Date: 2018-10-30
From: Troutville, VA

To: Pig Farm Campsite
Miles today: 17.0

Before sunrise I went towards McDonald's for coffee. The cars in the motel parking lot had frost on their windshields. I saw Dodge's store across from McDonald's so I went there instead. I needed Heet for fuel but they didn't have any. I got a coffee then went back to the motel. I had pizza for breakfast eating as I packed. I left the motel about 8:30 heading back to US 11. Just up the street was a Circle K gas station and they had Heet. I got a bottle and a small coffee. Trucks were everywhere. There were truck stops and plenty of restaurants around making this a great place for truckers. After getting across a busy intersection and a traffic circle I headed back to the trail on US 11. The highway went along a stream and had little room to walk off the payment if traffic came by. Several times I just had to find a place and wait until the traffic passed. On the trail at 9:23. The trail shortly passed under I-81 then paralleled the noisy interstate for a mile and a half. I crossed busy US 220 then a long easy walk in the woods. A girl, Wei Wei, was waiting for her hiker friend. They just finished four days of hiking. She gave me a Clif bar, a granola bar, dried grapes and a pack of instant coffee. I thanked her and we did the hiker handshake which is just fist against fist. This is for sanitary reasons. You never know where a hiker's hand has been. The trail climbed up Tinker Ridge. At the top was a great view back to the area where I stayed. Several huge towers stood above the trail holding high tension power lines. The day was sunny and beautiful. Haven't had this warm of a day since Maryland. A gentle breeze kept me comfortable. The trail followed along the ridge for the rest of the day. I could see way ahead to McAfee Knob where I hope to reach today. Great views below of the Carvin's Cove Reservoir. In the afternoon I started to sweat. The warmth and the five days of food in my pack were the culprits. I caught up to a hiker, Schooner. He is hiking from Front Royal, VA to Damascus, VA. We'd hike close together all the way to McAfee Knob. At Campbell Shelter I saw a bunch of kids and some men. I was going just beyond the shelter to Pig Farm Campsite, apparently an old pig farm. Schooner was going to the shelter, I thought, but seeing the kids he must have changed his mind. He stopped at the campsite, too. It was 5:20 pm. I went down the hill for water at a piped spring. The water came out slow. It took five minutes to fill a liter container. One of the guys from the shelter and two boys came down for water and we all talked. Schooner came down just after them. Moose was one of the leaders with the boys. They are from Florida and they take kids outdoors. Moose was maybe 20 years old. He hiked the AT at age 16 from Georgia to Connecticut then completed the trail the next year at age 17. That is amazing. When they knew I was a thru hiker the two boys had lots of questions. Wild Bill and Cub were their names, both probably less than 10 years old. I will see all of the group at sunrise on McAfee Knob in the morning.The air turned cold. I headed back up the hill with Schooner behind me. He saw and pointed out two deer at the edge of a power line right-of-way. Both were bucks and displayed decent antlers. At the campsite there was a breeze so I camped across the trail down a little slope out of the wind. At 3,000' it will be cold up here. Let's see who gets up for sunrise.