Hiking the Good Hike

4/9 Day 37 Damascus to Lost Mountain Shelter - 15.6 miles

The day after a zero is an interesting day of mixed emotions; happy to be getting back on the trail but sad to be leaving town. We wanted to really take our time so we planned to stay at least until lunch and hike out only ten miles to a campsite listed in the AWOL guide. We took our time packing our bags and took a walk over to the post office to mail a couple things home. By far the best post office in Damascus. After packing our bags we hung out on the patio with Nomad and some others before lunch. We finally began to motivate and headed to the Dairy King for lunch with Nomad, Shutterbug, and Chickadee. As we ate, the rest of the gang showed up for milkshakes.

We were finally on the trail just after 1:00 in the heat of the day. We walked along the Virginia Creeper for a short while before climbing for quite some time only to end up parallel with the Virginia Creeper later that hike. As we hiked, we were passed by pretty much the whole crew. We passed on the first shelter because it was a bit off the trail and continued on to our pond campsite. The pond was kind of a bust, not much camping opportunity so we assumed the rest of our group had continued on to either a different campsite or maybe the next shelter. We decided to continue. We hiked into the evening making it to the very full shelter just before dark. None of our friends were there and we had no idea where they could be. I'm not great at making friends so I was worried they had abandoned us. There were probably 30 people at the shelter and/or camped at the site. We set up camp and ate our dinner and Camaro arrived just after dark. Camaro told us we had missed everyone by skipping the last shelter and they were going to camp a few miles back. We were bummed we had missed them, but relieved that they hadn't abandoned us. The crowd at the shelter is fairly loud but we're tired so sleeping shouldn't be a problem. We need to put some miles between these groups; 30 people is too many for one shelter.


4/10 Day 38 Lost Mountain Shelter to Wise Shelter 17.4 miles

We slept in hoping some of the crowd would move on and also to give our friends some time to catch up. Nomad had planned to do some hiking with us in the Grayson Highlands area so we were looking forward to meeting up with him around lunch time. We hiked up to Buzzard's Rock and while we took a short snack break we saw in the distance the orange shirt and green shorts of Witch Doctor. Not far behind was Passover, Ember, Long Spoon, Tail Lights and finally Laser Death Kill. We were happy they had caught us and we were back with our group and we were all excited to move on and hike with Nomad later.

A few more miles and we were to the road crossing where we had planned to meet Nomad. Nomad was set up with his team of injured hikers with snacks and drinks. After hanging out for an hour or two we hiked on with Nomad and the injured hikers were left with to care for Vanimal (Nomad's van). It was a blast to have Nomad hiking with us again. He lead the train as we hiked up into the highlands searching for wild ponies. The ponies are semi-wild introduced to the area to maintain the highlands. They are popular among both thru hikers and tourists. Finally, just before reaching the Mt. Rogers side trail we encountered the ponies. We may or may not have taken time to pet the ponies and we certainly did not feed them. We discovered ponies to enjoy licking our arms, we assumed they liked the salt. Everyone was pretty thrilled to see the ponies, they had doubted me when I told them we would definitely see the ponies.

After our time with the ponies we met up with Camaro at Thomas Knob Shelter. She wasn't crazy about the idea of moving on but Nomad wanted to move on to Wise Shelter to reduced the miles he would have to hike tomorrow. The hike from Thomas Knob to Wise is one of my favorite sections thus far. We really enjoyed hiking this section in the evening as the sun was beginning to set. We ended up camping just past Wise Shelter where camping was not prohibited. The shelter was full and there were about ten tents set up win the camping restricted vicinity. Just after dark the rest of our crew showed up and set up camp. Wise shelter marks 500 miles on  the trail.

4/11 Day 39 Wise Shelter to Camping at mile 517.6 - 17.5 miles

Another great day today. Cassandra took off with Nomad leaving me behind with some of the others. I hiked with Long Spoon and LDK (Laser Death Kill) for much of the morning before catching Cassandra and Nomad at the Scales. The three of us hiked together passing Old Orchard Shelter and stopping for a lunch break at the VA 600 road crossing where Nomad would be getting off the trail. Nomad's injured hiker crew was supposed to be there but when we arrived there was no van. We all joked about where the van could be. Could there have been a mutiny? Eventually Nomad found Zach and Chickadee at a camping area down the road and learned the van had been taken to get ice. Shortly thereafter the van arrived with snacks and drinks in the usual Nomad fashion. We hung out for quite some time as hikers came and went before finally strapping on our packs and hitting the trail again.

Our plan at this point was to either hike to a campsite 10 miles away or a shelter 13 miles away. We had assumed the other large group would go to the shelter and camping would be limited so we opted for the campsite. It was a  campsite with a spring, picnic table and even a creepy privy but for some reason there were very few spots to pitch tents. We did the best with what we had knowing rain was coming. At dark we were in our tents and listening once more to Long Spoon's narration of The Princess Bride.


4/12 Day 40 Campsite to Partnership Shelter - 13 miles

Last night was very rainy. The rain was so loud on the tent it made sleeping difficult. The rain continued through morning. We packed up in the rain and hiked our first several miles in the rain. Early in the day Man Child who had chosen to take an additional zero in Damascus caught up to us. The hiking was easy and the weather slowly turned from rainy and cool to sunny and warm. At Partnership Shelter we found a lot of gear, Camaro, and a table full of food left as trail magic by Hoosier and Sparks. Just passed the shelter is the Mount Rogers area visitor center where hikers can order pizza. Camaro told us there were several hikers attempting unsuccessfully to hitch hike into town to resupply.

As we all contemplated a plan on how to get to town Nomad pulled up in the Vanimal. AYCE walked over to the shelter surprising Cassandra and I with a Mountain Dew for each of us. Nomad had picked AYCE up in Atkins to come hang out while he waited for his girlfriend to arrive for the weekend. Everyone piled into Vanimal for a ride into Marion but Cassandra and I stayed behind choosing to find another way to town. While I was in the bathroom Cassandra made friends with a former thru hiker who offered to give us a ride to town in his truck. We hopped in and away we went down the mountain in a hurry. He dropped us off at the edge of town and we walked the rest of the way to the Taco Bell/KFC where the rest or our friends were. We walked a bit further to the Arby's and the grocery store to resupply. Nomad took AYCE back to Atkins and shuttled many hikers back to the shelter where we hung out the rest of the evening. Later that night we did take advantage of the opportunity to order pizza at the shelter and had second dinner. There is a huge crowd at the shelter tonight, probably 30-40 people. I thought we would avoid crowds this size starting early March. Oh well.


We're still having the time of our lives. So much fun, in fact, it remains difficult for me to keep this blog updated. Life in the mountains is great. You'll hear no complaints from me. I find myself saying, "Wow, what a day!" pretty much everyday. We are now hiking with a great group of people we've been with for over a month now. It's amazing how we all come together from all over the country (and outside of) and become such close friends so quickly. Cassandra and I are doing great. We have no injuries to speak of and we are healthy both physically and mentally. Thanks to everyone for reading and for the continued support.

Chris (aka Moose)