Big Miles
Begin: Day 132- Friday, August 30, Bland, VA
End: Day 139- Friday, September 6, Damascus, VA
Most Trail Miles in a day this period: 20.7
Total Trail Miles Hiked: 1444
Miles to Springer Mtn., GA: 471
Photos corresponding to this week’s post can be found in the “08-27 VA South” folder. Sorting by date is recommended.
Day 132- Friday 8/30
Start: Bland, VA - 592.1
End: Burkes Garden Hostel - 571.4
Miles: 20.7
Ascent: 4307 | Descent: 3738
Pam, our shuttle driver picked Lemonade and myself up at 7 AM sharp from the Big Walker Motel. She dropped us off where she picked us up the day before at the Brushy Mountain Outpost where we proceeded to have a large breakfast and coffee before hitting the trail. Today’s hike was a bit rockier than the previous day but still manageable. There’s rain in the forecast for the next couple days and we did get caught in a couple of rainstorms during the hike.
We ended up at Burke’s Garden Hostel for the night, which was a good thing since a very large storm came through as soon as Lemonade arrived at the hostel. The storm had lots of thunder and a little bit of hail. We had a zoom meeting with some friends and had frozen pizza for dinner that we purchased out of the hostel store.
At the end of the day, we had about completed 21 miles of the trail.
Day 133- Saturday 8/31
Start: Burkes Garden Hostel - 571.4
End: VA 42, App Dreamer - 558.6
Miles: 12.8
Ascent: 2841 | Descent: 3818
Since we have been putting in some significant miles lately, we decided to do a few low mileage days to recoup a bit.
We left Burke’s garden hostel about 7:30 in the morning and began our trek. The day started with a steep uphill climb, but we were rewarded with a very nice view of the valley where the hostel is. Interestingly, enough this valley is actually a very large sinkhole on the order of magnitude of miles across. It makes for a very secluded and isolated valley.
During the day we came upon Lick Creek were the bridge had been destroyed in a previous flood. To get across, we had to take off our boots and put on our camp shoes and forded the slow moving creek. The water only came up above our ankles, but it was still fun and we had to use a rope to steady us in the flow.
We had reservations to stay at the Appalachian Dreamer Hostile for the night. Funny thing is when we were about 3 miles from our destination, an older fellow was heading northbound while we were heading south and we stopped to chat. After a couple minutes, he called out Lemonade by her name without us actually giving him our trail names yet. It turns out that he is the hostel owner and he was just hiking in to meet us since he hikes on that section of trail every day. The three of us hiked back to his car and proceeded on to his hostel where he cooked us dinner and we had a nice conversation with him. He hiked the Appalachian Trail 18 years ago and his trail name is Lumbermack.
Day 134-Sunday 9/1
Start: VA 42, App Dreamer - 558.6
End: US 11 & I-81, VA - 546.0
Miles: 12.6
Ascent: 2709 | Descent: 2815
After a nice pancake breakfast prepared by Lumber Mac, he proceeded to drop us off on the trail around 7:20.
We passed through several cow pastures separated by forested hills. We made fantastic time to our destination shortly after 1 PM where we had lunch at the Sweetwater Venue and then checked in to our motel (Relax Inn) for the day. After we had rested for a bit, we headed to the gas station to resupply and to a local Mexican restaurant to eat dinner.
Day 135- Monday 9/2
Start: US 11 & I-81, VA - 546.0
End: VA 16, Marion, VA - 534.6
Miles: 11.4
Ascent: 2883 | Descent: 2051
Another somewhat short and straightforward hike to Marion, Virginia. During this time of year, we have noticed in Virginia a lot of hunters are running their dogs as practice for the upcoming bear season. Is interesting to see their high-tech gear tracking down their dogs once they are released and are in the middle of running down bears. The hunters are allowed to chase/track the bears during this time, but they are not allowed to shoot them yet.
Even though the hike was straightforward, the second half was surprisingly rocky as we were hiking along the ridge. It’s always interesting to see the AT go from a very smooth path and quickly transition to a trail with lots of pointy rocks.
We rolled in to the Mount Rogers Park headquarters about 1 PM and our shuttle driver was there to pick us up to take us to Marion. We got situated at the Merry Inn hostel (in Marion) and ate two meals (4 hrs apart) at Macado’s. All the other restaurants appeared to be closed for Labor Day.
