75 Golden Camels

Honestly, stopping at the bunkhouse-style shelter was the best move I’ve made on trail yet. At around 1:30, I woke up startled by the sudden sound of rain absolutely blasting the roof of the Chestnut Knob Shelter. But better on the shelter than on the roof of my tent. Even if the tent’s dyneema, it’s just nice to not have to worry about a wet tent in the morning. Plus, it’s forecast to rain pretty heavily in the upcoming week. It’ll be nice to have a dry tent for one last night.

Speaking of dry, this morning, spent some time trying to find the next few water sources. While there was one in a mile, there wouldn’t be another for about 10 more! Maybe not a lot by other trail standards, but definitely for AT standards. So, after crawling out of the shelter (difficult to do given how nice it was for the night), I made my way down, and started to camel up.

Cameling up, for those unfamiliar, is the act of drinking as much as you can to have the water in your system. I normally try to do this to a smaller scale at water sources, in a weight saving effort, as the less water you need to carry, the lighter your pack! Here though, given the nature of the next few miles, I drank about 2 liters, and then carried 2 more! I don’t usually carry water that well to be honest, so 2 was a lot for me. Ah well. Gotta do whatcha gotta do.

At least if anything, the hiking was cruisy. It mostly followed a ridgeline, which while a little rocky, wasn’t anything notable. There was some on and off rain, but nothing that warranted bringing out rain gear. Given the rain was only coming on in less than five minute spurts, I was actually generating enough internal body heat to evaporate the droplets pretty quickly.

5 miles into the day, I dropped quickly into an intersection with VA Route 623, where I ran into the first trail magic of Virginia. It honestly surprised me a bit that there hadn’t been any before, given how much I internally associate Appalachia with Virginia. But that’s entitled thru hiker thinking. I’m thankful we got any at all. It was supplied by Joe Ban Dyke, who used to live around here, and just loved being around. Had a delicious mid day meal of hot dogs, then continued on. Joe did treat me to a guitar song of his own creation though. He apparently plays a lot in the area, and he’s honestly really good!

At the Jenkins Shelter, I ran back into Pacesetter and Uncle Bill, as well as Candyman, who I hadn’t seen since the Lost Mountain Shelter. They left right as I enjoyed my lunch of summer sausage, plus a new addition, honey! With honey bottles being smaller than the squeezable jelly, and more accessible than jelly packets, I figured the substitution was worth carrying.

I spent time enjoying my book, and hopped back on trail. Even with 9 hours of sleep, and the caffeine, I was still… just tired. Nothing could cut through it. I kind of wanted to stop hiking at many points. Instead, I just took hour long breaks, to eat, and try to lay down a bit. The new ThinLite pad that I picked up helps with that at least. Thanks Gossamer Gear.

After getting up, just meandered down to Laurel Creek itself. As the day cooled down, like clockwork, my body started feeling more like the hiking machine it’s become. Laurel Creek’s cold water splashed on my face certainly helped. Passed Pacesetter and Uncle Bill here, they were camping for the night.

I want to make it into Bend tomorrow morning before the PO closes, but given how I mosey out of camp, I figured my best bet would be to camp close to where the road intersects with the trail. Plus, by the time I reached Laurel Creek’s, I’d barely been hiking for five hours. So, Candyman and I went onwards!

Well, after another large camel. This would be the last water for 6 or so miles, but I wanted to both cook and camp in those 6. So quaffed as much as I could, and again brought my two liters.

The views up here were spectacular. A few had lovely campsites, including one that Spoonman chose. He’s been dealing with some shin splints for today, so he called it “early” on his “easy day” (18 miles). I cooked for a bit, and ate, before heading down.

Candyman and I ended up going to two separate campsites. He found one at 590.7, and I did around 591.2. Given there’s half an inch of rain forecasted, and my sites a little slopey, it’s not great, but it’ll have to do. Plus, it’s another test of my mummy pad before I decide which pad to send home! So why not stress test it?