ME slackpack weekend #1, day #1

Friday, June 17, 2016
Start: Stratton/Rt 27 (1396')
End: East Flagstaff Rd (1200')
Miles: 16.7 (+ ~0.6 for side trails to views and shelter; + ~1mi of pacing along the road)

This morning, I was up at 6am, with the shuttle leaving at 6:30am, and on trail by 6:45am.

I hiked up and over South Horn (3831'), Bigelow Mountain west peak (4145'), Avery Peak (4090'), and Little Bigelow Mountain (3010'). I passed by Horns Pond Lean-tos and Little Bigelow Lean-to.

I arrived at Little Bigelow shelter by 3:30pm, with only 0.6 miles left to hike to the road for my pick-up. So I sat down for a while, drank water, and chatted with the folks at the shelter. Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding, my shuttle didn't show up until 6:15pm. To sweeten the deal, Stacey from the Farm House Inn in Rangeley gave me an Arnold Palmer she had.

Over the course of the day, I saw 16 SOBOs, a section hiker, and 3 day hikers. I also saw four snakes, which is more than the number I've seen on the trail put together. On the drive back to the Stratton motel, we saw two moose as well; one was a yearling and the other was a full grown adult.

NH AT day hike - the Wildcats

Saturday, June 11, 2016
Start: Pinkham Notch
End: Carter Notch/19 Mile Brook trail - Rt 16
Miles: 5.9 on the AT, 9.9 total

Me and a friend, Little Engine, started our hike from Pinkham Notch around 7:45am after getting a shuttle from the White Mountains lodge and hostel. We left our car at the hostel, hoping to hike from Pinkham Notch to Imp campsite shelter, spend the night, and then hike down to Rt 2/White Mountains hostel where our car was the next day.

Unfortunately, due to the steepness of Wildcat E's assent and Little Engine's troubles with low blood pressure, leading to dizziness, and an ocular migraine, leading to partial loss of vision, the first three miles took a LOT longer than anticipated. It also began raining in the afternoon, slowing us down further.

We made it to our original halfway point of Carter Notch hut around 2pm. We then had a filling lunch of potato soup and bread, followed by some cookies. We decided that given the weather and Little Engine's health, we'd head down 19 Mile Brook trail, rather than push onward for Imp shelter.

We hiked down 19 Mile Brook trail to Rt 16. We were able to obtain two hitches to get back to our car. From there, we headed towards home. While not the original plan, the day's hike had many difficult climbs and beautiful views. It was an adventure. I'll return again later in the season this year to finish the remaining ~13 miles from Carter Notch hut to Rt 2, therefore completing the section from Stratton, ME to Pearisburg, VA.

VA hike #2, day 11

Tuesday, April 5th, 2016
Start: Bailey Gap Shelter
End: Cross Ave/VA 634 - Pearisburg
Miles: 23.4

Last night, when I got up to go to the bathroom, it was snowing. I was okay until about 2-3am, when the temperature dropped considerably. I spent the next 4 hours huddled at the bottom of my sleeping bag, shivering. My water bottles were frozen in the morning. When it's so cold your hands go numb after a few minutes, it makes packing up take a lot longer. I started out from Bailey Gap Shelter (3510') around 7:30-ish.

I descended to The Captain's place (2410'), where a past thru-hiker rigged up a rope pulley system over a creek to get hikers over to his property, where there's wifi, camping, and free soda. I went across for a soda and some wifi. The Captain's temperature gauge said it was 22 degrees in the shade around 8:30am.

I passed by Pine Swamp Branch Shelter (2532'), up past Allegheny trail (3726'), down to Dickenson Gap (3300'), past Rice Field Shelter (3375'), down to Landfill Rd (1597'), and a last burst of climbing to end at Cross Ave/VA 634 (2019').

I was able to catch a hitch the short 0.8 miles into town, rather than walk. I arrived at the Plaza motel around 6pm. A trail friend of mine, Towanda (NOBO 2015), came to visit with me. We went to the AYCE Chinese buffet for dinner and it was delicious!

Tomorrow, Towanda will drop me at a bus in Bluefield, WV on her way back home and I'll head back to my car in Charlottesville, and from there, home.

Over the course of 11 days of hiking, I completed 227.1 miles!

VA hike #2, day 10

Monday, April 4th, 2016
Start: Sarver Hollow Shelter
End: Bailey Gap Shelter
Miles: 21.0 (+0.4 for shelter side trail)

I got up at 7am, which was a bit later than I intended but I'd had a poor night's sleep the night before. I was on trail by 7:45am. 

I passed by Bruises Knob (3417'), saw the Keffer Oak [largest oak tree on AT in the south at over 18' around and 300+ years old] (2322'), and then passed over Sinking Creek/VA 42 (2097'). I went past Laurel Creek Shelter (2798'), climbed Kelly Knob (3730'), went down to VA 632 (2080'), passed by War Spur Shelter (2361'), then climbed up to Lone Pine Peak (4026'). I passed by VA 613 (3950') and arrived at Bailey Gap Shelter at 6pm.

Originally, I'd intended to go to the next shelter which is 3.9 miles away but today was much slower going than I anticipated. My left knee is still giving me trouble, making downhill portions very painful. My right heel hasn't gotten much better from the chaffing and it bled during this morning's climb up from the shelter back to the trail.

