Damascus to Pearisburg

Virginia begins

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Day 45

Took a zero day in town but was still fairly busy with town chores. That could include: food resupply, eating in town, gear repair, laundry, visiting outfitters or other specialty store, post office pick up or return, taking care of home business like banking or emails or anything requiring good internet or phone service, etc.

New hat so I can continue hiding from the sun. Thanks Aunt Sue!

New shoes are a big event

One step closer to being an ultra light backpacker: I cut the handle off my new toothbrush. Yes, it might save 10 grams, but really it's to fit better in my kit.

Day 46

I set a new personal Fitbit step record today, breaking 60k steps. We slackpacked about 24 miles and were able to do more downhill than up by hiking back into town. With less weight, you may hike faster (though there's a limit to your joints and cardio and not tripping on rocks, and I'm not a runner), but it's more about hiking a bit easier.

Cookie, Scallywag, and Firefly looking out from White top Mountain

Hiking across open summits

It was an exhausting day, nonetheless. Tomorrow we will get driven back to the same trailhead to continue north.

Day 46

No good deed goes unpunished? Even after removing food, wrappers, and scented items, it's quite likely that a mouse may visit you in the night. I had heard it's best to leave pockets unzipped so visitors can easily come and go rather than chew holes in your gear. I've even found evidence of their presence before. Well, this morning I instead found a spider that had taken up residence in my hip belt pocket.

Morning visitor, after being roused from my pocket

Today we entered the Grayson Highlands, famous for the wild ponies. It was a foggy and rainy day, so any views were lost on me.

Into the mist

I took a short detour to bag the summit of Mount Rogers, the tallest point in Virginia.

Briefly the highest person in Virginia, an otherwise uneventful summit

Mile 500, featuring the high class rain mitts, AKA dish gloves 

I saw one pony while hiking, only after I heard it snorting and shuffling.

First pony on trail! My double hood situation created a lot of tunnel vision, so for all I know there were others.

We holed up at a shelter earlier than usual and ended up with several more visitors. At least the daytime hiking rain was much lighter than the overnight storm.

Buttercup was willing to share the covered porch overhang

It's a baby!

Day 47

Again, we lucked out with intermittent rain during the day. Was it worth the extra effort to dodge puddles to protect shoes? The trail was pretty wet, so at least water sources are plentiful.

The bridge crosses the worst of the high water, but the trail on the other side is flooded, too.

Passed some lovely trail magic this morning with hot drinks, plenty of snacks, fresh fruit and donuts, too. Camp tonight was close enough to water to hear spring peepers! The frogs were rather loud and a welcome sign of spring.

Day 48

Overnight rain with decent hiking days continued. I got to the shelter early enough to dry out my gear in the afternoon sun.

Virginia brings pastures and trail cows

Virginia certainly isn't flat, not like the plains states or Florida, but the hills may be smoother or smaller. My average pace is increasing, and 15-20 mile days are the norm.

The sign is a bit hard to read but informs you of the scenic viewpoint. Normally we have to look for openings in the trees ourselves

The Partnership Shelter is next to a regional forest service headquarters and is close enough to a significant road to get pizza delivered. In warmer weather, the shelter has running water and a shower. We packed about 24 people into the 2 story shelter. The smell of damp gear and unwashed bodies was particularly ripe.

Day 49

Intermittent rain, again. I'm sounding like a broken record.

This historic one room schoolhouse is open for visitors AND contained snack boxes of trail magic.

Today was a big milestone: 1/4 of the trail completed!

The trail crosses I-81 next to some gas stations and restaurants, so I had tacos for lunch and got to dry out a little bit. It was actually warm enough for t shirt and shorts today, despite the weather. Normally, I wear long sleeves to avoid the sun since there's not full leaf coverage yet, but that wasn't a concern with the clouds and rain. By the time night fell, it was quite chilly.

Day 50

Dare I say it again, some intermittent rain today, but mostly gray skies and wind. I crossed a lot of pastures and bucolic landscapes today. Between the ponies and the farmland, there have been many, many, fences and gates crossed in the last week.

When the trail crosses a fence, there is either a gate or a stile. Stiles involve steps or something that people but not animals can navigate.

This kind involves some tight turns.

Some of these are quite steep and are more like ladders.

I stayed at a hostel, mostly for the shower and laundry but lucked out by avoiding high winds, near freezing temperatures, and a bit more rain. They had a decent frozen food and snack selection, and what else is a hiker to do but sit around and eat?

While hikers are a stinky lot, once a week for shower and proper laundry is pretty average with some intermediate steps taken in between. "Trail laundry" generally just involves rinsing, so your socks can no longer stand up by themselves, for example (It's worth pre rinsing socks in town to reduce mud and stink or else all your newly laundered clothes might smell like feet!). Baby wipes are common for a pre bed wipe down, too.

Day 51

Today was a big day, 22 miles and 5500 ft each up and down. I felt strong conquering this terrain and was in great spirits. At the risk of jinxing it, I have no issues with big downhill days. In the morning, I was partly fueled by homemade blueberry jam on toast from the hostel.

Stone walled Chestnut Knob shelter at summit of Garden Mountain

Not all ridgeline hiking is as easy as it looks on an elevation profile. These were tough ups and downs, and critically it was pretty rocky, requiring careful foot placement. I did luck into a bit of trail magic - a mom out hiking with her sons had an extra jug of water, right when I needed it.

Looking into the town of Burke's Garden, nicknamed God's Thumbprint. It's in a bowl formed by a collapsed limestone mountain.

Day 52

Well, it may be May but in the mountains, it's not spring yet. The rain this morning was mixed with ice pellets, and I was in a foul mood while hiking. Funny how quickly things can change, and how much the weather impacts my experience.

Overlook from a power line easement. At least I had great cell service and the weather had cleared

Stopped for an average veggie burger and fries plus ice cream at a small place right on trail. After a brief road walk over the interstate, I hiked until I found a decent campsite on the leeward side of the ridge.  Cold nights aren't quite over yet.

Day 53

Another benchmark complete

I, in fact, ate a tomato out of this roadside/trailside box, and it was delicious.

Today ended on a high note. There was a creek, and half mile down the road was a gas station with better resupply including hot food, adult beverages, and ice cream. On a sunny afternoon, after all this intermittent rain, it was nice to hang out (and keep eating) after a short (!) 12 mile day. Quite a crew accumulated here.

Suspension bridge across the creek

The camp chairs are a small but mighty crew

If you look closely in the second photo, there are two people crawling on a fallen tree across the water. And yes, someone fell in completely.

Day 54

Not the best photo of a lunar eclipse

It's nearly impossible to judge the difficulty of a hike from afar. Sure, you can look at distance and elevation profiles and get some idea. But what about how rocky the ground is, or covered in roots? Is it overgrown or full of blow downs? Is it constant little ups and downs or smooth rolling hills, which may or may not be visible on a topo map? Are there leaves on trees at elevation yet (spoiler: no, I'm strict about sunscreen up to 3 times every day)? What about wind on a ridgeline - welcome on a sunny day, or frigid? Today was sunny and had some smooth, some rocky ridges.

We camped at Pearis Ledges overlooking Pearisburg, VA. The campsite was definitely worth pushing into the evening. Sadly, while setting up for the night, my tent pole snapped. It's right at a junction point, so not the easiest to repair even with a temporary splint, but that will be a problem for in town tomorrow.

Happy hiking!