Date: 2007-06-11
From: VA624 Campsite by Road

To: Lamberts Meadow Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: scattered clouds

At about 5:30 in the morning I was awoken by a frighteningly loud and strange noise in the woods. In the sudden transition between a state of slumber and a heart pounding startling consciousness, I could barely comprehend what was happening. Then it dawned on me that I had set up camp by the road last night, and what I thought was some supernatural wood dwelling beast, was simply a loud motorcycle roaring down the road. Sleep came easy for me last night, regardless of the occasional road traffic. I thought it was a good night sleep but as the day wore on I started to wonder. Director and I both packed up and took one more walk down the road to the store we visited last evening. Since civilization was so close, we could not resist a good cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich.The morning hike took us through a few miles of farm pastures and the cows paid little attention to us as they grazed. We soon arrived at a road, VA311, where a restaraunt called "The Homeplace" was located. This restaraunt is very well known among thru hikers. They serve all you can eat, family style, country cooking. Unfortunately they are only open from Thurs-Sun. Snake, Slick, and Tennis were racing to get here on Sun. and I believe they made it.As Director and I walked from the road to the trail I recognized two familiar faces ahead. Sitting on some rocks were "Speaks Little" and "Gypsy Spirit", a thru hiking couple I had not seen since Trail Days. They had been ahead of me but took some days off in Pearisburg, which allowed me to now cross paths with them. We had a great conversation catching up on trail happenings.As I continued hiking, the temperature rose and my energy level plummeted. We hiked on and came to a well known rock formation in this area, alled "McAfee's Knob", originally named after an Irish immigrant and settler named James McAffee. This rock formation, is a narrow rock cliff jutting out into space. We all took turns taking a picture of each other on McAfee's Knob, just as we heard some thunder. We hardly had enough time to put on our pack covers, before the storm was upon us. The last place you want to be in a thunderstorm is on a ridge so we literally ran down the trail to get to a lower elevation. As I was running I could now see hail coming down and I was outracing a river of water crashing down the trail behind me. By the time we arrived at the shelter less than a mile away, we were soaked, the storm was over, and the sun was shining.Director and I had lunch and tried to dry off. Gypsy and Speaks hiked on. After lunch, Director left first and I followed later. I was still chilled from the rain, so I hiked to warm up. I felt good at first but then my energy level dropped again. Hiking was slow and tiring, but I eventually caught up to Gypsy, Speaks, and Director all laying in the sun at Tinker Cliffs, a stretch of cliffs with breathtaking views.After a long rest here, we hiked the last 3 miles to the shelter, and called it a day. There is a deer nearby which has no fear of us. As we were eating dinner in front of the shelter, it grazed 15 feet away. What great dinner time entertainment!