Day 37 - Mar 29
Sleeping under the stars is an experience I will not forget, it is so wonderful.
We woke up at 630 and started moving shortly after. Our pace quickened when we noticed a dark blue / purplish cloud rapidly approaching us. By the time we had everything packed up at 745 the cloud was directly over us and a few drops of rain were beginning to fall. By the time we got off the bald, which might have taken us a 45 seconds, a huge crash of thunder sounded behind us and lighting filled the sky. Then there was a deluge. Although the storm only lasted 30 minutes, the rain absolutely came down during that time. It was really something else.
Our morning constisted of an 8 mile ridge walk. We couldn't see much of the first half due to the fog, but the second half was beautiful. There were massive boulders on the sides of the trail and when a view arose, we could look off to our west and see a small town in a bowl shaped valley.
We stopped for lunch at "Jenkins Shelter." We read the log book and noticed that someone had seen a bear there the night before. With all the recent warm weather it isnt shocking that the bears are out.
We had a few more up and down climbs for the rest of the day but for the most part the rest of the day was flat. There were a few times we went up or down but it was so gradual that we barely notcied it.
The feel of southern Virginia is fantastic. The warmer weather, the easier terrain, and the gorgeous views make us feel great for pushing through the challenges to get here.
At 20 miles into the day we came out of the woods and found ourselves relaxing at a picnic bench at brushy mountain outpost. Although closed, we were able to throw out our trash, which took a nice 2 or 3 pounds out of our bags. When we were getting ready to leave, a red car drove by us and to our great surprise, Osceola stuck his head out of the window of the car and started yelling at us. Other than him, there were two hikers in the car, Nor'easta and snackpack. We had ran into Nor'easta several times but snack pack was new to us. The driver of the car, was a local by the name of Chuck. Chuck told us to get into the car as he was having a cookout at his place and we could tent in the backyard. Obviously, we got into the car and went back to Chuck' place.
The rest of the night consisted of eating, relaxing, and hanging out with fellow hikers / Chuck. Today was one of my favorite days on trail. A big part of the Appalachian Trail is the community that surrounds it. Since the virus has been going around, we have not had the experience on the trail that we were expecting to have. In fact, we hadn't really seen anyone for a week. Tonight gave us the experience I was hoping to have more of.
Thank you Chuck.
Goodnight,
Tyler M.
We woke up at 630 and started moving shortly after. Our pace quickened when we noticed a dark blue / purplish cloud rapidly approaching us. By the time we had everything packed up at 745 the cloud was directly over us and a few drops of rain were beginning to fall. By the time we got off the bald, which might have taken us a 45 seconds, a huge crash of thunder sounded behind us and lighting filled the sky. Then there was a deluge. Although the storm only lasted 30 minutes, the rain absolutely came down during that time. It was really something else.
Our morning constisted of an 8 mile ridge walk. We couldn't see much of the first half due to the fog, but the second half was beautiful. There were massive boulders on the sides of the trail and when a view arose, we could look off to our west and see a small town in a bowl shaped valley.
We stopped for lunch at "Jenkins Shelter." We read the log book and noticed that someone had seen a bear there the night before. With all the recent warm weather it isnt shocking that the bears are out.
We had a few more up and down climbs for the rest of the day but for the most part the rest of the day was flat. There were a few times we went up or down but it was so gradual that we barely notcied it.
The feel of southern Virginia is fantastic. The warmer weather, the easier terrain, and the gorgeous views make us feel great for pushing through the challenges to get here.
At 20 miles into the day we came out of the woods and found ourselves relaxing at a picnic bench at brushy mountain outpost. Although closed, we were able to throw out our trash, which took a nice 2 or 3 pounds out of our bags. When we were getting ready to leave, a red car drove by us and to our great surprise, Osceola stuck his head out of the window of the car and started yelling at us. Other than him, there were two hikers in the car, Nor'easta and snackpack. We had ran into Nor'easta several times but snack pack was new to us. The driver of the car, was a local by the name of Chuck. Chuck told us to get into the car as he was having a cookout at his place and we could tent in the backyard. Obviously, we got into the car and went back to Chuck' place.
The rest of the night consisted of eating, relaxing, and hanging out with fellow hikers / Chuck. Today was one of my favorite days on trail. A big part of the Appalachian Trail is the community that surrounds it. Since the virus has been going around, we have not had the experience on the trail that we were expecting to have. In fact, we hadn't really seen anyone for a week. Tonight gave us the experience I was hoping to have more of.
Thank you Chuck.
Goodnight,
Tyler M.
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