Slack-packing home turf

I’m going to make this a quick post because I’ve been slack packing and too busy to even write what’s been happening.

Here’s a basic summary of what we did for the whole week to get me on/off the trail.  My dad would drive me to a place and pick me up at the end of the day or we would drive two cars out and leave one where I’d finish my hike.  I didn’t do this section in order and I hiked both south and north depending on my mood.   If I were to do this again I think I’d backpack it instead because I’d almost take pack weight over the amount of driving we did.  Here are the sections I did.
Rocky Gap to Little Stony Creek: Hiked past Warspur shelter, wind rock, and I quickly visited the captains (a zip line swing across a creek where people camp and hang out). Got home super late and had my parents worried.
McAfee’s parking lot to Newport Road: A short hike with my mom through fields and on ridges.  Had to be quick so we could celebrate my dads birthday that night!
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Little Stony Creek to Road after Rice Field Shelter: A nice walk in the woods with a meadow at one point.  I got to see a storm roll in while I hung out at Rice shelter.  Called my dad to have the car moved closer because I was running late.
Pearisburg to Road before Rice:  A quick make up day where my dad met and hiked with me after moving the car.  Unexpected waterfall but a whole lot of mud. Got to rest up and take care of some chores.
Rocky Gap to Craig Creek road: I got to hike with my friend Beth up to Kelly’s knob and down the other side through the gorgeous grassy valley.  Then I continued alone up the next mountain along a long ridge with lots of rocks and views toward the end.  Oh, and my boyfriend Patrick who usually updates this blog began his visit that night!
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McAfee’s to Daleville: Pat and I got an early start and got a really nice view of McAfee’s in the morning.  We followed the ridge to Tinkers Cliffs (what a climb) and enjoyed lunch there.  We headed to the closed Lamberts Meadow shelter for water and to read about people’s bear intersections that led to the closure (food stolen and many sightings).  From there we headed onto the next rocky ridge that overlooked a reservoir.  What a beautiful day!  We stopped for cheese and crackers which made me sick so we called my dad and told him we’d be running late (around 9).  Luckily we found him pretty close to the car and rewarded ourselves with Bojangles!  We also decided to take a lazy zero the next day.
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Newport Road to Craig Creek Road – We headed up to dragons tooth full of energy from our zero.  We found the dragon as well, somehow it’s much smaller than its teeth (not sure how that is possible, probably magic).  We got a pretty nice view from there.  We headed down and happened upon some trail magic.  A nice couple from Georgia whose daughter had thru hiked were serving beans, rice, hot dogs, sodas, and beer!  We stopped in for a bit and then headed on our way up to the Audi Murphy memorial which was a nice steady climb on a beautiful ridge.  We got back to the car quickly after jogging down the mountain and rewarded ourselves with a calzone!  The next day we would see how Pat would do with a Pack!
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