Campbell Shelter 1478.2 to VA Route 311 1482.6 (4.4 miles, 1482.6 total miles)
4:30 came early, but not bright. I finally made myself deflate my air pad by 5AM, starting to pack up in the 46 degree air. It was intensely cold, and I put my rain jacket on over my fleece, dearly wishing I had my puffy coat with me and some gloves.
It was only a .7 climb up to McAfee Knob, so I didn’t even want to put on my hiking clothes for that. I packed everything up, while Shrek decided she was going to make coffee before going up.
I just needed to move, though I knew it wouldn’t be any warmer up top. I ate a packet of s’mores pop tarts before hiking off into the night at 5:30. Sprouts hadn’t rustled from her tent as I passed by with my headlamp, turning left to start back up the climb.
Fortunately, I was too cold and excited for McAfee to be that nervous about hiking in the dark alone. I reached a power line view and turned off my headlamp briefly, taking in the lights of the city below and the stars above.
I kept climbing up the steep grade, eventually feeling a little toasty in all my layers, removing my hat and unzipping my jacket, taking off my fleece hood and putting my hair up.
I walked through stone formations as the trail began to level out, and reached the first stone outcropping going south. I stood there for a minute in the harsh wind, a crescent moon outlined above the ridge, the lights of Daleville shining brightly below to my right.
The sky was just beginning to take on a pink tinge over the mountains, and I got back on the trail to hike an additional .1 to McAfee, where I found ledges of deserted rock overlooking the vast valley I could just make out ahead.
I found a little alcove in the bushes, which only barely cut down on the icy wind that was numbing my hands. Putting my hat and hood back on, I unpacked my bag, starting to boil water for coffee, and huddling close to the warmth of my gas stove.
Suddenly a dog barking in my vicinity caused me to jump, though I thought it was only Moose. I was mistaken, I realized, when three more headlamps appeared and I heard a trio of women speaking with the man who had brought the dog.
Slightly concerned that there were already five of us at the view, I called Shrek to let her know there was another dog up top and to see if she wanted to take in sunrise from the other ledge. I’d seen comments in Far Out that hikers had done that before to avoid the crowds.
She said she’d meet me where I was and figure it out, but as we were talking the women moved on to keep hiking. While I waited for Shrek, I took my hot coffee mixed with a breakfast essential out to the overlook, while the man with the dog engaged me in conversation.
When Shrek arrived, there was a moment of introduction between the two dogs, then her and I settled in on her sleeping pad with our quilts to try to stay warm and take in the sunrise.
A group of four joined us after a while as well, but that ended up being the last of who showed up for sunrise. It was my first time hiking specifically for a sunrise, and well known as possibly the best spot on trail to do so.
The sky changed from rainbow hues over the mountains to lighter shades of orange and pink with a pale blue background that we were able to turn our headlights off against.
Soon a deep orange glow appeared on the horizon, signaling the sun about to make its appearance. Minutes later when it finally crested the horizon, we were bathed in deep hues of fiery light. It was breathtaking to feel so alive.
Eventually, driven by cold and exhaustion, we packed up and backtracked a little to a camp spot near the first overlook. There was no overnight camping permitted at McAfee Knob, but that didn’t prevent there from being a couple spots up top.
We set up our sleeping pads and quilts, and I wrote while Shrek napped, then I ended up napping as well for an hour or two. I’d slept over seven hours the night before, but something about getting up so early and bundling under my quilt to stay out of the cold had me feeling very sleepy.
Moose woke Shrek up once barking at Sprouts when she made her way up late morning, then he woke me up later on by licking my face. Shrek and I struggled to get ourselves up and moving, both feeling groggy from sleeping so deeply and having strange, and strangely similar, dreams.
We were finally out and moving at noon, after stopping for a few more photos at McAfee, which was surprisingly deserted when we got there.
However, on our 3.8 mile descent down to the road, we passed several dozen people hiking up to the top, in groups or individually. Many people had dogs, and we were stopping very frequently to let people and dogs pass, Shrek doing her best to keep Moose calm around all the new faces.