You may have noticed we haven’t actually stayed in our tent in several days. This section of the trail is littered with hostels and cheap motels where we can stay for the night. Since the water situation is tricky, ending at a known water source (i.e.hostel) has been a benefit, and of course, sleeping in a bed and eating a hot meal that was not previously dehydrated is always a plus in my book.
Day 136-Tuesday 9/3
Start: VA 16, Marion, VA - 534.6
End: Dickey Gap, Troutdale, VA - 520.5
Miles: 14.1
Ascent: 2682 | Descent: 2640
We started the day with a great breakfast at the Two Sisters Restaurant in Marion. After that, we got a shuttle out to the Rogers Mountain Park headquarters where we started our hike.
It was another nice straightforward hike with a couple big climbs, but was only rocky in a couple locations. No real views and we got to Dickey Gap around 4 o’clock where we got a shuttle to the Harbor Site Inn for the night.
The owner was headed to a nearby town for dinner and offered us to ride with him a local café. Fairly uneventful day, but it was a very good hike for both of us.
Day 137- Wednesday, 9/4
Start: Dickey Gap, Troutdale, VA - 520.5
End: Big Wilson Creek near Wise Shelter - 504.6
Miles: 15.9
Ascent: 3741 | Descent: 2643
We were dropped back off at Dickey Gap about 8 AM in the morning. The first few miles which included Comers Creek Falls was a lush and beautiful hike.
We had a pretty good climb today and reached an elevation of over 5000 feet. This area was more like a meadow with some high altitude conifers scattered in.
Then we came upon an area of the hike today and tomorrow that is a big highlight for this part of Virginia. The Mount Rogers wilderness area and the Grayson Highland areas are famous for their wild ponies. Scattered upon the rocky, grassy hilltops we could see horses in the distance and then later, close up.
We tented in an area just outside of the Grayson Highland State Park area (which doesnt allow camping). Once we got into our tent for the night, we heard some noise on the outside, that sounded like a crunching noise. When we got out to look, we were surrounded by three wild ponies eating grass. They did not really care that we were there and they continued on their merry way.
Day 138- Thursday 9/5
Start: Big Wilson Creek near Wise Shelter - 504.6
End: Lost Mtn Shelter - 487.0
Miles: 17.6
Ascent: 2973 | Descent: 3973
We started our hike and immediately entered Grayson Highland State Park area. It was a foggy morning and we crossed over miles of meadows and viewed a few more of the wild ponies. At first glance, today didn’t appear to be a hard day, but it was very rocky so it was slow going for a good bit of the day.
We ended up going through a rock formation called the Fat Man Squeeze, which was pretty much some rocks close together, and you had to wiggle your way through a bit. We ended up camping at the Lost Mountain Shelter about 15 miles outside of Damascus, Virginia.
We also crossed the 500-miles-to-go mark, which means we are going to be wrapping up this backpacking trip sometime in the next few weeks (6 or 7 maybe).
Day 139- Friday, 9/6
Start: Lost Mtn Shelter - 487.0
End: Damascus, VA - 471.3
Miles: 15.7
Ascent: 2663 | Descent: 4102
We left Lost Mountain Shelter at about 7 AM and was greeted with a nice smooth trail for the first 2 miles. Then we intersected with the Virginia Creeper Trail for about half a mile. This trail is a very smooth multiuse rail trail. It’s a 34 mile trail in Virginia that crosses through Damascus. Unfortunately, for me , the Trail Horse, we had to proceeded back onto the more rugged AT, even though both trails went to Damascus.
For the most part, the trail was quite manageable, but nowhere as smooth and flat as the VA Creeper Trail, and we made it to Damascus around 3 PM. Damascus is a true trail town since the trail itself goes right through downtown and caters to hikers heavily. Damascus is considered one of the more popular trail towns and they host the yearly “trail days festival” in May of every year bringing thousands of hikers to the very small town.
We ended up checking into the “Lady Di B&B” after stopping first for some ice cream. Once we were settled, we went out to eat at the Damascus Diner that had some surprisingly good, unique sandwiches.
After our day off tomorrow, we will officially be leaving Virginia for good and entering Tennessee.
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