Date: 2015-05-31
From: 4 Pines hostel

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 25.6

4 Pines hostel to Daleville, VA. 25.6 MWhat a day, Sunday. The barn at 4 Pines was a good place to sleep as there were only 5 people using it and it was quiet. Slept well until the rooster did his job and began waking everyone. I went down to the bunkhouse where no one was stirring yet and made a pot of coffee. Had the two rolls I picked up at the store yesterday with coffee, got my gear together, and hit the road back to the trail at 7:10 am. Doc had left earlier to be slack packed to Daleville. And Squirrel had left earlier hiking toward McAfee Knob. On the agenda today are McAfee Knob, Tinker Cliffs, and the Cliff Walk. The climbs are significant but not overly difficult. The Knob is so popular that the trail is very well maintained and only moderately strenuous. It is about 9 miles to the Knob, and there are two shelters in the last 3 miles, Johns Spring and Catawba shelters. Despite the name there is no water available until about 7 miles past the Knob. There was an ATC volunteer handing out bottled water to anyone that needed it at the base of the climb. I passed Squirrel taking a break at the first shelter, and was at the top by about 11:00 am. Met a Ridge Runner there and took his picture on the Knob (more on him with the photo) and he took my picture at this special place. It truly is an awesome scene and a magnificent view of the valley below. The Ridge Runner told me that they would have about 400 visitors up there today. I was fortunate to beat the crowd, and to have good weather. Squirrel arrived at the top as I was starting down. There is another shelter, Campbell about one mile North of the top, where I stopped for lunch. After lunch I headed for Tinker Cliffs and the Cliff Walk. Tinker was difficult. Very technical and rocky. And the Cliff Walk was a long walk on large sections of shelf rock at the edge of the ridge with more views of the valley below. All three of these features in just a few hours was pretty amazing. Lambert Meadows shelter was the next stop. It is the last water location before Daleville, which is 10 miles past this shelter. I picked up 3 liters of water and Squirrel arrived as I finished. She had just seen a rattlesnake on the trail. Glad I missed that one. Thunder was rumbling so I headed out at a fast pace. After a lot of work I arrived at Daleville at 6:20 pm. I had heard that the Troutville Fire Dept allowed hikers to use their shower and laundry facilities and sleeping in the city park was allowed. What i missed was that Troutville was over 3 miles from Daleville. Started down the interstate headed for hwy 11 to Troutville. A long, long walk after a long day. And no one would give me a ride. Must have looked pretty scary. About 20 minutes before town it started raining. Just my luck. Finally made it to the firehouse at maybe 7:30 pm. The folks there were nice. Showed me where things were and left me alone. Got cleaned up and put clothes in the washer. Then walked over to the park. Stony and Krispy were there and planning to stay overnight. Stony is the guy that was driving hikers to the restaurant and store from 4 Pines. Krispy is a young man that hikes with and plays a guitar. I was starved but nothing was open in this little town. Another guy that was at the park had some leftover BBQ chicken wings that someone gave him. I had the last three and then back to the firehouse to dry clothes. Ate a couple Snickers and had a soda there. With the clothes done, back to the park to get ready for sleep. A church group had left one half of a watermelon at the pavilion we were at. Krispy and I finished it off before bed. Spread my mat and quilt on a tabletop and that was the bed for the night. Not a bad place to sleep except for the trains that went by adjacent to the park. Extremely loud. Lots of miles today. Unfortunately not all of them were on the AT. A former thru hiker from this area is going to pick me up Monday morning and get me back to the trail. A Trail Angel. O'RYAN