Date: 2014-05-25
From: Dragon's Tooth

To: Daleville
Miles today: 28.2
Weather: light rain

I packed up and left the campsite at the Dragon's Tooth at 6:00, trying not to wake anyone else. A short ways down the trail, I found a nice spot to sit and watch the sun rise while I ate breakfast. Gorgeous! Sunrise from Drangon¢s ToothWith such an early start, I thought I might make it the 28 miles to Daleville today, but realized I would probably stop sooner due to the long day yesterday, so I wasn't pressing it. The first mile coming down from the Dragon's Tooth was quite rocky and tough. Fun, but my feet don't like that so much! When it leveled out some, I passed Bear Juice who had camped there and was just packing up. After 2.5 miles I came to a road where I left the trail to hike down the road 0.4 miles to a grocery store to resupply and have a second breakfast! Bear Juice joined me there and we leapfrogged each other all day. I then hiked back to the trail, passing Stevie Wander headed for the grocery before hitching a ride to somewhere he was going to play golf. His family has a golf outing this day every year, and since Stevie can't be there, he's playing golf here! He made it down to the hostel OK last night, getting thru the rocky section just before dark. Looking back at Dragon¢s Tooth ridgeThe major climb for the day was up to McAfee Knob, probably the most photographed site on the AT. As I was coming down the ridge prior to that I could see through the trees a large parking lot with lots of cars in it - Memorial Day weekend Sunday! Lots of day hikers out to enjoy the beautiful day by climbing up the 3.9 miles from the parking lot to McAfee.Just as the trail entered the parking lot - trail angels! Time for a third breakfast of an apple and an egg and bacon burrito! They also did some juggling for us - very cool! I also thought I'd been transported back to the early 70's! Trail Magic and Juggling, too!Going up the mountain, I chatted with day hikers Dan and Nahni for a while. I stopped for a water refill and they pressed on with Bear Juice who had just caught up. On the way up I passed lots of day hikers on their way down, and chatted briefly with a few. When I got to the top, I chatted with Dan and Nahni some more, as well as some of the many others there. Dan also gave me an apple and a protein bar - more trail magic! Bear Juice and I each had our pictures taken in the classic McAfee Knob position. (See the picture at the top of the page.) Dan and Nahni enjoying McAfee KnobYou can see in the picture below that McAfee Knob isn't quite the isolated hiker place that the classic picture might lead you to believe! McAfee Knob with other hikersI hiked on, the next major point being where the trail goes right along the edge of the top of Tinker Cliffs - more awesome views! I chatted with a group of three young thru hikers eating dinner on the rock outcropping for a while. In the picture below, McAfee Knob is the tall, dark mountain in the upper right, and you can see the green ridge line coming along the left where I hiked the five and a half miles of AT from the knob to Tinker Cliffs. McAfee Knob from Tinker CliffsWatch quickly in the video below, and you can see the AT white blaze in the first half second as I walk along the edge of the cliffs!With the rocky start, the grocery run, the trail magic and all the conversations, I had pretty much decided to stop at the next shelter after a 19 mile day. When I got there and refilled my water, I didnt have cell coverage to call Linda, so I decided to press on 'til the trail got back on the ridge. Bear Juice camped at a really nice spot just past the shelter. As I started hiking again, I felt a burst of energy and decided to do the remaining 9 miles, watching the sun set before arriving at 9:00 for a hot shower after a 15 hour day of rocks, great views, trail magic and meeting lots of nice people. :-)