We had a few uphills amongst our downhill, but I noticed my knee was feeling much better. Unfortunately, my right ankle was extremely swollen instead, full of venom similar to what had happened to Truman after getting two stings on his leg last week.
It took a while to get to the parking lot because we were stopping so much to let others by, but it was a pretty hike with greenery, sandy trail, rock steps, and tinges of colored foliage along the way.
As we hiked, I brainstormed ways to get us back to Shrek’s car at Middle Creek Campground, 45 minutes away by highway and back roads. I wracked my brain to think of who I knew in the area. I was sure we could hitch, but it would probably be difficult, require multiple rides, and could take a very long time.
The answer came to me not far before the road, when I suddenly thought of a business card I’d taken a picture of from the Monterey Service Station, when the woman working the counter had urged me to take the information for a hostel in Vinton, VA.
I hadn’t intended on using it, because I already know Virginia well and where I’d be stopping, but recalled the card mentioned shuttles. When we got to the parking lot, which was full of cars even on a Friday afternoon, I dialed the number after finding it in my photos.
I spoke with Nutz, who quoted me $70 and said he could be there around 2:20. Shrek said to pull the trigger, so we sat in the parking lot till then, still feeling a little chilly in the 60 degree weather.
Nutz arrived in a heavy duty truck, and we piled in, Shrek and Moose in the back, me in front, and our packs in the bed. The drive felt long, but Nutz was very talkative and had plenty of trail stories to pass the time.
After picking up Shrek’s Subaru, we drove back to BeeCh Hill. Iroh and Sydney were going to be arriving at the hostel around the same time, so we were all going to meet up and figure out our plans from there.
At BeeCh Hill, we met Sydney and Quasar, and were all very happy when Q and Moose seemed to hit it off immediately. We made our beds, secured the dogs in the bunkhouses, and headed into town in Shrek’s car, feeling the freedom of being able to drive ourselves into town.
Finally we got to have dinner at Three Lil’ Pigs, where Shrek and I ordered way too much food, Iroh and Sydney got sandwiches, and we all split a couple appetizers.
We discussed plans for Iroh and Sydney to make up the miles that I was ahead of them, so we could all start hiking together within a day or so.
Shrek would be heading to Utah to visit her sister and travel out west after tomorrow, and while I was sad she’d be leaving, I was very happy to have gotten to hike with her and Moose, and quite excited for her new adventures to come.
Shrek had been through a lot this year, and deserved to give herself some time and space to process and hopefully find some peace of mind. It meant a lot to me that hiking with me had been her first stop in her travels, and we’d gotten this time together.
After dinner, we all walked over to Kroger, then headed back to the hostel. Beth said they had s’mores ingredients if we were willing to build a fire out on the hill, and Iroh readily accepted the task.
In the meantime, four other hikers arrived, three of which I had met before. Slice was flip flopping, and I’d met her in Lincoln through Sunshine, who had hiked with her for a while.
Rudolph and Hippie Gandalf I’d met at Hiker’s Welcome. They were both SOBOs and together with Pleiades were part of the Council of Chimps, a large trail family I’d heard of through Iroh.
It was great to see everyone, and we migrated over to the fire after they’d settled in. Iroh had made a lovely, warm fire and I was even able to shed a couple layers sitting near it. It was great to see him again, and I was excited to hike with him, Syd, and Q.
Quasar and Moose ran around playing for quite a while, before Moose decided he wanted to play fetch with Shrek for at least an hour or two. Q meanwhile curled up by my side, putting his head on my arm or lap, which I was very flattered by and was extremely comfy.
It was great fun hanging at the fire with the group, getting to know everyone, and making s’mores. There aren’t a lot of fires on trail because hikers are always so tired, so it was a nice change of pace and kind of Beth and Yeeha to give us the s’mores ingredients.
Eventually, it was time for bed, all of us laying down around 10:30. The two bunkhouses were full between the eight of us plus two dogs. It had been a long, but very satisfying, day full of the beauty of nature and the gift of good company. I couldn’t ask for more.