Date: 2006-06-03
From: Pickle Branch Shelter, VA

To: Campbell Shelter, VA
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day: 78Date: 6/3/06Start: Pickle Branch Shelter, VAWeather: *BEAUTIFUL*, blue skies, nice breeze, good temperatureFinish: Campbell Shelter, VAMiles: 17.0Cumulative A.T. Miles: 698.9Clay: This morning we woke up after a good nights rest. I even read 15 chapters of Job yesterday.We woke up feeling great. We were out of the campsite by 7:05 AM. We had a 17-mile day ahead of us and we were ready for the challenges it would offer us. First on the agenda was Dragon's Tooth (3020'). This mountain offered a very technical hike. The spiney-backed ridge top looked like sheets of rock that had burst out of the mountain at 45-degree angles. For a few miles, we had to crawl all over this rock. We even went down two ladders. It was a nice change in scenery.After Dragons Tooth, we ate lunch at a road crossing, got descent water from the area, and we met Tex (from Australia) and Coal (from Colorado). We played hiker leap frog with them throughout the day. They were fun. We hope to see them again.Tonight, at camp, Beernuts, Mary, MacKenzie, Sarah and Toby, Weatherman, and some weekend hikers are here. It was fun hanging out with the first 4 people I mentioned. They are funny. Sarah seems really smart. We talked about Virginia Wolf and Saul Kripke. We even talked about the Kalam Cosmological argument and the historical bodily resurrection of Christ tonight. How refreshing.Branch: I've been dreaming about thru-hiking since I was in the 7th grade. Since then, when I envisioned thru-hiking, Katahdin did not dominate my dreams. While I've done my fair share of dreaming about Katahdin, its been the small milestones that I've imagined myself walking to and experiencing as a thru-hiker. Today we reached one such milestone that I've been thinking about for several years--McAfee Knob.The view from McAfee Knob is probably one of the top 5 photographed views on the trail. Its a huge rock jutting out from the side of a mountain, offering 270 degree views of the valley below. It truly is breathtaking.Today was the second time that we've seen the rock on top of McAfee's Knob. It was the first we've seen the view. About 10 months into our marriage, we decided that we wanted to get a picture of us at McAfee's Knob for a brochure we were printing. So, we took a bit of a vacation to come up. Clay got off work and we drove 13 hours from our apartment in Alabama to the road crossing before the mountain. At first light we began the climb. As we climbed, a rain front was coming in from the west. It was truly a race against the weather. As we got to the top, fog began to overcome the mountain. Despondent, we thought it necessary for us to get at least one picture of ourselves from the fogged-in overlook. However, as Clay pulled out the camera, rain began to fall in buckets from the sky. He managed to take one, peopleless shot as we clambered away from the rock. Depressed, we trudged back to the truck and got a room at Holiday Inn to dry out. That was three years ago.This time could not have been more different. The skies were blue, the clouds were puffy, and the air was crisp making the view spectacular. I felt like a victorious thru-hiker having hiked almost 700 miles to earn this view. I felt at peace watching birds ride air streams below us, looking at farms in the world far below, and basking in the loving Creator's magnificent Creation. Looking back, I'm glad that God caused the view to be obscured from us the first time we visited here. It was much more meaningful to earn it and view it today for the first time.