Week 1: Expect the Unexpected

Miles 0-45.5

Note: This week we survived. It took pretty much all our focus and energy so writing was not a priority. Consequently, this journal entry is a long one. We will try to upload some shorter posts more frequently next week.

(By Becky) The inaugural week of our trip demonstrated once again how unpredictable life can be on the trail. We quickly grew to expect the unexpected - maybe even embrace it a little. We drove from Dadeville to Waynesboro, VA where we spent Sunday night at Stanimals Hiker Hostel. He had reserved the “tiny house” in the back for us since we are a couple. Only thing is, it had no running water which meant navigating the back yard in the dark of night to find our way to the inside bathroom. But we got a good night‘s sleep and were ready to hit the trail first thing Monday morning. We rode out to Rockfish Gap with Vagabond Jack and Tarzan (more about trail names later). We were blown away by the trail. Literally. We were met by cold gusts of winds that reached up to 40 mph! It was a huge effort hiking the trail up out of the gap and there was a time or two I seriously had doubts about this whole adventure thing. And then when we got to the self-registration station to register for backcountry camping, we discovered a tree had smashed it flat. John removed his pack and took a side trail to get our paperwork so we’d be legal, bonafide hikers. And speaking of my husband, he has been so incredibly sweet. Before we even set foot on the trail, he told me to take the lead so I could go at my own pace and not feel I had to keep up with him. We have continued to hike that way throughout the entire week and it has worked well. He has hiked behind me, providing a constant source of encouragement. Seriously. There were times when I literally counted 10 steps then breathe, 20 steps then breathe, 30 steps then breathe, and so on. Never once did he complain about the slow pace or frequent stops. Our goal was to hike around 8 miles a day and we hiked just slightly above that.

Monday night we stayed at Calf Mountain shelter where we met up with Vagabond Jack again and three other hikers. We tent camped that night because we both have an aversion to the mice who tend to set up house underneath them. Some hikers just leave their backpack pockets all open so the mice can run through their packs rather than chew holes through them. Uggh!

Next morning we woke up to start the trail again, only to find a 1 mile detour due to power line work. Now on the flatlands 1 mile is not that long maybe, but in the mountains when you haven’t got your trail legs it’s a big deal. And the day offered some beautiful sites, but it was almost all uphill. As the morning and afternoon went by we realized that with the detour, we were going to fall short of our day’s objective. And we were running low on water. And there was no campsite close. And the trail followed the mountain - no flat land above or below to pitch the tent. And it was getting dark. Then God gave us the only spot flat for miles either direction just when we needed it (see the sunset picture)!

Wednesday night we cowboy camped under the stars at the Dundo Group Campground which wasn’t officially opened yet. We tried to call to get permission, but no one answered and we couldn’t reserve online so we figured we’d just beg for forgiveness if the ranger found us. That was also when we discovered we’d have to crank out 10.5 miles the next day if we were to reach the destination where the shuttle driver was meeting us. We were both a little overwhelmed at the prospect when we looked at the map and realized a lot of those miles would be uphill. Ok I was a bit more than overwhelmed. More like cranky, pessimistic, irritable, grouchy and so on. But we sat down together and came up with a plan and hoped for the best. And I apologized.

Thursday we had to make it to Pinefield Hut which was over 10 miles. All I can say is that God provided so many things for us along the way to encourage our hike. At the 8 mile mark we found Ivy Creek which allowed us a sit down and get a good foot soak in the cold, running water. Refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of the miles, we ended up at Pinefield Hut around 5:00 that evening.

Friday we hiked to Hightop Hut. We knew there were thunderstorms coming in but hoped we could get there before the worst of them started. Rain doesn’t really pose a danger on the trail other than what it does to the condition of the trail - turning it into a slick stream of mud and water. But thunderstorms with high winds and lightening are actually very dangerous. This time of year hypothermia can quickly set in and trees and limbs can blow down at any time blocking the trail or even landing on hikers. There is a lot of blow down all over the mountain now due to an ice storm last November so it’s kind of a mess at times. A couple of miles before we reached the shelter the rain started coming down and was a full blown rainstorm about a mile from our destination. We didn’t stop to put on our rain gear because we were already warm from hiking and rain gear does not breathe. So we put on our pack covers and hiked as quickly as we could to get to the shelter. We made it well before the major storm came in that evening and shared the hut with a really interesting young man named Soulshine who is on his second through hike. So, this was the second time we actually slept in a shelter this week. The first time we had no mice problem at all but I knew we were in for it with this shelter when I noticed a small little rodent already creeping up the crack in the side wall. I got out the peppermint oil and dropped it all around the cracks and I thought it worked pretty well until I picked up my pack in the morning and found a dead mouse underneath it. Uggh! Not sure what killed it but I highly suspect it was the smell of my clothes after a week in there!

Saturday morning was a beautiful hike of only 3.4 miles down to the gap where our shuttle driver was waiting to pick us up to take us back to Waynesboro so we could attend Easter church services as well as resupply and regroup. We have down our own little pack shakedown and mailed a bunch of stuff back home. It’s kind of scary to let go of equipment you think you might need but it’s also a necessary process to get our packs down to a more reasonable weight. We‘ve had a great time in town which is really part of the whole “AT experience” but we are both anxious to hit the trail again early in the morning. Our plan for next week might take us over 100 total miles, but we’ll see. We’ve learned to expect the unexpected!