Date: 2005-05-04
From: Catawba Mountain Shelter

To: Comfort Inn - Troutville, VA
Miles today: 20.1

Miles hiked today : 20.117.8 AT miles + 1.0 mile of side trail + 1.3 roadwalk mileI woke up this morning at 6:40 a.m. and was on the trail at 7:45 a.m. I only had an 1,105 foot climb over 1.7 miles to reach McAfee Knob and arrived at 8:30 a.m. I took my time to enjoy the view and stayed in the area for 40 minutes before moving on.My next stop was Campbell Shelter, where I arrived at 9:30 a.m. and stopped only long enough to sign the register. After Campbell Shelter, I had 4.4 miles to cover to reach Tinker Cliffs. Along the way, I passed through a grassy meadow and stopped for a 35 minute break at 10:45 a.m. before finally arriving at Tinker Cliffs at 12:00 p.m.And this is where I talk about how I misplaced the trail today. One might say that I got lost, but I wasn't, as I knew how to get back to the AT. What happened was that I was distracted by a large rock tunnel and failed to notice that the AT did a u-turn before climbing to the top of the cliffs. I walked through the rock tunnel and kept going on what appeared to be the trail. In some parts, the trail was thin, but I was too busy enjoying looking at the base of the cliffs and the overhangs to notice that there weren't any white blazes. By the time I realized my mistake, I'd already traversed some sketchy parts of trail and was too stubborn to backtrack, so I kept going. I found myself wading through knee deep channels of leaves and pushing my way through overgrown bushes for 40 minutes before I finally was able to climb up a steep hill composed of loose dirt and leaves. At the top of the hill was an easily noticeable white blaze on one of the many trees. I walked South along the AT to find out where I'd made my mistake and around 1:00 p.m., I discovered that the AT did not actually go through the rock tunnel. I walked down the hillside and dragged a small diameter fallen tree trunk and wedged it horizontally across the rock tunnel so that others wouldn't repeat my mistake.I set out again at 1:05 p.m. on the actual AT, rather than the "scenic route" and followed the cliffs, admiring the many views. I arrived at Scorched Earth Gap at 1:30 p.m. and 15 minutes later, I was at Lamberts Meadow Shelter. I stopped for 40 minutes to rest and filter water and was soon joined by Frenchie. She suggested that we stay at this shelter for the night, though I declined, saying that I was hungry and wanted to go into town. I had plenty of food in my pack, though town food sounded so much better, especially when it was only 9.4 miles away.I was very tired and hadn't stopped for lunch. If Frenchie had been insistent, I might have given in. As it was, I set out and made good time, covering 4.0 miles to arrive at Ruckers Knob at 4:05 p.m., took a 5 minute snack break, then reached US220 at 6:45 p.m. Frenchie had passed me during my snack break and after I caught up to her, we walked pretty much step for step the rest of the way, with me telling stories for over 2 hours about some of my adventures in the military.At US220, we tried hitching for a few minutes, but then just decided to walk the 1.3 miles to the Comfort Inn and arrived at 7:30 p.m. The Comfort Inn has a secret hiker rate of $38.95 per night, whereas their normal rate is $84.95 per night: That meant Frenchie and I were getting quite the bargain by splitting the cost of a room.We didn't stay in the room long, as we were famished and met El Hefe and Lumbermack in the lobby. The 4 of us walked to an AYCE and ate quite well before returning to the hotel. I made telephone calls while Frenchie showered and then I took a nice, long hot shower myself.Tomorrow, breakfast is at the hotel and then I've got to do laundry, stop by the local outfitter, and then pick up my maildrop before heading out of town. There is a Mexican restaurant with a lunch buffet near the oufitter, so I may eat there on my way out of town.Bedtime at 1:00 a.m.