Date: 2005-05-07
From: Va. 624

To: Va. 620
Miles today: 7.0

We took off from home yesterday morning at 8:34 in the morning. And we came across on I- 64 and then on the other side of Lexington we took off on Hwy15 which is kind of like an interstate. And then we had to go two lane roads. The last part of Kentucky, and then into West Virginia and in West Virginia, we both say we have not seen a flat spot or flat place in the entire state. It¢s all mountains. This road twists and winds and up and down and follow creeks and so, needless to say it took a long time. And I think it was a twelve hours to get to I-77 and Hwy 460 in Princeton. And we had to drive around Princeton a little bit. I mean we were we were heading the right direction but we weren't sure how to get on 460. One interesting note, was the Red River Gorge, there's a little scenic loop drive, and it goes through this narrow tunnel. A one lane tunnel that's nine hundred foot long. OK And then we drove and drove and then we came all the way in to Christiansburg. Stop at the gas station and went to the bathroom. Get the back of the minivan ready to sleep in, and then we went to Hampton Inn. Pulled in the parking lot and finally got settled down and I think we were asleep at 11:30.  Woke up at six o'clock this morning. Went back to the gas station, went to the bathroom. Got gas at $1.99. Now we go on up into Roanoke, got to the Enterprise on Williamson road, and had to wait there about fifty minutes till they opened. So we kind of got organized and did a few things. We got a free upgrade to a Chevy Malibu, which Terry says is real nice, I haven't ridden in it yet. Got out here on the trail at VA 624 which is off of Hwy 311.  Well first we had to put our other car down at VA 620. then came back, got on the trail at 10:35. And its just going to be at a sunny, windy day. Temperatures not too bad, it's maybe getting a little bit on the warm side for us, for hiking. But it's beautiful, it's a beautiful day, beautiful. I'm lucky. Oh yeah we already had one very lucky incident. When we dropped the car off at VA 620 I said "hey let's mark the spot on GPS, so we know where we're hiking to". So Terry turns it on and then I had him doing something else, so he just put it up on top of the car. We both saw him do it and both of us just totally forgot about it. When we thought about it again ,we were back at VA 624, and Terry looks up on the roof and there it was. Still there after six miles on our narrow, back country, twisty, up and down road, which you can see exactly now, because we got it all mapped on the GPS. We got it mapped because it was on the whole time. So now. It's been an hour we're up on this rocky ridge with some beautiful views at twenty five hundred feet here. I don't know if this is Rawies Rest or not, but anyhow we're just enjoying life.  We spent about fifteen minutes at that one rest and then we are climbing along and this young guy comes by. We let him go by. So I start talking about how he can scare off the rattlesnakes and stuff for us. And then I said look, look where he¢s at. And he¢s going up the hillside and he¢s scrambling along. oh my god, does the trail go up there? Well we get up there a little closer, he had missed the trail turn, and was just going up the mountain side. So he had to come down and we said, "the trails this way". He wasn't too sociable though. And there was one other guy passed us on the way up. And we got up to the side trail to the Dragon's Tooth at 1:00pm. We walked out to the end. Which wasn't just too terribly far, and I looked out off the edge got a good view of the valley below and the mountains, and we came back into a sheltered area of soft sand and pine needles and put the tarp down and we rested. We are next to the Dragons tooth.Took our shoes off. And finally we said let's go and we got back up to the trail, I think about one thirty five. And then you finally summit the crest and you get another good view and they just take you along the ridge, up and down over boulders and through a little crack. Kept going and kept going and it got cloudy, we've got on an old road. Mountain started curving around. We are going south now. But they still kept taking you up on each little ridge top then back down. Saw a lot of pretty flowers, Fire Pink and then some Pink lady Slippers and all sorts of things. Course the Crow Feet Violet and. then it got cloudier and cloudier. And we finally did feel a few drops a little bit ago but hasn¢t really done anything yet. And when we finally just started down, we come across a backpacker and his trail name was Kitty Litter and he likes Kittys. We talk to him for a few minutes and told him who we were and what we're doing. And he was looking for some trail magic, and I think really to get into town, probably to go to the Homeplace to eat, but he said he was going down to Va624, he was going to camp there. I guess just probably in the woods off the trail. So we said we¢d be glad to give you a ride if you happen to be there when we get back to our car. but we had about two and a half miles to go, mostly all downhill, and he had four and a half miles to go. And his hike was a lot of up and boulders and scrambling because there were some two or three places where they had little metal handholds or footholds to get you up on to the next little vertical slab. And right after we left Kitty Litter it started switch backing down to some neat stone Fences. A lot of clearing of stones. Beautiful trail, went through pine tree and just great. It came out really flat for a while. Went through a little open pasture area.  And then it goes in on an old road into the woods and then the side trail to the Pickle Branch shelter. And right there we saw this guy coming and we stopped and talked to him, his trail name is Just Mike. And how did you get that. And it's not Just Mike, its Justmike, one word. But there are two other guys behind him and also Kitty litter.  They have all passed each other, stayed at the shelters together and these two guys were asking Mike what he was called. He had just started hiking six days ago and he told them just Mike and they try to come up with other names, one guy said Rocket Man, but Mike would just say, whatever. So one morning, they ask if the name Mike is OK, he answers Justmike, so now it¢s official. We ran into those two guys about ten minutes after Justmike, and that was quarter the way. And Train got out his wooden whistle and it sounds like a train. And stopped to talk to them for a few min. They¢re going to try to make it up to the top of Dragons Tooth to spend the night up there. Train told as a fact that they thought the Homeplace only had all you can eat on Sunday. He tried to convince us but I'm not convinced. But anyhow, kept going on the trails, wind down down down and then. came by three gals going up, but didn't talk to them too much. you turn a corner hear the creek, see the road and then they still won't take you down. So you walk along a little bit and then finally you see the nice wooden bridge and come on down and we're done. It was about 4:45 but for talking purposes it's going to be 4:35. That makes it six hours to do 7 miles but I don't care. We did it. We took our time. Enjoyed as much as we could. the temperature at the car is sixty eight degrees now, so its very beautiful. Did see a big black snake but he was just off the trail, on the side of the trail, up the hill ,got a good look at him, got a good look at a lizard and I¢m never seen so many Crested Dwarf Irises , beautiful.We came off the trail and said we're going to go to the Home place. We go get the other car, dont see kitty Litter. Drive both cars to the Homeplace. Well I screwed up, I actually turned into the place and it was just unbelievable totally crowded, the parking lot was totally full, parking on the front lawn, people standing around everywhere. I turn in, of course Terry follows me in. And we get out of there which wasn't too, too terrible. Then we headed into town stopped at the gas station, got ice. I called Motels, and there¢s one motel down here in Daleville. So yes, they accept this coupon and they don't add anything for Saturday night, but can't reserve it, only a few left. So we got in the car and zoomed on down, got on the interstate, came down to exit 150 B. Went to the Econo-lodge. Got it for $39.95 plus tax. Came to just under forty four dollars. But I didn't think to ask what size bed. And of course they gave us standard. But it worked out fine, now we just walked right down to the Mexican restaurant for supper called Rancho Vieiho.  Enjoyed ourselves too much, had two big bowls of chips and salsa. And then we ate our meal. I had wine, Terry had a couple beers, came back to the motel, and looked at our Hiking materials. Came up with a plan. And went to sleep after ten thirty. Going on for eleven.