Date: 2003-05-11
From: Roanoke, VA

To: Campbell Shelter
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: light rain

It had to be done. I had to get back on the trail. It was difficult though, considering how wonderful Beverly and Vinnie were! It was awesome to stay at a house, as opposed to a hotel or hostel. I can't thank them enough.I took a shower (aaahhhh), ate a good home-cooked breakfast, and packed my pack. I felt weird. I didn't want to leave because I had a good time with them, but I wanted to get back to the trail. The weather forecast called for afternoon thunderstorms, possibly severe. Oh well, that's trail life, and I couldn't possiblly stay another night there!Hotdog and I were driven to the trail by Vinnie and Beverly. We said our thank yous and good byes, and headed north. It wasn't long until the rain started coming down pretty hard, and I put on my rain jacket. About an hour later, when I stopped for a break, the jacket came off. It was just too hot to wear it, and the rain had stopped.We ate lunch at VA311 parking lot around 1pm. A couple of dayhikers were returning to their cars and gave Hotdog and I some Kudos bars and bottled water. Awesome! They had dropped off their friend, Ranger Rick, a thruhiker just that morning, so they knew what thruhikers like.After lunch, I started the climb to McAfee Knob. The first couple of miles were relatively mild, and I expected that after Catawba Mountain Shelter, the climb would get much more difficult. It really was not a bad climb at all. The trail went up, but not too steeply. I noticed that the sun was peeking through, and at one point looked up at the sky through the trees and saw a lot of blue sky. Could it be...? Could there be views from McAfee on a day when severe weather was expected?? It was to be!McAfee Knob is about 20 feet off the AT, and I walked through the trees and the area just opened up! I could see mountains and valleys, and it was awesome!! The rock ledges hanging off te mountain were awesome too, and with the gusts of wind made my stomach turn. But I couldn't believe how beautiful it was! And how lucky I was to be able to see it with mostly blue skies. I nearly cried again. Hotdog and I spent a little bit of time there, taking photos, or just sitting on the ledges. By a little bit of time, I mean three hours. I watched the coulds drifting across the sky, and the buzzards floating in the sky below us, yet high above the valley. A couple of dayhikers came up, and left before too long. Mountain Break, a section hiker, stayed for a while before moving north. Thruhikers Puff Puff and Snappy arrived and we all sat up there talking, and looking. They were still there when we left.It was just wonderful to be up there and for the weather to be nice enough to encourage a long stay. That's what this hike is about for me. To stay somewhere when it is nice, or just when I want to. That was one of those times, and one of the perfect places. I'm glad there's a shelter within a mile of McAfee too. That certainly helps with the lollygagging too.My new shoes felt pretty good, but I'll reserve judgement after I have more miles on them. Of course, my feet got wet first thing this morning, but I think, if they aren't dry now, my shoes will be by morning. I didn't have any trouble with ankle support, or didn't notice any difference between shoes and boots. Hopefully, the shoes will work out just fine.The lower leg aches still, and it annoys me. I'll keep wrapping it, but won't rest it much until the weekend. The daily mileage through Friday should be a bit lower than before Roanoke though, so I will try to take it easy each day and not get in a hurry. This injury annoys me because there was no incident that caused it. Oh well... I never did think this trip would be easy. I'll just deal with it day by day, just like everything else.