Date: 2004-04-16
From: Beyond Lick Skillet Hollow, VA

To: Day 39: Pearisburg, VA
Miles today: 27.7
Weather: broken clouds

When I awoke on AT Day 39 shortly before 5:00 a.m., the sky was still clear and the weather forecast called for another pleasant day ¢ perfect for a mega-mileage attempt. The latter was particularly tempting for me since if I was able to skip my original goal of 19.4 miles to the Doc¢s Knob Shelter and instead make it the full 27.7 miles to Pearisburg, I could spend an additional evening (and have a real dinner) with my lovely Hot Chocolate. With this goal in mind I hustled my morning rituals as fast as possible and was on the trail by 6:45 a.m. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your perspective, my early hike was slowed by my repeated picture taking of the absolutely beautiful sunrise that greeted my path up and along this nearly 3,000-foot high rocky crest ¢ the latter dropped off severely on both the left and right of the trail in addition to the upcoming descent directly to the front. After descending from this crest the AT re-crosses Kimberling Creek and then follows the Dismal Creek for several miles.I must admit that I skipped the blue-blaze trail to view the Dismal Creek Falls and that I was repeatedly concerned that in less than two days I would be forced to once again get wet if not drenched by fording this ice-cold, deep and rapidly flowing waterway. Luckily this concern was unfounded as there were bridges for all of the crossings. As was true for the day before, I made excellent time on today¢s hike and covered the 11 miles to the Wapiti Shelter by 11:45 a.m., where I stopped for an early lunch in the warm sun. Exiting the shelter I came upon a group of perhaps a dozen young boys and a few adults who were doing a south going section hike. We chatted for a minute or so as they debated stopping off for lunch at the shelter.Immediately thereafter the AT takes a long and relatively steep climb of nearly 1500 feet in a little over a mile, clearly slowing my pace ¢ but not my motivation. Luckily after this climb the AT levels off, but the terrain is very rocky, and as a result I was able to cover the 8.5 miles to Doc¢s Knob Shelter in less than four hours. As I was low on water and hungry since it was near my normal dinnertime, I took a few minutes at the shelter to replenish my bodily fuel supplies and prepare for the rapid trek, racing the setting sun, to Pearisburg. It was nearly 5:00 p.m. when I finally left, so I knew that the last portions of today¢s hike would be in near darkness unless I really moved fast wherever the terrain permitted. In the beginning this hope was achieved, but as I climbed along the crest near to Angels Rest (which affords spectacular views of the valley where Pearisburg and the near-by Narrows are found) the rocky terrain slowed my pace markedly. When I finally left Angels Rest it was already after 7:00 p.m., so I knew the last four miles down the steep trail to Pearisburg were going to be a challenge in the fading light.In the end I made it to the US 460 highway directly across from Wade¢s Market just as real darkness set in at 8:45 p.m. Exuberant and relieved that my 27.7-mile goal (a new AT record for me!) had been achieved, I immediately tried to call my wife with my cell phone so she could come pick me up for a late dinner. I was starved, but surprisingly I was not exhausted! Unfortunately, the Sprint cellular gods struck again and I had zero coverage. Clearly this was not a good sign since my wife was not aware that I had changed my plans to arrive in Pearisburg a day early so she had no reason to expect me at the pick-up spot for another 14 hours. Luckily, there were pay phones at Wards Market and I got to use the new ¢onesuite.com¢ phone card service we initiated after learning of its wonderful features from the through hiker, Captain Hook. The 1-800 feature of this card is important since I had no quarters and Wards was closing at 9:00 p.m. so the call was FREE. The call went through, but once again Hot Chocolate¢s phone was in ¢roam mode¢ so I had to leave a message. Not knowing if she had gotten this message, I was getting more and more concerned that I was going to have to hike another three miles to get from Wards to the Riverview RV Campground, but when I called back five minutes later she was already on the way and arrived before I even had time to get my warm clothes on.Unfortunately I was so relieved to have Hot Chocolate rescue me from the Wards that I left my $90 hiking poles in the parking lot. Oh well, as it turns out this oversight will allow me to use my wife¢s aging hiking poles and then she will buy a new and much better set for her own use. ¢The plan¢ is that if her old poles survive until I reach Baxter Peak on Mount Katahdin in Maine, I can then buy a new set for next year¢s Pacific Crest Trail trek. In any event, not knowing the hiking poles were gone, Hot Chocolate and I quickly drove from Wards to a Pizza Hut for a well-deserved (I say this in all modesty) pizza and beer dinner. Furthermore, as planned, arriving early, I now have an entire day to prepare for the next, mega-mileage, segment of my AT adventure hike. All things considered, life is GREAT!