Jenny Knob Shelter 1589.4 to Jenkins Shelter 1612.6 (23.2 miles, 1612.6 total miles)
After my usual set my alarm for 6:30 and wake up at 7 routine, I spoke with Iroh for a bit before getting my day going. It was cold, but I was able to change into my normal hiking clothes without warm layers before leaving camp, having cold coffee for breakfast with pop tarts.
White Walker had left before the rest of us had gotten up, and the section hikers were next. One of them let me use his 40 year old metal ladle to scoop water from the puddles near the shelter. I didn’t strictly need it, but it made things easier.
I left with Iroh and Sydney, and Quasar kept trying to follow me as I took off ahead, thinking we were all hiking together again. After a bit, it was just me again, coasting along an easy incline around the ridges of the southern Virginia mountains.
My toes warmed up after a couple miles, and I heard a large animal moving in the underbrush down the mountain and stopped, hoping to see a bear, but couldn’t spot anything through the trees.
I followed ups and downs along the ridge, as the day became more breezy, cooling me down quite a bit, even though I was moving fast.
I was pleased to see Sundial and Fiik (I learned his name is not Twig), slackpacking toward me from a road ahead back to Weary Feet Hostel.
I chatted with them for ten or fifteen minutes, and they told me how it was their last day on trail for that section. They gave me hugs, and we exchanged contact info before continuing on our separate ways. I felt very grateful to have met them, and did my best to convince them to come to Trail Days next year.
As I was moving along, I found the 600 mile marker for NOBOs, which also indicated the remaining miles for those of us going south. A little bit further I found the 1600 mile marker showing what we’d accomplished so far.
Both were rather emotional for me, and each milestone I hit I ended up thinking about my NOBO friends I had been hiking around when they hit the same amount of miles, reflecting on how our experiences varied.
Not only that, I thought about how much easier it was to hike the way they’d been hiking then, and how hard I’d worked to keep up. Though I thought that helped make me how strong I was now.
I descended down to VA 612, where a bit of trail magic was set up, with a package of electrolyte drinks, which was very welcome. I downed one and dumped the container in the handy trash can.
I couldn’t see where the trail went from there, so I pulled out the guide, which told me I had a 1.5 mile road walk, with Brushy Mountain Outpost .8 into the walk.
I hiked up a beautiful newly paved road, through bright sunshine, playing music out loud on my phone because I was on a road, and not in the woods.
I recognized Interstate 77 from hiking through last time, and remembered how I got wildly lost, confused as to where the trail went, overwhelmed and by myself around the busy highway, before finding where I was supposed to cross the bridge over 77.
This time it was a breeze, and I thought about how much I’d learned since then. I walked up on where the road was being actively paved, and a nice gentleman in a hard hat instructed me where to walk around the road where they’d prepared it.
I got to the outpost at 1PM, 12 miles into the day, and saw White Walker’s pack was sitting outside the door. I placed mine on a picnic table where the bright sunlight could dry off the sweat I’d generated.
White Walker was inside at a table and in fine spirits, and I walked around the small outpost checking out the resupply selection, before approaching the deli counter for hot food.
The grill closed at 1:25 so I was just in time. I spent almost $20 on a burger, fries, soda, and ice cream. I hadn’t planned on spending the money, but did think it was a good idea to load up on some calories since I was hiking big days again, and didn’t have any real lunch food in my bag.
KT arrived a bit after White Walker had left and ordered some food of his own. We ate our burgers together at a little table under the two maps that had pins in them of where all the hikers from this year lived.
At 1:45 I was pleasantly surprised to see Sydney pop through the front door. They were aiming to do the 23 miles today as well, which would be her first 20 mile day.
I was super proud she’d done the 12 miles in five hours, which was 2.4 miles per hour. Outside, Quasar was very happy to see me again, and I gave Iroh the rest of my ice cream.
Iroh and Q split the leftover slab of bologna from KT’s burger, since unfortunately the grill was closed by then. I sat with them for a bit, before heading out at 2:00, just before the others.
I made my way up a little climb to a pretty power line view, then continued on twists and turns along the side of ridges, descending for a couple miles toward another power line view.
I climbed up toward a couple more little views, under rhododendron tunnels, and through large open forests. There weren’t many flowers around anymore, I’d noticed, but there was lots of foliage and crunchy leaves underfoot.
I had music on the whole second half of the day, which was a nice contrast to the morning. I could feel my feet hurting from my shoes needing to be replaced, but other than that my body felt strong.
I passed many campsites along the way, one with a very nice view, before descending down switchbacks for about a mile, singing aloud and hoping no one was around to hear it.
I knew I was getting closer to the water source, because of the great increase in rhododendrons trees toward the end of the descent. There were puddles among the trees, though where the trail crossed was rocky and dry.
I checked the guide, surprised I was there already, as it had only been two hours of hiking, but saw I was indeed at the source, 4.6 miles from camp.
Buoyed knowing I’d be getting to camp earlier than expected, which meant more daylight, I continued on toward the road, since I still had a liter of water in my bag.
Just across the road, there was a lovely wooden bridge crossing Laurel Creek, a very large and beautiful flowing source.
I climbed 500 feet over a mile, then ran the ridge for just over 2 miles, though for some reason it felt like I was still climbing quite a bit, though it was a very mellow incline.
I descended 1.3 down to the shelter, happy to have gravity on my side again. I stopped .1 before it, at Hunting Camp Creek, which I’d read was a nicer source than the puddles at the shelter.
I collected three liters, then carried my water bag up a little incline, where I found White Walker at the shelter about to start a fire.
That was a welcome surprise, and I chatted with him before setting up my tent, having enjoyed spending the night in it the day prior, having my little house again.
KT got there while I was layering up, and we all had dinner together at the picnic table next to the fire that was burning merrily by then.
While we were eating, Sydney, Iroh and Quasar all hiked up around 7:00. I was very impressed, and flattered when Sydney told me she’d been channeling my energy and that I motivated her.
Quasar ran around saying hi to everyone like he hadn’t just also hiked his first 20 mile day. We all sat around the fire for a couple hours, enjoying the warmth and camaraderie it provided. We’d all hit milestones today, and that was certainly worth celebrating.