Monday April 15, 26.2mi/42.2km

Route 624/Four Pines Hostel (703.9) to Route 220/Daleville (729.7) (VA) +0.4mi side trail

Most of the other hostel guests were already up when I climbed down from bed at 7am. I left at 7:45am and it was a sunny, yet cold and windy morning.

All the rain from yesterday and last night had made the creeks larger.

It was a nice pleasant ridge walk all morning, and Bob and Turbo caught me just before McAfee knob. It is the most photographed spot on the entire trail, and we definitely took a break and many more photos.

It was very windy, so we went back into the woods and hiked on. Turbo wasn’t feeling well, and he stopped at the next shelter. The next 5miles were easy ridge walking, and then we got to Tinker cliffs.

In the distance, on the right of the ridgeline, is McAfee knob where we had just come from 2 hours earlier.

It was another 8 miles to town, so we continued on down the hill.

We got to town at 5:30, and checked into the Super 8 Motel, where I had a box waiting. New shoes!

It has been 730 miles on the first pair, maybe a little too much, but they held up great. I love the New balance trail runners for these long distance trails.

We went and got dinner at a local BBQ place, then did a resupply at Kroger. I found it amusing that even the grocery store was advertising the AT.

I am now one-third of the way done with the AT!

Sunday April 14, 23.1mi/37.2km

Sarver Hollow shelter (681.2) to Route 624/Four Pines Hostel (703.9) (VA)

The weather forecast said that severe thunderstorms were arriving around 5pm, so I got going at 7:30am to make it to a hostel before then. Most of the day it rained lightly on and off, and the umbrella was always at the ready. The first three miles were on a ridge, and the trail went over these big slabby rocks. I’m sure they’re fine normally, but they’re kinda scary when wet. Wet slab isn’t fun.

At the end of the ridge was the Eastern continental divide. Water goes into the Mississippi River, or a the Atlantic.

The wet weather was really making everything turn green too.

It was a mostly uneventful day, and with the occasional rain, I took very few photos. In mid afternoon, I crossed the 700 mile marker!

And shortly after, was a rock formation called Dragons Tooth. I’m sure it has amazing views on most days, but not today.

And then… the forecasted storm started an hour early. I hurried down from the ridge, but also taking my time in steep sections like this:

I was only a mile from being done, and the trail was starting to get deep.

“I waded the entire length of the Appalachian Trail”

I arrived to the hostel just before 4pm, and it was a nice dry oasis. Four Pines Hostel was an interesting place.

Turbo showed up 10 minutes after I did, and we both went to dinner at the Homeplace restaurant. It is rated one of the top 10 restaurants on the entire trail. I agree. Chicken, beef, and ham, and 6 different sides. All unlimited!

After dinner, we went back to the hostel, and relaxed, played cards, and made desserts. We could hear the storm outside (severe thunderstorms, hail, damaging winds, tornado watch).

My feet were sore after the quick 23 miles today, but it was worth it for the dinner and to get out of the storm!

Saturday April 13, 25.3mi/40.7km

Pine Swamp shelter (656.3) to Sarver Hollow shelter (681.2) (VA) + 0.4mi side trail

I woke up at the usual time, but had a leisurely breakfast and talked with Turbo and Trail Chef for an hour. I finally got going at 9am, and it was nice weather. There were a lot of climbs today, here is the elevation profile.

At the top of the first climb, I was back in the clouds:

For most of the morning, I had my umbrella handy, as it would rain for 10-15 minutes every hour. Turbo caught me at lunch, and we hiked together for a bit.

Ever since entering Virginia, I’ve noticed these AT shields at road crossings. They are so much easier to see than the white blazes.

Later in the afternoon, the trail entered some farmland, and the sun came out.

And a few minutes later… cows! The first cows of the AT. Hi cows!On the Te Araroa, we used to say hi to the cows every day.

The trail also passed the largest oak tree on the AT today, called the Keffer Oak. It is 20feet in circumference.The backpack is for size reference.

Turbo caught up to me again as I was admiring the tree and snacking. He is fast, so as usual he got ahead quickly. This was thankfully the final climb of the day.

Once up on the ridge, I had some cool views of the surrounding ridges with the angle of the sunlight.

And some strange weird cairns that don’t seem to mark anything.

By 7pm, I arrived at the junction to the shelter. Usually, they are just 0.1miles or less from the trail. This one was far, ugh.I hiked the final 0.4 miles, and descended 200ft, which I will have to reverse tomorrow morning. Bleh. Long day!

Friday April 12, 19.3mi/31.1km

Route 100/Pearisburg (637.0) to Pine Swamp shelter (656.3) (VA)

I slept in late at the hostel, and it was a rainy, drizzly morning. I did some errands in town, then grabbed lunch at Papa’s Pizza. The meatball sub was huge!

Back at the hostel, I packed up and got a ride to trail, and I was hiking at 1pm. It had stopped raining, and the forest was so much greener now.

The trail crosses the New River, and some railroad tracks, on a bridge. Just as I was crossing the bridge, a train came! Good timing.

A few miles later, as I was climbing uphill to a ridge, I spotted a turtle slowly crossing the trail.

