I invited Becky, whose official trail name is now "Leaves", to join me on a two-night backpacking trip. The goals were to spend two consecutive nights in the woods and to cover more miles each day than previously accomplished. Check and check.
We left the parking area on VA 603 late afternoon on Friday and hiked a short 1.7 miles south on the AT to Old Orchard shelter. We passed another hiker who informed us that two men were planning on making ribs and two female hikers were also there. I thought, "Okay, this is the night I learn to share a shelter with strangers." A few minutes later, two lady thru-hikers came along, sharing the same rib supper info. These ladies were from Florida and very friendly.
After a little over a mile, there was what I call a "rockfall": a slide of rocks tumbling down the slope. These rocks are moss-covered and oh, so beautiful. Last spring, I heard an under ground stream here. This spring, the area was peppered with a grove of hosta-looking plants. Although, I have yet to identify this plant, I'm leaning toward skunk cabbage.
Sly (above) and Leaves (below) at the rockfall.
We arrived at OOS and chatted with the two men already there. Leaves and I gauged the situation in order to decide whether to join the men in the shelter or pitch a tent. We decided to sleep in the shelter. The guys (Joe and Eric) were friendly and chatty. For me, I know sharing a shelter is inevitable, so I might as well do it. This shelter sleeps six; the four of us had plenty of room.
Some time after our supper, a total of five thru-hikers arrived. One ate some of Joe's food and pushed on, trying to reach Marion for re-supply. His hiking partner also chose to keep hiking. Another, a man with a dog, decided to tent; and the remaining two joined us in the shelter.
Because Leaves and I usually go to sleep at dark and try to get up at daylight, she was in her bag trying to go to sleep and I was in mine trying to warm up. The remaining four were cooking supper and talking. Not too long after, they too climbed into their bags. A few minutes later, I heard a loud thump. Eric had hung his pack on a peg above his floor space. I sat up and asked, "What was that?", expecting Eric's bag to have fallen on him. He answered, "A mouse just crawled across my chest!" Ahhh, my first experience with mice in the shelters. Glad it was him and not me. Dragonborn, the female thru-hiker, explained that because the mice like to scurry along the walls, she and Baird, her male counterpart, sleep with their heads toward the opening, not the back wall. Eric, Joe, and I quickly turned around.
Leaves and I were up and on the trail, (with breakfast and chores finished), around 8. At first, the trail was a little steep and rocky. Once we reached the summit of Pine Mountain, the terrain was easier to hike. We stopped at The Scales for a break.
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The Scales |
Just as we left this paddock, a cowboy brought hay in for the long-horn cattle.
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somewhere between the scales and wise shelter |
We had lunch at Wise Shelter. Several ponies graced the hikers with their presence. Those four-legged stinkers were not shy. They persistently walked right up to people and gear, sniffing out treats. We met an older, lone, female thru-hiker who impressed us. Regretfully, neither of us got her trail name.
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Wise Shelter |
The next two miles were easily hiked. Then we had two miles of rocks which slowed my pace. I was so thankful to be finally finished with those rocks. My mantra over these two miles was, "Jesus, please give me strength." Leaves was fascinated with the rocks and repeatedly commented that her husband would love them. Her positive attitude and love of nature are two of the traits that make her a great hiking partner.
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Fat Man's Squeeze |
After the eleventh mile, we reached Thomas Knob shelter. We passed what seemed like 50 tents belonging to two or three Boy Scout troops. There were a couple of men at the shelter, but they were only taking a break. Leaves and I were the first two who intended to stay for the night. Hikers were coming and going, taking advantage of the water source. "Plan B", a solo, female thru-hiker, stopped in. She decided to tent just around the corner. However, she did eat supper with us and chatted until bedtime. Joe and Eric showed up after an hour had passed, much to my surprise. Thomas Knob shelter has a loft, which Leaves and I claimed. The guys took the lower level. Again, Leaves and I were in our bags before the guys. We heard two other hikers come in. We listened to the noise of their supper and chatter before they settled in.
In the Thomas Knob journal someone had noted that there would be trail magic that evening a bit north of this shelter. A hiker came by to confirm and invite. Initially he said it was 1/2 mile away. Even the promise of guacamole and enchiladas didn't lure me to walk another mile round trip. Four guys packed in food and drink for 80 people! Now that is dedicated trail angels. Joe and Eric decided to go for it. What seemed like 2 hours later, they returned, stating that they changed their minds. Our impression was that Eric was interested but Joe was not. The next day we were told that only four hikers took advantage of the trail magic. How unfortunate.
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from a previous day hike |
I had been sporadically wondering why no thru-hikers were staying in the shelter. Was it a mice infestation? A haunting? What was wrong with this shelter? I told Leaves that I had read if you throw a bit of tp in the corner, the mice will chew that instead of your pack in search of food. So we tried it. In hind sight, it seems not quite logical since tp is not food. Regardless, we had no problems with mice. The shelter turned out to be a great experience.
We awoke to a beautiful morning just before 6:00 and were on the trail by 7:00. We planned to hike a mile or two north on the Appalachian trail and then take the Pine Mountain trail toward The Scales where it reconnects to the AT. There are numerous intersecting trail in this area and sometimes the signage is not great. We actually missed the sign we needed to see which caused us to miss the connection to Pine Mountain Trail. Once we discovered our mistake, the correction would have us backtrack 1 1/2 miles. I was not willing to do that over those stinking rocks. We chose to follow four miles of a horse trail to The Scales instead, reasoning that it would be flat. This did not save us any time, but we did get to experience a new trail. Another plus was that it was not crowded. We saw only one other hiker.
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Rocks of Grayson Highlands State Park |
Once we discovered our mistake, the correction would have us backtrack 1 1/2 miles. I was not willing to do that over those stinking rocks. We chose to follow four miles of a horse trail to The Scales instead, reasoning that it would be flat. This did not save us any time, but we did get to experience a new trail. Another plus was that it was not crowded. We saw only one other hiker. We stopped again at The Scales for food, garbage toss, and potty. There are really nice privies there. The hiker we had seen on the horse trail offered us a ride to our vehicle, but we declined. We were, after all, training. It was three more miles to Old Orchard Shelter, then 1.7 miles to the car. We carried on and eventually arrived. Our 12 mile hike took a little less than 7 hours.
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Someone had carved a cross into the moss. |
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A heart painted near the blazes that mark the AT |