Date: 2007-07-01
From: Rod Hollow Shelter

To: Blackburn ATC Center
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: broken clouds

July 1, Roller CoasterI got up and after the day this morning knowing it had the potential to be a truly trying hike. We would be hiking over The Roller Coaster, a series of ten consecutive 500 foot climbs and descents.I started hiking around 7:30 a.m. and shortly came to a sign welcoming me to The Roller Coaster. Then the climbing began. The first hill was not so bad and I decided I could handle a few more. I was looking at the coaster as a challenge now, something fun. The second hill was a little more steep but it was over pretty quickly, like a Band Aid. The third hill is where the day got good.I was about halfway through the climb when I came to a road. First I saw the car, then Melk, Ronin, Cobweb and Tuna Bag hanging out. When I got there, I was greeted by SixTwo, who I'd met at Flint Mtn. Shelter before Erwin, asking if I wanted to slackpack. I hurled my pack off as fast as I could! Of all days, I had the luck to slackpack on The Roller Coaster! I wanted to kiss SixTwo. He gave me a hard boiled egg and I gave him the contents of my pack. He stuffed them in the trunk of his convertible and I was on my merry way. I could tell the difference immediately in my knees. I was faster and felt better too. What a great idea. Thanks, SixTwo. So, we had four more hills to climb before Snickers Gap where we were planning to have lunch. Up and down several times and the hiking was pretty enjoyable - several stream crossings and nice things to look at. We stopped at the sign for Sam Moore Shelter for a snack. After that, I hiked near Young Eagle for a bit. We stopped to take in the view at Bears Den Rocks along with the tourists that were there. It was a pretty clear, amazing view of the Shenandoah River Valley. The weather was perfect today, not humid, not hot, and breezy - it offered great views. Six tenths of a mile after that, we were at Snickers Gap. We met SixTwo and headed to lunch at the Horse Shoe Curve Restaurant. I had a delicious cheeseburger. Team Average, Cobweb, Mayo and Tuna all hung out there for quite a while and finally got motivated to hike again.A few more climbs on The Roller Coaster and then we came to the best thing we'd seen in hundreds of miles - the sign for West Virginia! We were finally out of Virginia! We all stopped to take photos and revel in the glory. It was a nice feeling to be done with the biggest state on the trail. Four states down, ten to go!The terrain evened out shortly after that. Melk and I stumbled onto some blueberries and we stopped to feast. Mmm. I hiked most of the rest of the day by myself and enjoyed it quite a bit. I was feeling really good.We got to the Blackburn Center around 7:30 p.m., just in time for dinner. We were greeted by Hopeful and RedWing, the caretakers, and sat down to eat. We feasted on hot dogs, baked beans, salad, brownies, watermelon ad Kool Aid. Mmm.The Blackburn Center started when the Appalachian Trail Conservancy purchased the land to buffer the trail. The Potomac AT Club runs the center along with volunteers. It was a pretty great place. It had a gigantic screened-in porch, a small hiker bunkhouse, and a very relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. Hopeful and RedWing seemed like the perfect people to run the show.I soon learned they were both from Michigan and Hopeful's parents, who were down for a visit, were too. They would be driving back to MI in the morning and told me they had room for me if I wanted to go home. I pondered that for a bit but decided to stay. All of us hikers hung out on the porch until about 10:30 p.m. and then it was off to bed for me.A really good day.- Sound of Melk breathing heavy trying to go to sleep. Post Trail Thoughts:I really loved traveling with this group. We had a great time at Horse Shoe Curve restaurant as Cobweb and Mayo teased Tuna Bag about trying to solve mechanical puzzles and being bad at it because he was from North Carolina.It was great to celebrate the West Virginia state line with these cats as well and the Blackburn Center was magnificent. We all had a good time hanging out that night.