Date: 2020-07-11
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Campbell Shelter (Pig Farm campsite)
Miles today: 17.0

If yesterday was almost everything I don't want in a hiking day, today was a model day.Yes, the ridge started out bumpy and rocky on the way to Dragon's Tooth. It wasn't really that bad, but I'd not eaten quite enough for breakfast so I was coasting on fumes for a couple miles before I realized it. What was very helpful was the cool breeze that blew almost continuously across the ridge. The humidity felt far lower. Still, I arrived at Dragon's Tooth in a hangry mood and devoured a bag of Chex mix before trusting myself to say much to Sunshine or anyone.On the way in I spotted a deer. Not unusual, except it was poised in the center of a huge rock slab jutting off one side of the ridge. A viewpoint to the eastern ridges. It froze when it saw I'd caught it taking in the view. The sightseeing deer then bounded off twenty feet, hoping it was now invisible, and eyed me. Until gradually it ambled down out of sight below the ridge.Dragon's Tooth, part of Virginia's popular Triple Crown loop trail along with McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs, is a 30-40 foot tall stone edifice - the edge of a metamorphic upheaval long broken off in most places. It's a relatively easy scramble up the narrow spine to the narrower peak. But quite dizzying to look down. On one side is the ridge and milling dayhikers. In the other is the sharp drop off down to the valley many hundreds of feet. Throw in the gusty breeze and I felt a lot more comfortable with both hands on the rock. A grizzled section hiker named Funguy came in with some very worn-looking equipment. He hikes every year, but attempted to thruhike in 1982. It wasn't clear how far he got, except that he said he stopped in Helen, Georgia (just days into the hike), met some residents who had hiked into town years earlier and loved it so much they decided to stay put, and ended up taking 45 zeroes there. To his credit, he did eventually escape the black hole.Very tricky descent from Dragon's Tooth to the road. Over a mile of ledges and boulders requiring hands as well as feet. Going down steeply is easier on the lungs and heart, but a lot harder on everything else!Nearing the road I saw a trail maintainer! It was Saturday, but still I haven't seen any since Georgia. He was cutting thickly overgrown vegetation a few hundred yards above VA 624. With hand clippers! Now that's a lot of work. As we reached the road, what makes this a model day began to come together. Step 1: nice weatherStep 2: iconic landmark(s)Step 3: foodThere's a convenience store less than half a mile off trail here. One that makes breakfast sandwichs, burgers, and pizza. And breakfast pizza, with scrambled eggs on it! A couple hours went by sitting at a shaded table outside the door consuming sundry delectables after three long hot days in the wilderness. Even better, as we left to start road walking the half mile back in full sun, a pickup offered us a ride! We threw our packs in and rode in the back, wind whipping our hair and mocking the sun's heat.We had an easy ridge walk six miles over to Catawba. The cool breeze remained, and the humidity and temperature were noticeably lower than yesterday. While crossing fields, the thin ribbon of trail showed parched, cracked earth between the thick meadow grasses. It's clearly been dry here for awhile. We left the AT on a mile-long side trail to the village of Catawba. That plus another tick-infested field crossing and a road walk brought us to The Home Place restaurant, famous trail-wide for unlimited family-style Southern comfort food. Remember Step 3 again. We arrived comfortably at 3:58 and noted happily that the sign announced Saturday hours of 4-8pm.But the parking lot was almost empty. A woman pulling out asked if we had placed an order. She explained they were doing pickup only, and only for preorders, and they'd changed hours to 12-4. Oh, no! Disaster! Our world began to spiral out of control. Carefully laid plans, not to mention icky ticks, highway traffic, and hot sun had all been for naught! Okay, maybe a bit melodramatic. So we did what any thruhiker would do: we begged, we yogied, and we hoped. We'd be happy to purchase any leftovers, we pleaded. And this wonderful human being said she'd see what she could do. She got out of her car, went in, and fixed us up a "vegetable platter" of sides and brought out a bunch of containers, a half gallon of sweet tea, and two cups with ice. Ice! We thanked her profusely, and carried our haul to a picnic table. Turned out there were some biscuits and chicken tenders in there, as well as baked beans, cole slaw, mashed potatoes and green beans. It was a happy moment. And soon it was all gone.Very full, we managed to hitch a ride the mile and a half down route 311 to the parking lot at the AT trailhead. Torey, a guy from Swarthmore in my neck of Pennsylvania, passed us, swung around at the next intersection, and came back to get us. His parents live nearby and he frequently hikes McAfee Knob. (For the record, our side trail to Catawba was as long as the mile of AT we missed going down to the parking lot. And much more overgrown. And probably the original AT. But who's counting!)We waddled the four miles up to McAfee Knob, bellies full to bursting (remember Step 3), passing many dayhikers coming down. The trail was very dusty and crossed a lot of bedrock.Not too crowded at McAfee Knob itself considering it was Saturday. A national park ranger named Brian Wilson was on duty, one of only two field rangers assigned to the park service's Appalachian National Scenic Trail unit. The park service owns a lot of land around McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs and he spends much of his field time working this busy stretch. A really down-to-earth and friendly guy, he was in the thick of all the closures and reopenings the park and forest services have gone through. "I've been on a lot of zoom calls" he smiled. Some of the pressure to close had come from local trail clubs, who were barred from maintaining the trail and wanted it closed to prevent unmanaged use issues. Also at least one trail town, Damascus, wanted to limit the numbers of people coming through. Ultimately the park service closed the McAfee Knob stretch because all the people who would normally have been shopping decided to take up hiking instead. By itself this was fine - no one at NPS wanted to guard the trailhead and turn people away. But it threatened to strain rescue efforts. In a normal time many, many people have to be treated or carried out from this area due to twisted ankles, dehydration, or worse, and the number of newbie hikers was exacerbating that. But still the park service decided against closing the whole AT. In all a very measured and logical approach, far from the reflexive black-and-white mindset many governments and organizations embraced.A thruhiker named Lone Wolf appeared soon after I arrived. He's from the Williamsport area in Pennsylvania. Calls himself Pennsylvania Dutch and has the accent to prove it. Started a month ago and is moving quickly. We were treated to a majestic sunset on the horizon, opposite the famous overhanging rock. Sunrise is supposed to be even more dramatic, but we hiked down after sunset to the shelter for late dinner. Many folks were camped nearby with fires going, planning to ascend again before dawn.