Date: 2023-04-07
From: Skyland Stables

To: Spitler Knoll
Miles today: 5.0

There was a good plan in place for today, unfortunately it didn't come to fruition. I started the day exactly 7.5 miles north of our campground at Big Meadows. Today's Friday and tomorrow is a planned zero, with a nero for Sunday, which is also Easter. So it would have been wonderful to end the day by walking into our campground. And 7.5 miles is a very doable distance for me. It would have been a fitting end to the week, except......For the weather. Much cooler, which is fine, but rain was also in the forecast. I don't mind walking in a light rain either, but it was going to be cold and rainy all day, with unknown terrain, so setting off for seven and a half miles wasn't smart. Studying my guidebook I noticed the AT contacted the Skyline Drive in two places, serendipitously evenly placed at 2.5 miles and at 5 miles on my planned hike. With St. Mike and our trusty minivan I could walk it in 2.5 mile segments and bail out when or if the weather got bad.  So I started at Skyland Stables. The weather was cool and the walking easy. Piece of cake, I thought. But within minutes the rain started. It was light and no problem. Then, as either the temperature dropped or I climbed higher in elevation, the rain turned into sleet. Little ice balls bounced on the ground around me. I kept walking and was soon on those darned ledges, inching across with my heart in my throat, wondering how I'll ever be able to do this with a full pack on my back? But I came down from the ledges safely and met Mike at our 2.5 mile pickup spot, Crescent Rock Overlook. The rain picked up and looked like it wasn't stopping. We did try to wait it out, but the idea of going back to a soggy campground wasn't appealing either, so...we went to town for lunch! Back to Luray we went, for fish sandwiches.  After lunch we went back to Crescent Rock because the rain had stopped and I was ready for the next leg of my journey. Could I do the next five miles, to Big Meadows? I still had the 2.5 mile possible bailout spot, if needed. So off I went. Well guess what? Remember that boulder field I mentioned earlier, that I thought was at the Pinnacle, but it wasn't? I found it this afternoon. It was just as terrifying as it looked on video. I'm so glad no one was there to watch me slither across those boulders! I was on my hands and knees, on my belly, spread-eagled, whatever it took to work my way across, inch by painful inch. It took essentially forever. Then more ledges, blah, blah, blah. Suffice to say, when I reached Mike at Spitler Knoll I was done for the day. Much as I wanted to hike into our campground, that just wasn't going to happen. I was starting to doubt my sanity. What the heck am I doing, crawling around on cold wet rocks with my heart in my throat when I have a perfectly lovely cozy little home to go to? Don't answer that!  So I met Mike at Spitler Knoll, and back to the campground we went. It was very cold by then, but we set up our little square canopy tent with sides and put the heater in it. I made salmon patties and mashed potatoes for supper, and I wondered how everyone in all those tents was going to make it through the very cold night that was starting. How is it that I was sweating in the sun and dealing with sunburn only a couple of days ago? Brrr, it's very cold! Looking forward to a zero in town tomorrow and a motel room tomorrow night!