Date: 2006-05-20
From: John's Spring Shelter

To: Lambert's Meadow Shelter
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: broken clouds

McAfee Knob is a jutting upthrust of heavily touristed rock, considered by many the finest vista in Virginia on the AT, and pronounced, as far as I can tell, in a hesitating fashion with the accent either on the first or the second syllable depending on one's whim. At least, that's what I do, and that's what I've heard other people do, maybe if I talked to more of the tourists I'd get a sense of which version holds the majority vote. I get there early in the day, and spend half an hour scrutinizing the vista while enjoying second breakfast. The ridges and valleys before me are greener than they were a week ago, and sprinkled now with occasional small indications of human habitation. The remote feel of looking down on forgotten pastures and winding country lanes, surrounded by nothing but endless forested ridges, is gone, and the many tourists create the sense of being in a park rather than being in the wilderness, but the knob itself is duly jutting and expansive, and the weather is exquisite, and I feel duly impressed. Or at least, not let down. What is a little disappointing is that Piper is leaving the trail. She's not quitting - it was her plan all along to hike until her new job was ready to start, and now it's time. She seems to be looking forward to living in a new city and starting a new job, but I thank my lucky stars I don't have to do that yet. I know I will sometime - I start work in September, or slightly later depending on when I finish the Trail - but it's far enough in advance that I put it way in the back of my mind and give thanks for the fact that I still have several months here in front of me. I figure, it will be okay, when it comes, for everything there is a season, and there's no sense fretting about it now. It was nice to have Piper around for these last few days. Lucky, too, otherwise I might never have eaten at The Homeplace...But there are new folks to be meeting now, despite the fact that half the trail is at Trail Days. Shortly after Campbell Shelter I catch up to Silverfoot. She's a strong hiker with red hair and (assumably) silver feet that I met briefly back in Damascus. We talk for awhile, and then head on towards Tinker Cliffs.The trail follows Tinker Cliffs for a good half-mile. From the cliffs, one can see the tall buildings of Roanoke in the distance, and the airport a little apart from the city. One can also look back on McAfee Knob, and, from the final stretch of cliff, a great industrial plant of some sort is visible, which someone says makes cement. A full day's hike would bring me into Troutville/Daleville for the night. I don't want to spend the night in town, and I don't have enough time to get groceries and get up to the next shelter, so I stop at Lambert's Meadow Shelter, the last one before town. This makes it a half-day for me, which is nice enough. I spend the second half of the day at the shelter eating my remaining provisions and watching the deer. I am worried, for a while, that I will have to spend the night with weekenders, as the woods is simply crawling with them, and as many thru-hikers are now at Trail Days (everyone from last night's shelter except me and Piper was heading down this morning). I am pleasantly surprised, however, to be joined by several thru-hikers, including Gary and his dog Pepper, and Bullwinkle, whose name I have seen in the registers ahead of me for a few days. Bullwinkle is actually only doing a few hundred miles of the trail, but he acts like a thru-hiker in that you can talk to him like a normal person, without having to go through the 875 questions you sometimes get from section hikers. (You get them from day-hikers, too, of course, but I, in general, enjoy talking to day-hikers more. I enjoy getting a glimpse into their lives, talking about my experiences on the trail, etc., and day-hikers are not only much more likely to offer food, but they never try to talk to me when I'm trying to sleep. Which is a thing section-hikers would do well to work on. More on this later.)The deer at this shelter are so tame, they seem to be showing off to each other with how close they can get to us without running away. Everyone stares and takes pictures to their heart's content, but the deer don't leave, and we eventually go about our business.