Many more plants are starting to bloom now. I’m not sure what these purple flowers are.

The trail crossed another dirt road, and it had some disturbing signs. They looked like old signs, so I hope the project was canceled. We really don’t need any more petroleum pipelines, especially ones that cut thru wilderness.

The trail continued to climb up to the ridge, and soon I was up inside the clouds. Still dry, but no visibility.

A few hours later, the clouds parted, and the sun came out!

So of course it was time for a snack break. This was the perfect sitting rock.

It was getting later in the day, so I hurried down the hill. There was a trail junction, for a trail that went thru West Virginia, cool!

I arrived at the shelter at 8pm, and it started raining 2 minutes later. Perfect timing again!

Thursday April 11, 0mi/0km

Hiker Haven Hostel (637.0)

My first real zero day! My original plan was to take a zero in the next town (Daleville VA), but this hostel was so nice, and I had a bunch of town chores to do.

Here are some photos of the hostel setup:

I spent the morning doing chores. I asked the hostel for a ride to the library, and when I explained why, they just let me borrow their laptop. So nice! So I sat at a table in the kitchen all morning, working on… my taxes! It would’ve only taken 30 minutes, but I needed to login to various accounts to get a the information. I only login to most of these once a year, so I had to make a few calls to various customer service departments. Ugh.

With taxes done, I walked to the grocery store (Food Lion… bleh) to do my resupply for the next 4 days of hiking. Now when people ask, I can tell them I’ve seen both snakes and bears on the AT, haha!

I also made trips to the post office, barber, and an accidental trip to pizza hut. I was walking by there, and a nice young couple wanted to talk to me about hiking and the AT, and offered to buy me a pizza for 20-30 minutes of my time. Sure!

I brought the leftover pizza back to the hostel, and Bob and Turbo were there! They were watching a movie, and I joined in.

Then, there was some more calorie loading after the pizza…

That was my second pint of B&J’s in as many days. A pretty solid zero day!

Wednesday April 10, 24.7mi/39.8km

Campsite by Dismal Creek (612.3) to Route 100/Pearisburg (637.0)

I always automatically get up early on a town day, it’s kinda like an exciting holiday. But, with food! Which probably explains why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday…

Anyway, so I was hiking by 7:15am, and it was a cold-ish morning, which was perfect for the small climb up to the ridge.

It was a pretty uneventful morning, and I saw no other hikers. I imagine if I had turned off to go to the Woods Hole Hostel, I would’ve met a few hikers. It’s a very popular place, with a communal arrangement toward meals and lodging.

But, as it was only 11am, I continued on, and stopped for lunch an hour later at Doc’s Knob shelter. It had the biggest deck I’ve ever seen on a shelter.

It was a beautiful 65F/18C sunny day, so I lounged on the deck for an hour. The afternoon hiking was pleasant and easy ridge walking.

It was around 2pm when I met my first hiker for the day. His name was Trigger, and he was doing this section SOBO. I was so excited to see another human, I had to get his photo!

Toward the end of the day, just before the long descent into town, there are a couple of viewpoints. The first one looking east, over the Pearis valley:

And another viewpoint called Angels Rest, looking to the west, over the New River valley:

After the long descent, the woods were noticeably greener.

And with waterfalls!

I got to the trailhead at 4:30pm, and called the local hostel for a ride.

A shuttle from Hiker Haven picked me up, and I was given a nice tour of the hostel. It’s a pretty new place, and has a lot of nice amenities for only $25. After I settled into the hostel and got a shower, it was margarita time.

A perfect finish to a great day!

Tuesday April 9, 27.5mi/44.3km

Route 615/Suiter Road (584.8) to campsite by Dismal Creek (612.3)

I woke up to the sound of water falling on my tent, but it was just the trees dripping from the dense fog. It was a warm morning and it was nice to hike in a t-shirt and shorts.

Did I make it to the final level of the game? Trail boss!

This burn section had a haunted feel to it with the fog.

I saw no other hikers all morning. I stopped at the Brushy Mountain outpost, a general store and grill. The cheeseburger on Texas toast was a good second breakfast.

The trail crossed another major freeway, interstate 77. Looks pretty empty…

At the trailhead parking areas, there are often trash cans. This one had an unusual sign. I’ve never seen this before, I suspect this is only a problem in rural Virginia?!

In the afternoon, I saw one hiker with her dog (section hiker, from the looks of her gear), and several more danger noodles.

It was a nice sunny afternoon, and easy walking. Most of the time there were no views, and I passed the time listening to podcasts. Here are the few views I had:

A couple of miles before camp, I crossed the first suspension bridge on the AT. Bounce time!

I got to my targeted camp spot at 6:30pm, and I was the only one there. At least the nearby creek will be pleasant background noise for sleeping.

Monday April 8, 24.5mi/39.4km

Knot Maul shelter (560.3) to Route 615/Suiter Road (584.8)

I woke up at 7am, and Turkish was already gone. Impressive! I packed up and Noodle and Blue were waking up. They said they usually leave camp at 9am, and they were planning a couple less miles than me, so I said goodbye.The day started off with a big 1600ft/500m climb up to Chestnut Ridge, fortunately it was early morning and still cool weather. There wasn’t much to see until I got up on the ridge.

