Is something rattling?

Day 40: Out of the wetlands

For a few miles after Dismal Falls the trail ran through groves of rhododendrons and crossed many brooks. It was pretty easy-going, gently rising and soft underfoot. This then gave away to a dry, steep, rocky landscape. After 13 miles of walking. I passed the turn off to Wodehall hostel. It is one of the oldest and most famous hostels on the trail but it was too early in the day to stop. I was tired and ready for a rest, but taking a bit of time off worked out better the next day.

I camped at a site with the only spring for miles, near Pearis Ledges / Angels Rest rock. The only other people there were two experienced section hikers Rooster and Tinkerbell from Pennsylvania, whose company I enjoyed and who generously gave me a bit of high-quality scotch whiskey. The perfect chaser to ramen!

Day 41: New shoes

My trip down the mountain into Pearisburg was much slower than normal. This is because there were so many wonderful wildflowers in the dappled sunlight to stop and look at, and spring was finally delivering leaves to the trees. On my way to the Angels Rest Hikers Haven hostel, I walked through the outskirts of town. There was an interesting mixture of houses. Some were being reclaimed to nature by vines and fungus. Others were freshly painted with mowed lawns and gleaming pick up trucks proudly displayed outside.

Amongst the usual chores of laundry, etc, I also had to sew up my Nike trail shoes as all previous attempts to glue the sole back together had failed. They started delaminating after about 200 miles. Not good enough Nike! Although I did a pretty good repair job, I never got to try them out. Uber hiker and triple crowner, Bitter Goat, gave me a pair of Merrell trail shoes. They were very comfortable and surprisingly my bad foot was okay with them. They worked well for me for many miles, so thank you Bitter Goat.

In the night at the hostel a siren went off. Several hikers thought it was a hurricane siren, although we all knew that did not fit the weather forecast. In the end it stopped and everyone went to sleep. I think the siren is used to call the volunteer firefighters.

Day 42-3: Blistering hot

Hiking uphill out of Pearisburg with a heavy pack full of resupply the next day, was hard work. Especially as the weather had become very hot.  Although the trees were covered in leaves lower down, higher up they were  still sparse. So there was not much escape from the sun. It was hot enough to bring the snakes out. I was hiking in parallel with Peanut Butter, Last Mile and Ghost. We all snakes that day. For me it was two black rat snakes.

After hundreds of miles it was annoying as well as painful to get my first foot blister. Before I set out the next morning I lanced my heel blister with the help of ex army medic Ray Ray. There were two big climbs, one at the beginning, and one at the end of another hot day. There was also some very rocky ground which was a bit painful on my heel when I misplaced my footing. I hiked slowly. And so I was very surprised around 5 pm going uphill and with still about 3 miles to go for the day, to come across trail magic. Easy Boy was there with his dog Molly. Last Mile had told him I would be coming and he had waited for me. It was very much appreciated. We had a good discussion and it was from him that I first heard the description of the AT being divided into thirds: physical, mental, spiritual. Of course, many people don’t make it beyond the first third.

Day 44: Back off buddy!

A wonderful day full of things I wanted to draw, but not enough time to do so. I like to honour the trail angels and draw them when I can, and it was a surprise to come across trail magic two days in a row. Alan and Birdy often do trail magic at the same spot although they are independent of each other. It was nice chatting to them as well as other thru hikers who came by. This included Dragonfly and Eliminator who I saw a few times that week, strong determined women closer to my age.

It was another hot day and the snakes were out again. My subconscious must have registered the snake before I saw it because I had a sensation of its presence first. It was very beautiful but as I moved in to get the photograph. It warned me that I was getting too close and to back off. The rattle of a rattlesnake really is something quite extraordinary.

Towards the end of the day, I visited the memorial to Audie Murphy. He was the most decorated US soldier of the Second World War and was in a plane that crashed into an Appalachian mountain many years later. There were numerous American flags and other patriotic mementos left by visitors. Shortly after I resumed the trail, I was stopped in my tracks by an intense scent. I looked up and saw a wild apple tree in full blossom. Something unexpected high up a mountain.

Day 45: Does it have get any better than this?

Another memorable day, which was also fairly brutal at times. The 700 mile mark was passed early in the day during some rocky ascents and descents on the way to Dragon’s Tooth, one of the notable landmarks on the AT. When I got there, I climbed to the top  of the monolithic rock and watched two eagles circling in the valley below. A rather different experience was had by Last Mile, Peanut Butter and Ghost, who had got up early to be there for sunrise (they are young!). They encountered someone with an assault rifle in his pack. He was a novice day hiker and he was taking precautions against meeting strange people!

It was 85 degrees (30C) with very few water sources on the trail that day. The descent from Dragon’s Tooth is the most demanding up to that point and for many more hundreds of miles. So doing it with a full backpack in intense heat was quite arduous. I had taken a full supply of water at the last source but was completely out for sometime before I reached some more. The same thing happened on the way up to McAfee Knob. When I got to John’s Spring it was completely dry. That only left one water source ahead for the rest of the day. In the event that was also dry, my mind started running through the scenarios from survival stories of people drinking their own urine!

McAfee Knob at sunset is an AT cliche but was splendid. We (Ghost, Peanut Butter, Last Mile, Ray Ray + one other) had it to ourselves and we’re lucky to have the perfect weather. After the sun disappeared I headed down in the dark to Pig Farm camp where an insanely loud  whippoorwill kept everyone awake for most of the night.