lemonade: 4
Itchy bug bites
Trail Horse: Meh
Lemonade: countless
Ticks
Trail Horse: 0
Lemonade: 1
As the day wore on, the temperature increased and we crossed over the large Watuga Lake dam. From there the trail meandered around the edge of the lake. At one point we saw a tent on the shore with a person swimming in the lake. We haven’t had warm weather in a while, but today, that dip in the lake looked pretty tempting.
Our goal for the day was Boots Off Hostel situated on a pretty piece of property close to the trail and we stayed in their big canvas tent instead of the bunkhouse. After our semi-outdoor shower, the hostel shuttled us and any interested guests into town for resupply and takeout dinner. Our two options for dinner were McDonald’s or Subway. We selected McDonald’s, something I would never do when off trail. I think the last time I had McDonald’s was probably in France nearly 10 years ago, and their food quality is much, much better than that of Hampton, TN.
Day 144- Wednesday, 9/11
Start: Boots Off - Hampton, TN - 428.7
End: Dennis Cove Gap, TN/ Black Bear Resort - 420.3
Miles: 8.4
Ascent: 2459 | Descent: 1999
This was a pretty hike with lots of green vegetation and large bolders adjacent to the trail. There were a few easy boulder scrambles that were fun to traverse.
Once we crossed Shook Branch and Horseridge Gap, the habitat became more lush with a lot more greenery as the trail descended towards Laurel Fork. When the trail reached the level of the water, it followed the creek upstream. At one point the boulders encroached the river, pinching the trail into a little rock scramble. Here I used my hands to get around the boulders adjacent to the creek.
It continued to be a really pretty hike as we moved further upstream towards the falls. Even in low flow conditions, Laurel Fork Falls had a fair amount of water cascading down the 40’ high by 50’ wide rock face. After the falls, we had a long, steep, stone staircase to climb, followed by a pleasant trail walk through canyons made of giant boulders. We learned later that this part of the trail was once an old lumber railroad bed, hence the level path. At the end of our hike on the AT, we had a 0.6 mile road walk to our hostel, Black Bear Resort. On the way in, a local offered us a ride to the hostel, which we were very happy to accept.
Since we had arrived so early, at 1 pm, we had plenty of time to relax and to enjoy the grounds. We drank a few beers with Mr. Hasenpfeffer the hostel owner’s adorable lionhead rabbit.
Day 145- Thursday, 9/12
Start: Dennis Cove Gap, TN/ Black Bear Resort - 420.3
End: Walnut Mtn Rd, TN - 406.0
Miles: 14.3
Ascent: 2472 | Descent: 3540
When we checked in yesterday, Trail Horse scheduled a slack pack for today, my birthday. After a great breakfast at the onsite café, the owner drove us to a point on the trail south of the resort (Walnut Mtn Rd.) where we entered the woods to walk north back to the hostel.
The trail was very pretty and green. It felt like it wound around several hollows. During today’s hike, Trail Horse and I completed 1500 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Now we have about 400 miles left to reach the southern terminus in Georgia, and have 280 uncompleted miles in NH & ME (the trail’s total length is 2,197 miles).
With our light packs, we made good time hiking back to the hostel. I would guess that the slack pack shaved about an hour off of the 14 mile hike.
Day 146- Friday, 9/13
Start: Walnut Mtn Rd, TN - 406.0
End: US 19E, Mtn Harbor, TN - 395.6
Miles: 10.4
Ascent: 1765 | Descent: 2480
After breakfast we returned to the same spot on the trail that we were dropped-off yesterday, only today, we hiked south. The trail was lush and green again, meandering through and around hollows. The trail passed one small waterfall and we took a blue blaze to see another. Eventually we completed the 10.5 miles and turned onto US 19E to walk to another hostel, Mountain Harbour.
Tomorrow we will begin hiking along the Tennessee/North Carolina border.
Photos for this Tennessee section be found in the 09-08 TN” folder. Sorting by name is recommended.
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