And looking back south, to the spot the previous photo was taken:

I got phone signal, and noticed there was a severe thunderstorm watch starting in 2 hours. I hurried for the next 3 miles of open ridge, to make sure I was far away from the exposed section by 1pm.I got to a shelter at 11:30am, and stopped for lunch.

The view to the west side of the trail is fascinating. It looks down on Burke’s Garden, a geological oddity. It’s not a crater, but a limestone sinkhole that is 4 miles across.

Inside the shelter had some interesting things to look at too…

Graffiti is usually annoying, but I do love a good reference to The Office.I left the shelter by 12:15pm, and was down in the trees 5 minutes later. Safe!

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful ridge walking with no real views. I used my umbrella for an hour, and took a break at the next shelter, where I met Flatlander. Turkish was there too. We talked for a bit, mostly about the three topics hikers talk about most – food, bodily functions, and trail mileage. I pushed on another 5 miles in dry weather, and enjoyed a nice trail on an old roadbed. This tree was confusing… I guess it had fallen over, then sprouted more trees?

I made it to my camp spot next to Laurel creek by 5:30pm.

I quickly set up before the rain came back, and had the space to myself. The forecast is for scattered thunderstorms overnight, then nice tomorrow!

Sunday April 7, 26.3mi/42.3km

Partnership shelter (534.0) to Knot Maul shelter (560.3) (VA)

I woke up later than usual, since the loft of the shelter stays dark. I packed up and said goodbye to Michele while we ate breakfast burritos… of salmon!

Bob and I started up the first hill, and Turbo (of course) caught up soon after. It was a pleasant warm morning, with just one big climb all morning.

We slowly descended down to 2500ft/760m, and I could see that spring is starting to happen at these lower elevations!

We got to the “town” of Atkins at lunchtime, really it was just a diner and a couple of gas stations by the interstate.

Bob and I went into the Diner, called M&M Country Barn restaurant. Some of the other hikers went to the Mexican takeout restaurant in the gas station. Both seemed like good options! After eating a huge burger, and spending almost 2 hours there, it was time to hike again.

The trail roughly parallels the interstate 81 freeway for the next 700 miles….I’ll be seeing it a few more times. About an hour after lunch, I got a surprise. A Danger noodle! He moved quickly out of the way.

And shortly after the snake sighting, I hit the 1/4-way mark of the AT. The distance changes slightly each year, so the sign is approximate. 550 miles done!

The rest of the afternoon was hiking in mostly farmlands, which sadly had no cows. But plenty of views!

Bob and Turbo stopped at a hostel, and I kept going another 2miles to a shelter. I arrived at 6:30pm, and met Blue, Noodle, and Turkish. They were really entertaining to talk to, and we stayed up and had a small campfire. I hope I run into them again. Tomorrow’s forecast is for afternoon thunderstorms, so I will try to get an early morning start!

Saturday April 6, 22.3mi/35.9km

Route 603 (511.7) to Partnership shelter (534.0) (VA)

Sleeping indoors is fun, you can wake up after the sunrise! The Sufi lodge was a quiet relaxing hostel, and Suzanne and James are wonderful hosts – they even made us a hot breakfast! After we finished our eggs, bacon, toast, and tea, Michele patched my damaged food bag.

Good as new! Take that, mice.

I was back on trail at 9am, and for the first time on this trail, I was wearing shorts! It started at 60F/16C, and warmed up to 72F/22C in the sun. I hiked an hour, and stopped at the first shelter for a snack break. I met Little One & Walden, who had hiked the AT in 2017, and were out hiking a 4-day section. They were fun to talk to, and they were thinking about hiking the Te Araroa next year, I hope I convinced them further.

I left the shelter and had a nice gradual downhill walk for a few miles. The trail passed right under Comers Creek Falls, a refreshing sight on a warm day.

The trail was mostly the same terrain today, gradual descents and climbs, on tread cut into the hillside.

At the next road crossing, there was some unattended trail magic! Someone hid sodas inside the trail register box, where hikers sign in/out of each forest section. Sweet!

Some of these wilderness areas have ridiculous names.

There was a short one mile section where the trail traversed a cow pasture. But sadly, no cows. 🙁

It might be too early for cows, but spring is coming. Flowers are blooming!

At the next road crossing, there was more trail magic! Jerry is with the local church, and he was out today in his cool vehicle, helping out hikers! He said there were 10 other hikers before me, so I’m not alone out here. I think we are all just traveling the same pace, so we don’t see each other.I hiked on a couple more hours, and arrived to Partnership shelter at 5:30pm. Bob, Bill, and Turbo were there, along with some other thru’s I hadn’t met yet. And Michele showed up an hour later, after her day if hiking up Mt Rogers and Greyson Highlands. Cool! It was great to see her (and Lola, dog) one more time before they head west to the PCT.It was a warm evening, so we were able to hang out and socialize, which was great. We went to bed early, to start early tomorrow morning, and make it to a brunch place!