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 Days 60-64
June 1-5
Home to Pearisburg, VA, 
& on the Trail to War Spur Shelter
Days 60-61
Home to Pearisburg, VA

After resting my leg a couple more days at home and repacking our (now much cleaner) packs, Rocky and I were ready to return to the trail.  Sally, the dogs, and I drove to Radford, Virginia, Sunday night.  We arrived at our pet friendly hotel around midnight.


Day 62
Pearisburg, VA, to Campsite at Mile 646

Monday morning we drove to Pearisburg, Virginia, where Sally dropped me off at AT mile 638 (168 miles beyond Damascus).  My intention is to start hiking slowly until I get my hiking legs back.  If everything works out, Commando will catch up to me by the end of the week.





Although it rained this morning, there was no rain for the rest of the day.  The trail was mostly uphill, but there were no real technical challenges.  It felt good to be hiking again.  Rocky seemed pretty happy to be on the trail again, although he was a little unhappy to leave his siblings.


There were a lot of wildflowers along the trail.  I'm always amazed at the variety of wildflowers I see daily.






We came up on a relay tower on top of a ridge.


We passed by the Rice Field Shelter.  On the ridge near the shelter, there was a group of hikers setting up camp.  The group included Bag Lady (her rain gear resembles large trash bags) and Shinanigans (he keeps injuring his shins).  It was good to see them.

Shinanigans with Titanium & Rocky

Rice Field Shelter

The views from the ridge were spectacular.



Bag Lady is now hiking with a group of five women.  Rocky spent time with each of them and got his picture taken.



We set up camp near a spring at mile 646.  It's a pretty camping site, but there is a lot of poison ivy around (not to mention the ticks).  There has been bear activity in the area, so I hung our food.



Day 62 Trail Profile


Day 63
Mile 646 to Pine Swamp Branch Shelter


The weather was great today.  It was sunny, not very humid, and the thunderstorms held off until late in the day.

The trail, on the other hand, was a rock garden with substantial blow down (trees and branches blown down across the trail).  To make life more interesting, there were long stretches where the rocks were covered in slippery algae.  I took my time working my way through these slippery areas.



Well, let's just say that I took my time period.  I'll take climbing over dead fall anytime over slipping and sliding through uneven algae-covered rocks.  Combine the two, and you are in for an interesting day.



Today I had the opportunity to see a toad cross the trail and a turtle "hide" from Rocky when he sniffed it.  Once that turtle went inside its shell, it was not coming out.  I placed it beside the trail so it wouldn't get stepped on.








We stopped for lunch at a high meadow that overlooked the valley below.




There is some sort of construction happening on both sides of the AT.  To keep hikers "safe," warning signs were posted and a fenced corridor was placed along the AT.  I seriously doubt that the fence would do any good, but it most likely made the insurance company happy.  Yup, meeting those due diligence standards.



We were passing by the Pine Swamp Branch Shelter when thunderstorms began to threaten.  I found a nice camping spot just as it began to sprinkle and was able to set up camp right before it began to rain in earnest.  


Pine Swamp Branch Shelter

Day 63 Trail Profile


Day 64
Pine Swamp Branch Shelter to War Spur Shelter


This morning started with rain, and it rained pretty much all day.  In fact, it was still raining when I pitched my wet tent at 8:30 p.m.


While I was packing up camp this morning, I saw England and California slack packing south (two hikers that we frequently leap frogged on the trail).  They told me that Commando was at Angel's Rest Hostel.  He was taking a Zero today and planned on doing a 20-mile slack pack tomorrow.  That puts him at least two days behind what I was expecting.

Rocky Northbound

The trail was similar to yesterday, except traversing the blow down was today's challenge.  There were a large number of big trees, piled on each other, on the trail.  I had to take off my pack, then crawl through, over, and around tree trunks and branches.  Needless to say, my progress was slow.  If you were good at the game of Twister, the downfall would be fun.  The contortions didn't seem to bother Rocky at all.  Every time I looked, he was there.







This rat snake was lying in the middle of the trail, and I chased it off so it wouldn't get stepped on or scare the hell out of someone who is snake phobic.  


 

We arrived at Bailey's Gap Shelter just as a thunderstorm was rolling through.  Rocky and I took this as a good time for a break and lunch.

Bailey's Gap Shelter





I met Pastor John today.  What caught my eye is that he also has metal knees.  He's 83 years old, and this is his second set of metal knees.  This is also his third time hiking the AT, but he is section hiking this time.

John was a pastor of a Methodist church in Georgia for 25 years.  Prior to that, he was a civil rights lawyer and head of Legal Aid in Georgia for 25 years.  He knew Rosa Parks and other civil rights activists of that era.  He argued civil rights cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, many in front of Justice Rehnquist.

Pastor John


The thunderstorms returned this afternoon with a vengeance.  We continued to hike until we reached War Spur Shelter, arriving about 8:30 p.m.  The shelter was packed, so I pitched my tent in the pouring rain, retrieved and filtered my water, fixed dinner, and then went to sleep.









Note from Sally (and VIDEO HIGHLIGHT BELOW!!):

As I post this on Friday night, June 7th, Titanium (Dan) and Rocky have hiked two more days, but lack of cell service has meant no photos or narrative for those days yet.  Titanium has sent messages via his Garmin, and all is well, in particular with that leg we have been so worried about.  

Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of Rocky's "Gotcha Day," the day we adopted him from the local shelter at nine weeks of age (after he and his littermates had been found at the quarry below our house).  Here is one of my favorite memories from that day:



VIDEO
Commando should catch Titanium and Rocky any day, and in the meantime, Commando posted Episode 9 of his video series, 5 Million Steps, a few days ago.  Here is the link--enjoy! (I always do):

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