Date: 2018-12-08
From: VA Rte 42, Ceres VA

To: VA Rte 623, Garden Mountain, VA
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: overcast clouds

After checking the weather forecast one last time, Jo and I dropped my vehicle at the end point of my hike, and she drove me to where Bubba was waiting to drive me to the trailhead on Rte 623. I was bummed not to spend more time with Jo as she planned to help me day hike this section from December 6th-10th, but Diego was arriving at midnight tonight, and we both wanted to get out of the path of the storm. I texted Puddles to let her know the forecast had the bigger snowfall staying toward the south. I told her of my plan to return to the Catawba, VA  and start hiking south from there no later than Tuesday the 11th, as only a few inches of snow were forecasted in that area. Bubba had a jeep and we made our way up the dirt mountain, taking about 35 minutes to get there. At first I thought I would be able to drive my SUV up the road when I returned, but the road became increasingly worse and I changed my mind. I'll use Bubba again when I come back. Shuttle driving is his livelihood and I don't mind supporting local people, especially those who provide a valuable service to hikers. He told me some recent stories about people hiking and getting injured, and not being found right away. Before departing, he asked me to text him when I was done hiking to make sure I was safe. It was cold and the trail was covered with snow, sometimes with small drifts. The sun wasn't shining like it had been the past two days, and the trail was rocky and a little difficult in some areas due to the snow. I had some steep ascents and descents again today, and the snow was deeper than the past two days. It was also very powdery and slippery, so I dubbed it "silicone snow". It was hard to get traction and instead of sliding on mud as I have done throughout my hike, I was now sliding on snow. The first eight miles were slow and sometimes tedious due to the snow and steepness. I'm getting worn out from the climbs, so today I decided to not look at how far they go uphill. I just put my head down and kept moving. I suspect this is what Puddles did this summer when we had climbs. She didn't like to see the "never-ending" climbs, so whenever we got to one, I told her "don't look". This strategy seemed to work well for me today. Yesterday I kept looking up and ended up breaking down and sobbing on the trail twice. It's amazing the extreme emotions that are experienced on the trail, sometimes all in one day, or even hour to hour.   I arrived at Chestnut Knob Shelter, an enclosed stone shelter at the top of Chestnut Knob. I had been looking forward seeing this as it was an unusual shelter, made of multicolored stone. It was an old fire warden's cabin which had been converted to an enclosed shelter. When I arrived, there was a hiker putting out a fire in the fire pit. It was midday and obvious that he had spent the night at the shelter. We introduced ourselves and he started asking me questions about towns, and resupply, noting he needed to get food. I gave him some basic information and pulled out my phone to which he said, "you have information I need". I was a little annoyed that he didn't have a map or any basic information about where he was, or where he was going, other than south, following the white blazes. He appeared prepared, but was "old school" and I'm not sure that he even phone with him. Everyone has to hike their own hike and he was doing it without modern technology, which I can't help but admire. I just thought that he should have some basic knowledge about where he was going to resupply, and I wasn't in a mood to be a caretaker of anyone. It was an odd exchange that threw me off at that point, and I did not spend any time exploring the shelter. He made a move to start hiking. I wished him well and took off at a quick pace through an open field of snow that was ahead of me, getting ahead of him on the trail. I don't think he had any ill intentions, but he was the only person I saw on the trail up to this point and I wanted to stay ahead of him so that I would arrive at my vehicle alone. As I hiked, I realized I didn't take the time to look at the shelter, but still felt I made the best decision to leave. After getting through the field and back into the woods, the snow slowly disappeared to the point there was none for the last half of the hike. I began to wonder if the hiker knew about the snowstorm coming in, and started to feel a bit guilty that I hadn't mentioned it to him. It wasn't on purpose, I just didn't think of it at the time. I stopped for a break and waited a few extra minutes to see if he would catch up. I wanted to finish hiking before dark, so I continued to the next shelter and left him a note, repeating the same information I had shared with him earlier about the main road coming up that had a hostel. I also told him where the next town was the trail went through, and that there was a snowstorm coming. Puddles had texted me a screenshot of a weather forecast while I was hiking. I didn't read the forecast, but she mentioned going to Roanoke on Sunday (tomorrow) or Monday, which was near where we would start hiking, so apparently the forecast wasn't too bad. I finished my hike and read the trail forecast which indicated only 2-4 inches where we were to hike. The storm was due to arrive in my current location at 12:00am, and I headed toward home at about 5:45pm. I spoke to Jo during my drive and she indicated the forecast was for the storm to go further north, and Roanoke was expecting 6-8 inches but could go as high as 13". Now it's a waiting game to see what happens, but I will be home tonight.