Date: 2018-10-20
From: Paul C Wolfe Shelter

To: Reeds Gap
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: clear sky

It's not as chilly this morning as I expected. A few leg raises and push-ups warm me up enough to change clothes and start breakfast comfortably. Joe comes over to offer his extra container of fuel since mine ran empty making noodles last night. Very much appreciated. I bring over my excess food in return since I'm walking out today. He has ten(!) days of food already but takes almost all of it eagerly anyway. I return the fuel gratefully, after using it to cook some oatmeal. The trail to Reeds Gap heads up a long ascent to a popular day hiking area called Humpback Rocks. While the Wolfe shelter had a wonderful rushing creek, there is little water in this section to the south. There are, however, as with yesterday, a number of enormous blowdowns that require acrobatics to maneuver through the leafy canopies. But almost as soon as I wonder when the trail maintainers will be out I stumble upon a crew from the Old Dominion AT Club out of Richmond. They've given up their Saturday to work on the trail. I tease that I hope they have a chainsaw and a volunteer hollers back "We got three!" And they do, as I meet the other two crews further south. I catch the last crew in the middle of cutting through a massive blowdown. After thanking them profusely I have the honor of being the first through the cut. The final few miles parallel the Blue Ridge Parkway, out of earshot, and pass along some cliffs with great views over the Shenandoah valley to the west. This is the Three Ridges Wilderness, another popular area for dayhikes and backpacking. A number of people are out and about on this beautiful fall weekend. The leaves are just beginning to turn, but from across the valley it is already a riot of color.Too soon I reach Reeds Gap (or Reids, the signs aren't consistent) and the end of my section. I tread over the trailhead I exited in June. Then, I was coming north from Daleville to catch a shuttle that ended up taking me on a fortuitous detour to Devil's Backbone Brewery. Today my own car is waiting, none the worse for the wait but definitely enjoying more company on a Saturday afternoon than early on a Friday morning. I drive down the winding mountain roads into Waynesboro and hit the Tailgate Grill for another best-of-the-Shenandoah-Valley hamburger. Last time I was here in June my daughter Snickers and I were celebrating the end of our six-day Shenandoah hike. The burger is still delicious, but I miss the company.Another four-plus-hour drive home, fortunately uneventful. This section effectively completes Virginia, save for a few miles south of Damascus. It's taken all season and six trips, but my state count increases to 11 and completion rate hits 80%, a little over 1750 miles. Not that I'm counting!Thruhikers are glad to be done with the never-ending state of Virginia, fully one-quarter of the entire AT, or they joke that they were told it was flat. In all those trips, though, I never really focused on it being one state, let alone uniform. There was the majesty and comforts of Shenandoah; the exurban Roller Coaster and rocky ridges to the north; the imposing climbs and relative isolation of the central Virginia blue ridge; the stark open peaks of Grayson Highlands; the ridges and valleys and abundant hostels from Atkins through Pearisburg; and Virginia's Triple Crown in the center. The weather played a major role in my perception of each region. One day I would like to hike the central blue ridge in a drier and less humid fall excursion. But the people and towns were almost always friendly and welcoming. Most of all I enjoyed being able to share some of this beauty and adventure with my children. I hope that it stays with them, and they remember it fondly long after I am unable to accompany them on their own adventures, as I fondly remember the trips I took with my own father.