I'm looking forward to arriving in Pearisburg tomorrow evening and meeting up with Towanda. I'm currently planning to spend tomorrow evening and Wednesday morning in town; then when Towanda heads out at lunch time, I'll hike to Woods Hole hostel, which is around 10 miles out of town.

For whatever reason, today was hard to stay focused and happy. There were thunderstorms towards the end of the day, which made a rocky section much more difficult, since they were all slippery. I'm trying to focus on the fact that I'll be done with this hike by Sunday and the terrain only gets easier from here.

VA hike #2, day 9

Sunday, April 3rd, 2016
Start: VA 624/Newport Rd
End: Sarver Hollow Shelter
Miles: 22.8 (+0.3 from hostel, +0.4 for shelter side trail)

I had an abominable night of sleep at the hostel; the lights weren't turned off until 11pm and then a hiker was up until 1:30am with his white light headlamp pointed directly at my face. The rooster started crowing at 5:30am. It was a hell of a long night and I hit the trail sleep deprived and rather aggravated.

I climbed up Cove Mountain (3020') which included the Dragons Tooth, past Pickle Branch Shelter (1951'), over Trout Creek (1548'), past the Audie Murphy monument (3100'), over Craig Creek Rd (1547'), past Niday Shelter (1988'), crossing over the Eastern Continental Divide (3368'), and finally ended at Sarver Hollow Shelter. The side trail to the shelter made me sad; it's 0.4 straight down the mountainside so I'll have to climb up it tomorrow morning.

Today took way longer than anticipated; I felt a lot more tired than usual. I've started considering doing less total miles than originally planned but we'll see how I feel over the next few days. My left kneecap is still giving me trouble; it started as primary a problem when going downhill but it's started hurting most of the time now. The brace doesn't seem to help much.

VA hike #2, day 8

Saturday, April 2nd, 2016
Start: US 220/Daleville
End: VA 624/Newport Rd (4 Pines Hostel)
Miles: 25.7 (+0.4 for water, +0.3 for hostel)

I got up at 6am, packed up, and grabbed breakfast at the motel, hitting the trail by 7am.

I climbed Hay Rock (1955'), passed by Lamberts Meadow campsite and Shelter (2000'), went through Scorched Earth Gap (2600'), climbed the Tinker Cliffs (3000') with views of McAfee Knob, went down to Brickeys Gap (2194'), passed by Campbell Shelter (2636') and Pig Farm campsite (2682'), climbed up to McAfee Knob (3197') where some day hikers kindly took pictures of me, passed by Catawba Mountain Shelter (2203') and Johns Spring Shelter (1957'), and down to VA 311 (1990'). I then went through a trail section with a lot of 200-500 ft shifts in elevation, arriving at VA 785 (1790'), followed by VA 624 (1810'). Between VA 785 and VA 624 there was a climb of ~500 ft.

I arrived at VA 624 around 6:15pm, getting to 4 Pines Hostel by 6:30pm. At 7pm, after a quick shower, they brought me to Homeplace Restaurant, a local AYCE family-style, southern cooking restaurant. The restaurant is only open limited hours and only Thur-Sun so the line is out the door. I'm still waiting on a table; they close at 8pm. I assume that's when they stop taking people to the list, not when they actually close.

The crew here seems a little odd; it's owned by Joe but Eddie lives there and does the grunt works. Eddie seems to have an intellectual disability. The hostel is a separate garage with a host of old couches, lazyboys, pool lounge chairs, and 2 real beds, all in one large open room. There are meat hooks for deer hanging from the ceiling and automotive/construction tools clutter the walls and cabinets. There's soda in the fridge and supplies to make eggs and pancakes in the morning, should hikers want to do so. There's a single private bathroom with a shower. Laundry is done down the hill at the main house, though it seems like one should arrive earlier than I did to access this benefit. The men here are dirty, loud, and think swearing horribly at each other is a sign of affection. Hiking is the only circumstance under which I would ever occupy such a space and as it is, I'm a bit nervous being here. However, it's set to get cold tonight (low 30s) and I'd rather be under a 4-sided shelter tonight so it works for me.

VA hike #2, day 5

Tuesday, March 29th, 2016
Start: Punchbowl Shelter
End: Thunder Hill Shelter
Miles: 25.1 (+0.2 for shelter side trail)

I got up at 6am and was out on the trail by 6:45am.

I climbed Punchbowl Mountain (2850') and Bluff Mountain (3372'), past Big Rocky Row (2992'), past Johns Hollow Shelter (1021'), over James River Footbridge (the trail's longest foot-use-only bridge) (678'), past Matts Creek Shelter (848'), climbed Highcock Knob (3064'), down to Petites Gap (2369'), and up to Thunder Hill Shelter (3917').

I was warned by AT Wheeler that Thunder Hill Shelter didn't have any water so I shlepped water from 3 miles away and that was a good plan. The shelter's water source (an old, shallow, open well) has barely an inch of muddy water.

When I arrived at the shelter, four local boys doing a three day section hike were there. They moved to camp up the hill so they wouldn't disturb me. Later, when the stove I had glitched out and wouldn't cook my dinner, they kindly let me borrow one of their stoves.

As I was cooking dinner and the sun was going down, Bearbait, a NOBO thru-hiker from GA who started February 1st, arrived at the shelter. I let him have half a liter of my water when it became evident he had almost no water left.

Tomorrow, I head into town to stay at a motel so I can split my miles better, rather than relying exclusively on shelters.